Chapter Text
The hands at his waist traveled down to grip his hips. His voice spilled out from his throat as a desperate groan and his arousal threatened to reach its peak. Soft flirty lips danced along the skin of his neck. A knee nudged in between his thighs and he found his own grip groping the ass of his assailant.
-
Josuke’s eyes fluttered open. All at once he recalled his dream and groaned upon feeling the hot ache between his legs.
“Fuck.”
He sat up and grimaced at the tent in his shorts. It wasn’t the first time he’s been blessed with morning wood but as he thought back to his dream, he shivered. The hands and lips that violated him in his dreams felt familiar and he couldn’t decide if he liked how a certain artist intruded his subconscious or not.
But the clock already read eleven AM and Josuke knew one thing for sure.
He wasn’t going to let the days of his spring break pass him by quicker than they needed to.
-
“Okuyasu!”
Josuke waved over at his best friend who waited at the amusement park entrance. Standing next to Okuyasu Nijimura were the two that completed their group, Koichi Hirose and Yukako Yamagishi. Josuke offered the handful a smile in greeting as he drew closer.
“Josuke, you’re kinda late.”
Okuyasu complained and pointed at the intimidating line to the ticket booth.
“Sorry, sorry.” Josuke shrugged as his smile turned apologetic. “But this place extended their closing hours, right? Since it's spring break for all the students in town?”
“That’s true but I won’t be able to stay that long.” Koichi piped up from Yukako’s side. “I don’t think Yukako wants to be out that late.”
The girl in question wordlessly agreed and continued to apply a light layer of sunscreen along her boyfriend’s exposed skin.
“Well, that'll be fine. As long as we spend a few hours together!” Josuke fished his wallet out of his pants pocket and leafed through the cash inside. “We’ve got a few weeks to hang out.”
He made his way to the ticket booth line with his friends in tow. Despite how long it seemed, they found themselves at the front sooner than any of them expected and with a few exchanges of cash-to-ticket, the group had made it through the gates.
-
“Damn.” Okuyasu sighed and sipped his overpriced soft drink through the straw poking out of the cup. “That went by way too fast."
“Yeah, but it was still fun.” Josuke took a bite out of the sweet pastry that wasn’t worth the 1,000 yen he paid for it.
The duo had crashed onto an empty bench near the cafe where they purchased their evening snacks. The sun was inching its way behind the horizon and the surrounding crowds began to thin. A comfortable silence had accompanied the boys. They proceeded to people watch, quietly agreeing they were most likely finished with their amusement park endeavor for the day.
“Ah,” Okuyasu spoke up in between sips. “You still like Rohan, right?”
“Ergk-!?” Josuke coughed on a bite of pastry. He took his time catching his breath and suddenly felt like tossing the rest of his baked treat in a trash bin. “Um. Y-yeah. Why?”
“It’s just been a while since you've talked about him. You didn’t see him since that day at the park you told me about, right?”
Josuke took in a sharp breath and stared at the cobblestoned ground in front of him. “No.” He confessed with a droop of his shoulders. “I don’t know if I can face him again, to be honest.” He let go of any hesitance to speak honestly with his best friend. Okuyasu already knew the whole story; there was no point in holding anything back considering how close they were. Josuke was only infinitely grateful that his friend was anything but the sort to alienate him for having an interest in the mangaka.
“I don’t think the others have run into him either.” Okuyasu cast a glance at Josuke, gauging for a response. “He’s probably been busy with his work.”
“Yeah…” Josuke spoke softly, keeping his head down.
Neither of them said anything else for a long minute. Josuke only reflected on the chance meeting he had with Rohan on that day at the park. He hadn’t been planning to get a follow up on the moment they shared last winter. But seeing the older guy just standing there in the rain, alone and inviting, Josuke couldn’t hold in the little burst of excitement that popped inside him. He wanted an answer. An explanation. Anything. He took a risk to be transparent with Rohan and he came out of it slightly hurt but also hopeful (against his better judgement).
“C’mon, Josuke! Ya just can’t let it end where it did!”
Okuyasu’s whining snapped his attention back to the present. Josuke looked to his companion with a protest on his tongue.
“It’s not like anything really began in the first place.”
“Don’t say that. Something can still happen. I hate seein’ at ya all mopey and lookin’ like a kicked puppy.” Okuyasu sighed and crossed his arms. He leaned back into the bench, his face twisted in thought.
Josuke appreciated what Okuyasu was trying to do in place of himself. But a wave of apprehension and fear stopped him from even considering seeking out Rohan. What would he even say?
Hey, remember how I confessed how I had feelings for you? And you said you didn't like me? But we both kinda knew and felt that you were full of shit?
Josuke scoffed at the thought and tossed his pastry at the nearby trash bin. He was about to celebrate how it landed perfectly inside when Okuyasu nearly shouted and snagged his arm.
“Josuke! Speak of the devil!” He was pointing frantically across the courtyard in front of them, past the decorative hedges and statues of cartoon characters.
Sitting on a bench opposite them about a few hundred feet away was Rohan Kishibe. A drawing pad was propped up against his crossed knee and a few pencils were tucked into his headband. Beside him was his bag, presumably housing more art supplies. On his other side was a camera bag and a bottle of water. He was too far away to tell but Josuke could only guess the mangaka was hard at work, drawing whatever he was drawing for the sake of his manga.
“Oh, shit.” Josuke muttered softly under his breath.
“Yeah, ‘oh, shit’!” Okuyasu wouldn't stop grabbing at his arm. “This is your chance!”
Josuke felt his stomach drop and his mouth go dry. “Listen-” His voice cracked.
“No, you listen!” Okuyasu stood up to stand in front of Josuke. “Look, man. I love you, you’re my best friend. And ever since you opened up to me about Rohan, everything just kinda started to make sense. Even to my dumbass self. You like the guy and I think you should do something about it before the chance passes you by and ya end up regretting it.”
Josuke peered up at Okuyasu, a bit stunned at the articulation of his words. But he had a point and he brought up the things he would rather not think about but should deal with. Josuke took in a deep breath. He smelled the food being sold at the nearby food stalls, the sweet cotton candy passing by in the hands of children. But when he looked in the direction of Rohan and saw him sitting there, he could smell the luxury hair product and obscenely priced cologne he became acquainted with when he kissed him.
“Fine.”
Josuke stood up and dusted off his pants. He gave Okuyasu an appreciative nod and started walking toward the other end of the courtyard.