Chapter Text
He'd seen the ice crack why didn't he shout sooner fuck fuck fuck fuckfuckfuck-
Okuyasu’s snowboots clunked and squeaked with each haphazard step he took on the ice. Surely, it wasn't safe to do so, but there were bigger issues at the moment.
The spot where Josuke had fallen had been frozen back over. It wasn't cold enough to freeze that fast. Why was it frozen over? There wasn’t a known stand user in Morioh who could freeze things-. Unless it didn't freeze. Did Crazy Diamond fix it? Why did he fix the ice? If there were less pressing things at the moment, he would have mocked Josuke for it. He may be stupid, but what Josuke did was a dumb move.
Josuke, who was trapped under the ice by his own mistake and drowning underneath. Okuyasu stomped desperately around for a moment, the ice proving itself solid underneath his weight. It wasn't going to crack under him like it did Josuke. A shimmer of pink through inches of thick ice gave him an idea.
The Hand fizzled in beside him, pout more prominent in the situation, and immediately got to work. Two bass-boosted swipes finally got through the ice, water splashing up to the surface from the disturbance below. It may not work but it was well worth a try. The Hand began scraping away the water, Josuke being a bundled purple blob far underneath.
It was the same stunt he pulled the first time they had met, scraping away space with his stand to pull the other closer. In matching intense situations. But this time it was cold and the water seemed to hate him, muddying and slowing his progress. Something fearful and tender was held in the moment, terrified of losing yet another person close to him. It mounted and latched onto adrenaline, adding a distinct frantic air to his movements.
Okuyasu’s shoulder objected with phantom aches from the repetitive movements of his stand. The sensation fell backseat to the panic coursing through Okuyasu’s veins, hectic and insistent. The splashes of icy water falling on him went ignored for as long as he could, trying to overlook the way wet cloth clung to his skin. Okuyasu took a moment to observe his progress, a chill placing a small stop in his progress. He was swift to continue again. His stupid idea was working. Josuke’s form was far more distinguishable and closer to the surface than when Okuyasu had arrived at the spot. Any progress was good progress he supposed.
The moment he got his hand on Josuke’s shoulder to haul him up top, fear struck through Okuyasu. His friend was so cold . As if he'd become part of the ice around them, not a shred of warmth to be found. Another haul that made his arms groan in protest, damnit, Josuke was near dead weight . Okuyasu dragged him a safe distance from the hole, not wishing to follow the other’s footsteps.
A moment of mild achievement, Okuyasu had held the sodden teen in a hug. But Josuke had no reaction whatsoever. Fuck. Hurriedly he pressed fingers to Josuke’s neck, very nearly relieved to find a slow pulse, but it was fading quickly. He wasn't breathing, was he? Okuyasu noted with panic.
He rolled Josuke out of his grip and onto his side. The way he was waterlogged gave him some direction. Water spilled from Josuke’s mouth and nose, but still no breathing.
Fuck, he really should have shown up for those school-sponsored CPR lessons . Unsure of his actions, Josuke was rolled onto his back and Okuyasu pressed down with an inconsistent rhythm, he felt it was too fast so he would slow down, then he would be reminded of the deathly still of his friend and speed up. Was he even pressing hard enough? His presses made no dent in the other’s chest. Nothing pointed him to do differently and he continued.
A sick crack caused a pause in Okuyasu’s ministrations. Josuke cringed under his hand and Okuyasu pressed experimentally, unnerved to find a bone shifting beneath. He waited for a moment before continuing at Josuke’s further lack of movement. Another press finally returned him some results.
Josuke squirmed and tried weakly to sit up, elbows slipping on the ice, and entered a coughing fit. It stunned Okuyasu as to just how much water a person could swallow, Josuke’s hacking nearly replacing all the water that had been swiped away by The Hand.
Every time Okuyasu thought it stopped, Josuke continued a moment later. It was evident by the way he slumped onto the ground and his diminishing shivers that he was exhausted, running on his last scraps of energy. He slowed to occasional wheezes but at least he seemed to have the water out of his system.
“Jesus bro you had me real scared there for a sec.”
No response.
“Yo, Josuke.” he tried. The teen looked just as, if not slightly less, unliving as he had before, plastered onto the ice. Okuyasu waved a hand in front of glassy blue eyes. They followed blearily, Josuke’s only sign of consciousness.
Fuck, yeah the hearing thing. Okuyasu swept back freezing hair, spying the small device damp and definitely broken if what little he understood was correct. Clenching and unclenching his hands in an attempt to warm them up, Okuyasu fumbled out the letters “D-e-e-z ” past his clunky gloves.
Their call and response wasn’t returned. Josuke gave a pained sigh through blue lips but besides his deflating form, it was as if they weren’t even a living being.
“Bro you gotta reply with ‘nuts’. I gotta know if yer okay.” Okuyasu pleaded, realizing after the fact that he could not be heard. He stumbled through the first few words in sign before giving up and trying to simplify to just an okay hand signal.
Josuke seemed to be aware of that, at least. He gave a weak shake of his head and Okuyasu frowned. That wasn't good. Good that Josuke seemed to be even slightly aware, bad that his answer to being okay was no. What was he supposed to do?
What would Josuke do? Josuke would heal him with his stand. Crazy Diamond doesn't work on its user, nor did Okuyasu think Josuke would have the energy to do so if it did. Without stands, what would he do?
People. Okuyasu needed to find people. Someone could help. Koichi could help.
Okuyasu hooked an arm under Josuke’s arm and pulled him into a sitting position, he had to readjust his hold as the moment he’d let his grip go loose, Josuke had begun to fall backward. A concussion would only worsen the situation.
He hooked his other hand under Josuke’s other arm and hoisted him up. Josuke screamed , though weak and exhausted, it was guttural and gurgled and a noise Okuyasu had decidedly found should not belong to Josuke. But there was nothing he could do in the moment. He shifted his grip on Josuke to allow space for The Hand to support his other side and tried his best to block out Josuke’s tired sobs of pain. They’d haunt Okuyasu when the situation finally calmed, but that time was not now. He needed to get going.
Fuck, where? Where had Koichi told him to go? He needed to find him, find someone. He reached into his pocket to retrieve the business card handed to him earlier, retrieving a gloveful of pulpy paper scraps. Josuke was a sopping weight between him and The Hand, cold permeating and piercing through his own layers of clothes. He shivered slightly in their holds, trying to stay warm but exhaustion unpermitting. It was contagious, or perhaps an effect of their surroundings, but Okuyasu shortly found himself with his friend.
Okuyasu’s feet moved without his direction, sliding Josuke slightly on the ice. He didn't know where he was going, Koichi would be able to help, he wasn't good at these kinds of things. It was always Josuke in charge of keeping things sane, keeping people safe. Keeping people alive. And Okuyasu was doing a pretty shit job at that considering the questionably conscious teen with him.
New snowfall began to flit in the air around him, dancing and teasing. He puffed out clouds of warm air blowing stray snowflakes out of his face. It had been in the weather forecast, they’d planned to head back out to go sledding in the morning with fresh snow. Those plans seemed forever away, like a foolish childhood dream. Keicho would have clowned him for it. ‘There's still work to do, you can't afford to take a break.’ Or would he? Keicho seemed to keep so many secrets to his grave, Okuyasu had begun to think that he’d never really met his brother in his time alive.
And maybe he had never gotten the chance to meet Josuke either.
No- stop that. He's not dead yet, he just needs to find Koichi and Yukako. Then Josuke will be fine, he’ll be good and dandy after some good rest. He just needs someone to get him through the night. He’ll be fine, he’s gotta be, and if he isn't then he’ll just come back like Okuyasu did. He’d done that much for him. Why wouldn’t Josuke do the same back?
Okuyasu knew Josuke couldn't hear him, between whatever state of the present the other seemed to be and his no doubt broken hearing aid contributing to that. Still, he tried to make conversation, more for his own sake rather than the other’s.
“Hah, bro you gotta explain this to yer mom later. I’d hate to be you right now.” For more than just that , “ I love her but she’s absolutely terrifying. Jotaro too. He doesn’t show it but he cares about ya. I’d imagine he’d come back to town soon, ya gotta stick around to say hi ta’ him. Yer lucky ya got such a caring family.”
He hadn’t expected any response, but Josuke’s silence unnerved him. Okuyasu paused and his stand paused beside him to check in on Josuke. Okuyasu determined that Josuke looked both better and worse than he did after being pulled out of the lake. His skin bloomed both shades of vibrant red and sickly blue, shivering enough to threaten to knock his feet from under him. He wasn't an expert but he knew shaking was better than none, even if it threatened to knock Okuyasu over with him. His hair had draped down over his shoulders and froze into points, his clothes gaining a similar frost.
All aspects of Josuke’s appearance only spelled out negatives for Okuyasu. He’d returned to filling up the cold air with senseless chatter for his own comfort.
The Hand seemed to have a far better sense of direction than he did. Or maybe it was simply the way that it had chosen a direction and was actually going somewhere instead of standing around like a dumbass. The longer they wandered around, the heavier Josuke felt in Okuyasu’s hold.
Maybe it was the way phantom sensations were shared between stand and user. Maybe it was Okuyasu’s arms protesting their excessive use through the evening. Maybe it was Josuke tiring too much to hold his own weight, being far too eerily similar to a frozen corpse. Likely the last but Okuyasu would like to avoid thinking of his friend like that.
He was really starting to doubt the choices of his stand. They’d been walking for far too long and his arms ached. There's no way Koichi could have possibly walked that far on his “outing” with Yukako. (It was a date, definitely a date. At another time Okuyasu would be happy for them.)
“Oi Josuke, you think Koichi is around here somewhere? Jotaro calls him a reliable guy, but he’s not too reliable right now is he. Lost n’ I don’ know what I’m doin’ and bro I can feel you quakin’ next ta me. You’re so cold next ta me I shouldn’ta let you fall in I shoulda known-” Okuyasu’s voice cracks under him like the thin ice on the lake, he tries to force out more words but they cling to the sides of his throat and come out as wet gasps. His vision blurs with the snow falling into his face and soon to be shed tears, cheeks and ears a burning red. Now isn't a time to be crying but so much is going on he doesn't know what to do, and maybe Keicho was right he wasn’t prepared to do things on his own--
“Okuyasu?” His name is nearly drowned out by his own panic in his ears. Meeting at eye height with the girl with long black hair across the street finally breaks him. Tears flow unbothered down his face and Okuyasu tries his best to explain the situation over the sobs that tumbled out of him.
Yukako took no time in meeting him across the street, placing a gentle hand on Okuyasu’s shoulder and recoiling slightly at his chill. The hand, fortunately, remained, warm and comforting and he didn’t deserve it he let Josuke get like this it was his fault--