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Today was the day, Josuke thought as he left the mangaka’s house for the evening.
Him and Rohan had worked out their issues over time, for the most part. There were still a few scuffles here and there, that was unavoidable, but for they were on good terms more often than not. It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to say that they had actually managed to surprise everyone by becoming close friends.
Josuke had realized his feelings for Rohan a long time ago, perhaps even before they had properly finished making up. Ever since then, he had been thinking of possible ways to tell Rohan how he felt. Because Rohan was an artistic guy, Josuke decided he should confess through some form of art. He tried teaching himself how to draw and paint, but it had quickly proven to be much harder than he anticipated. It just didn’t seem to be his thing. Nothing short of perfection would do for the mangaka, so he branched out into other forms of creative skill.
After many failed attempts at teaching himself different forms of art, Josuke stumbled upon music. He used to play the guitar when he was younger, so this came much more naturally to him. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought of this one from the start. Once he decided he would confess his feelings through a song, all that was left was to practice as hard as he could in order to make himself sound as good as possible.
Everyday after school, Josuke would set apart some time to practice. His mother seemed to be delighted that he’d picked up another hobby, and greatly assisted in his learning process.
His original plan had been to wait until he got some sort of signal that his feelings for the mangaka were reciprocated. But he was anxious, it was getting nearly impossible to wait. Josuke felt on edge whenever he spent time with the mangaka, like he had to watch out for every single one of his movements in order to try and determine whether he was interested in him or not.
So, after nearly spilling his coffee all over himself when Rohan’s hand gently brushed against his, Josuke decided he couldn’t wait any longer. Josuke decided he was as ready now as he’d ever be.
-
A couple of hours later, Josuke stood at the door with his guitar strapped to his back. Due to the cold winter weather, he’d worn a jacket over his clothes. He hadn’t really considered how late it was and how much lower the temperature was during the night. He was freezing. The walk here had been horrible, but at the very least the lights inside the house were still on so that meant Rohan was still awake. Josuke raised his hand to the door, knocking on it loudly. When he didn’t hear any movement from inside the house, he knocked again.
Rohan frowned as someone insistently knocked on his door. He glanced over at the clock on the wall, it was far too late for anyone to come around to visit. Who could it even be at this hour? Ugh. Maybe they’d go away if he ignored them for long enough.
The mangaka took a sip of tea, staring at the front door from where he stood in the kitchen. He wasn’t expecting any visitors tonight… or was he? The only two people who ever came around were Koichi and Josuke, and they had both already been here today. Perhaps one of the two forgot something at his place?
“Rohan, it’s me again,” Josuke said from the other side of the door, his voice shaking just a bit, “please open up, it’s kind of real cold outside.”
A sigh escaped Rohan’s lips as he walked towards the door. He opened it, a small frown on his face. “What the hell are you doing here this late Higashikata?” he asked, his eyes shifting over to the guitar case as he stepped aside to allow him to come inside. Why the hell did he have that? What was inside of it? As far as he knew, Josuke didn’t play any instruments. Thinking about it, he hadn’t really asked him before.
Josuke walked inside, feeling his insides knot up. He wordlessly sat down on the couch, taking his guitar out of its case and looking at Rohan. “I have something important… to do.”
Rohan looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “Where the hell did you get that from?” he paused, taking a seat in front of him, “and what is it that you have to do?”
“Oh, I… this is… part of it.” Josuke took a deep breath, eyes closed. He sat still, trying to steady his heartbeat and his breathing. He could feel Rohan’s eyes on him, which didn’t really help in the slightest bit. “Okay. Um,” he started, looking back at Rohan, “I have something I need to tell you.”
The mangaka wasn’t entirely sure he was following. “Alright…?” he said, sounding just as uncertain as he was. What was Josuke trying to pull? So many questions made their way through his mind, but he knew asking now would only frustrate the other man. It might cause him to back out of whatever he was about to do and Rohan was far too curious to let that happen. He needed to know. “Go on,” he said when Josuke failed to speak up.
“I’m not going to be speaking, I… I will sing it to you, what I want to say.”
He furrowed his brows at this, tilting his head to the side slightly. He refrained from asking anything just yet, though, and simply stared at Josuke in silence.
Josuke took one final deep breath before softly strumming his guitar. He quickly glanced up at Rohan before looking back down at his guitar.
“I ain’t got no money, I ain’t like those other guys you hang around,” he began to sing, trying as hard as he could to keep his voice even. It was going well so far, despite the millions of butterflies exploding in his stomach as he went. He sounded pretty good.
This song sounded familiar, Rohan thought. He’d definitely heard it before on the radio at some point. He was surprised at how smooth Josuke’s voice was, how well it seemed to mix with the sound of his guitar. It wasn’t hard to tell that this wasn’t the kind of song people could normally pull off without practice. Why was Josuke singing this song to him? Did he just want to show off his skills? No…that wasn’t it. He’s said something about needing to tell him something. Rohan looked back up at Josuke, focusing on his voice once again.
“I didn’t wanna pressure you baby… But all I ever wanted to do, I want to be your lover,” after singing this part, Josuke felt his cheeks heat up slightly and he somehow managed to get the courage to look up at Rohan, who was now staring at him with wide eyes. He wished he could tell what was going through his mind right then. “I want to be the only one that makes you come, running… I want to be your lover, I want to turn you on, turn you out…”
Rohan stared at Josuke dumbfounded once he realized what song this was. Of course it was Prince. Josuke would never shut up about him. More importantly… this song. Was this… was this Josuke’s way of confessing to him? The thought nearly made him blush. Or… Was this some sort of prank? A quick glance back up at Josuke, at how into the performance he was… that was all he needed to tell that the other man was being absolutely serious.
As he went on, Josuke gained some more confidence in himself. His eyes shifted from the mangaka to his own hands as he played the guitar. So far so good, Rohan hadn’t stopped him. He didn’t look thrilled or excited, but he didn’t seem to be absolutely repulsed by him, either. That was a good sign… wasn’t it? “...There ain’t no other, that can do the things that I’ll do to you… And I get discouraged, ‘cause you treat me just like a child…”
He listened to Josuke’s melodious voice sing along to the song with ease. He seemed to have gained confidence along the way, if the small smile on his lips was anything to go by. Rohan tried his hardest to keep his stoic demeanor, despite the strange urge to smile tugging at his lips. He wasn’t exactly sure how he should be feeling about all of this. His insides felt warm and he swore he could feel his heart skip a couple of beats as he listened on. It wasn’t as if he’d never noticed how handsome Josuke was, but having him sing such an intimate song just for him… it seemed to light something inside of him. Something that he had even forgotten existed.
“I want to be the only one you come for, yeah,” he finished singing, strumming his guitar a few more times before stopping entirely. Josuke hesitated, not really knowing what to expect. After a couple of seconds, he finally looked up at Rohan, well aware of the blush that was probably spread all across his face.
They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, neither of them knowing exactly what they should say.
Josuke was the first to speak up. “So… yes. What… what do you think?” he asked, one of his fingers unconsciously tapping at his guitar continuously.
“I think… that you’re an idiot, Josuke,” Rohan said, crossing his arms over his chest in order to try to fake being annoyed. “What the hell was that?” He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it all, but he sure as hell wasn’t annoyed. If anything, he was extremely flattered… and flustered. No one had ever confessed to him in such a creative way. Josuke’s face as he sang to him was definitely most endearing thing Rohan had ever seen in his entire life. This whole confession had been adorable, it made his heart flutter in his chest and his blood rush to his face.
Josuke bit his lip, looking away. “Well, I mean… it was… how I feel about you, Rohan,” he started, turning to face him again with a serious expression on his face, he couldn’t afford to look suspicious at all, “I like you. A lot.”
Rohan stared at him with a blank expression, though it felt very much as though he was internally screaming. Why did these words have such an effect on him? He wasn’t some teenaged girl who’s crush had just confessed to her.
“Anyway, since you’re… you… I thought I had to do it perfectly, y’know? You’re an artist so I wanted to… make it somewhat artistic.” Josuke smiled, closing his eyes. “It’s alright if you don’t feel the same way and you don’t need to respond right away… I just needed to get it off of my chest. Thank you for listening either way.”
The mangaka watched as Josuke put his guitar away, not really trusting himself to speak right now. How long had Josuke been planning this out? How many hours, days of practice had it taken him to get the song as he wanted to? What an idiot. What an adorable, dorky, gorgeous idiot. Rohan let out a sigh, looking over at Josuke again. Should he come clean about his own feelings now?
Josuke turned to face Rohan after putting his guitar away. He had been about to say his goodbyes, to not overstay his welcome and give him space. Before he could say anything else, he felt Rohan’s lips softly press against his own. Josuke instinctively wrapped his arms around the mangaka and smiled into the kiss. He had definitely made the right choice by telling him tonight.