Chapter Text
Josuke let out a groan, pulling on his shirt in order to cool himself off. The summer sun was relentlessly hot. It didn’t help that he was sitting right under the light because his small friend was hogging all of the cool shade. “Koiiiiichi. How much longer until your classmate gets here? I’m starving and I’m hot. I’m going to melt, dude,” he whined out.
His friend scrunched up his face a bit. “Ah… it’s weird, actually. He’s usually super punctual.” Koichi glanced down at his phone and then back up at Josuke. “But he should be here soon, don’t worry!”
“This is the weird art guy, right?” he asked, watching the people who walked by. They were meant to interview someone famous for a class assignment. Koichi had picked out an eccentric guy from one of his art classes as the subject of their interview, since he was apparently somewhat known for his manga.
Koichi nodded, “Yes, that one!”
Josuke kept watching everyone around him until his eyes landed on a graceful and slender figure in the distance. It became impossible for him to look away from him, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. The man was wearing a white crop top, tight ripped jeans and a jean jacket. The sunglasses on his face were tinted green, matching the odd headband he wore as well as the shade of lipstick on his lips. Josuke immediately felt himself entranced by his alluring beauty.
Once the man walked closer, Josuke could see him clearer. He had gorgeous green eyes and a handsome face. His hair was all very neatly styled to the side, not a single strand out of place. He wasn’t just slender, either, as Josuke could now see the outline of his abs and semi toned arms. Above all else, he carried himself with a certain elegance that set him apart from everyone else around them.
Besides him, Koichi perked up. “Oh! Rohan!” he called out, looking over at the man Josuke had been staring at. That was who they were meant to meet? This breathtakingly beautiful man was the weirdo Koichi had mentioned to him? The same guy who licked a spider once?
“Koichi! Sorry I’m late, I ran into Reimi on the way-” Rohan’s words died on his mouth once he looked at Josuke. An odd, warm feeling ran through Josuke when their eyes locked. He could have sworn the other man had felt it too, although he wasn’t really sure of how or why he knew that. They stared at each other in silence for a minute or two.
Even then, Josuke couldn’t look away from Rohan. “Have we met before?” he asked, sounding nearly breathless. Josuke felt very strangely drawn to this man. Despite the fact that he was sure he’d never actually seen this guy before, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t the first time they both interacted. That this wasn’t the first time they both gazed into each other’s eyes.
“I’m not entirely sure.” His voice was pleasant, just like pretty much everything else about him was. “But I don’t think we have.” Rohan narrowed his eyes, carefully scanning Josuke’s whole body, as if trying to clear something up. All of the attention on him made him feel a bit self conscious. Rohan’s lips parted as if he was going to say something else but he stopped himself.
Koichi cleared his throat, appearing to be very confused. His eyes shifted from one man to the other. “Um… guys?” he paused, a small frown on his face, “What’s going on?”
Josuke looked back at his friend. He was ashamed to admit he had completely forgotten that Koichi was there with them for a second there. “Oh, nothing. Sorry about that, man,” he paused, turning to face Rohan once again, “My name’s Josuke, it’s nice to meet you.” He extended his hand to him, putting on his best smile.
“Kishibe Rohan,” he said, glaring down at Josuke’s hand before reaching out to shake it.
A small jolt went through Josuke’s body once their hands connected. He looked down at their hands and noticed Rohan did too. This was super weird. Neither of them commented on it, but they were both definitely aware of what had just happened.
The rest of the day went by as any other day would have. All three men had lunch together and then headed over to Koichi’s apartment in order to conduct the interview. Every so often, Josuke would catch Rohan staring at him. They chatted with each other a lot through the day, it all felt so natural. They disagreed much more than they agreed. If it weren’t for the fact that Koichi was there with them, they might have ended up seriously arguing with each other. Josuke wasn’t sure how he felt about the artist. He was self absorbed, vain and quite frankly a pain in the ass to deal with. Even so, there was something about Rohan that drew him in, that kept him wanting to know more about him.
Nothing he felt that day was anything short of intense. It was like his perception and emotions were kicked into overdrive when he was around Rohan.
After finishing the interview, he watched the mangaka to pick up his belongings and place them neatly into his bag. A heavy feeling settled in his stomach and he felt uneasy. He really didn't want Rohan to leave. Something inside of himself told him he couldn't risk not seeing him again. He had to do something about it.
The intense urge to not let him go confused him more than he could ever explain, though it’s not as if anything else up to this point had made any sense anyway.
However, before he could say anything, Rohan handed him a small piece of paper. “Here's my number, Higashikata,” he said, looking away, “j-just in case there's anything else you need for your assignment, of course.”
Josuke smiled at him and nodded, holding the paper close to him. “Of course. Thanks.”
Once Rohan had left, Koichi turned to face him again. “Hey, so. That went much better than I thought it would. He's usually super hard to deal with. You two seemed to remain civil, despite not exactly getting along… which, I mean, was to be expected.”
“Yeah… I'm kind of glad this all happened.” Josuke saved the number on his phone and sent a message with his name. He looked up at his friend with an eyebrow raised. “How did you know we wouldn't get along?”
Koichi thought for a while, letting out a soft hum. “You’re just have different personalities, I guess. The same in bad parts and different in good parts.”
That didn’t exactly make sense to Josuke, but he decided to shrug it off for now. They had to finish their work today in order to have the rest of the weekend more or less free.
-
That night, for the first time in years, Josuke had a dream. In that dream, he met Rohan various times, except he looked nothing like the man he had met today. Josuke wasn’t entirely sure how he knew these people were Rohan, but something in his gut told him they were. It might have been the way Josuke felt around them or the way his breath hitched whenever their eyes met. All he knew was, that just as he had been different people in all of these dreams, so had Rohan.
-
The first time they met that night, instead of piercing green eyes, Josuke was met with cat-like hazel ones. The man next to him had red, wavy hair and he was significantly taller than him.
They lay in bed together, talking about his upcoming wedding. “I don’t want to marry her,” he found himself saying, without really knowing what he was talking about. He wasn’t entirely sure whether he was controlling what was going on, or if he was simply a spectator. Josuke would find this to be a constant in every single one of these dreams. “She will never hold my heart the way you do.”
The man looked at him and sighed, placing his hand on Josuke’s cheek. “I know.” His voice was deep, soft and soothing, almost hypnotizingly so.
“Run away with me.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Josuke felt frustrated, angry and sad. He needed this man more than he needed air itself, yet he found himself engaged with a woman picked out by his father. Life truly wasn’t fair. “Then kiss me, please, just once. So that I may call you my first.”
The man hesitated and let out a sigh. He leaned closer and Josuke closed his eyes in anticipation, only to feel the man’s lips on his forehead instead. “There’s no need to do something that will only cause you pain in the future. Now sleep, scapegrace. You have a long day tomorrow.”
Josuke frowned at the name, choosing to let it go just this once. “Will you still be here when I wake up?”
“Of course. As unfortunate and inconvenient as it may be, I have sworn to stay by your side.”
-
The scene shifted and now he was at a casino. He seemed to be playing poker against a very angry woman. She was beautiful, with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes. The same eyes Rohan had, he noted. “I swear I will figure out how you’re cheating,” she paused, glaring at him, “and I will strip you of all you own, you fraud.”
Josuke swallowed, looking away from her and looking back down at his cards. If he was caught now, it would surely be the end of him and his career. “I’m not cheating, miss, I can assure you that much.” But he was, he very obviously was. There was no other way that a simple musician like him could defeat someone like her.
“Hurry up and show your cards, to the whole table. Go on.”
He hesitantly put down his cards with a weak smile. A royal flush. She stared at the cards with a frown, trying to replay the whole round in her head. Her frown deepened with every passing second. Everyone watched her, waiting to see if she could figure it all out.
Before anything else could happen, though, the building was evacuated because of a bomb threat. Despite her many protests, the bets were off and they were all escorted out of the building. He had been saved… for now, at least. He knew they’d cross paths again soon. It was meant to be, he could feel it. Whether it would be under nicer terms or not, however, was up for debate.
-
The scene changed again, and this time around, Josuke found himself out in a cafe, sitting together with a gorgeous woman. He felt his heartbeat fasten and his face heat up. “Are you alright, darling?” she said, taking a sip out of her tea. Everything about her was graceful and elegant. She had short black hair and sharp brown eyes. Just like the man and the woman in his previous dreams, Josuke was sure this was Rohan.
Josuke nodded, looking down. He noticed his own body was much different this time around. He had breasts and was much shorter than normal. “I missed you,” he found himself saying. “How was Venice?” His voice sounded so much different, very effeminate. It was hard to believe it was his own.
The woman shrugged, looking at Josuke. “It was unbearably dull without my muse around.” Josuke’s cheeks heated up at this and he looked at her with wide eyes. “You should come with me next time.”
He felt a grin spread across his face at her words. “Really?”
“Of course, silly. The only reason I didn’t bring you this time was because the bakery had just opened and you insisted on staying to make sure things went by smoothly.” She took one more sip out of her cup and set it down, a smile gracing her royal features. “But next time around, I’d really like it if you accompanied me. It’s not the same without you around to annoy me, after all.”
Josuke felt his lips pout at her comment and he glared at her. The woman laughed, reaching out to place her hand over his on the table. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-
The last time the scene shifted, they were sat together playing chess. Both of them were much younger than any of the previous times, probably around their early teenage years. “Hey! How come you beat me, I thought you said you’d never played before,” Josuke whined, crossing his arms.
“It’s not my fault you suck,” he said with a smirk. His eyes were blue this time around and freckles dusted his face all over. “Besides, I’m the cool friend. I gotta win, don’t I?”
“You’re never gonna find a wife with that attitude,” Josuke said with a frown. That was a weird thing to say, he thought. But just like in all of the previous scenarios, he didn’t seem to be in control of his actions.
The boy laughed at his comment, shaking his head. “I don’t need one when I have you.”
Josuke felt himself blush, looking at him with wide eyes. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I didn’t mean it like that! Jeez. All you girls ever think about is getting married. I meant because you’re my friend. Just like I said in that dream, we’ll forever stay by each other’s side, right?”
Josuke smiled, nodding enthusiastically. “Right!”
-
Shortly after this, Josuke woke up. He felt more confused than he had been in a very long time. He had never been one to remember his dreams, but these he remembered very clearly. They all felt so real. He sat up on his bed and ran his hand through his hair. None of this made sense.
These dreams had felt so much more like memories than anything else. But how could they be his memories, when he was different people in every single one of them? Not to mention the fact that Rohan had also been different people in all of those memories as well.
He had studied metempsychosis and reincarnation in his philosophy class last year but…were past lives actually a real thing? And more importantly, how did this all relate to Rohan? Why did they meet so many times? His half asleep brain was incapable of understanding everything that just happened.
There was also the chance that it had all been a strange dream, of course… but then why had he felt so odd when he met the artist earlier today?
Josuke let out a frustrated groan. What the hell did any of this even mean?