Work Text:
The library was full of students, all of them chatting away without a care in the world. The librarian was either deaf, or simply didn’t care enough to scold them. Perhaps that was the norm at this horrible, extravagant high school for the rich and pretentious. Rohan wasn’t by any means poor, he came from a well renowned and influential family, but he failed to see the purpose of such a school. No one seemed to be interested in learning, it was extremely irritating.
He picked up his book and quickly stood up, a frown on his face. The chair he was sitting on made a loud noise and the group of girls next to him turned to face him. Instead of acknowledging all the eyes on him, Rohan opted to walk away. He needed to find somewhere quiet, where he could sit down, read and sketch in peace.
Rohan walked down the hallway, peeking into each room he walked by. The doors were all open and groups of students chatted away in every single one. Loud groups of students, of course. He wanted to scream, but he couldn’t lose his cool over this. It wouldn’t be worthwhile.
It wasn’t long until he stumbled upon a closed door. He couldn’t hear anything coming from the inside. Rohan stopped to think. This door might be closed for a reason, no? But… if it meant he could find a quiet place to work in, it was worth it. He didn’t mind the possibility of getting in trouble.
The room wasn’t locked, so the handle of the door turned easily. Rohan pushed the door open and the air around him immediately changed. The first thing he noticed upon entering were the six individuals standing right in front of him. They seemed to have all gathered there to greet him, which struck him as odd. Stranger still, they were all extremely attractive.
Girls sat on tables in the back of the room, some of them turning to see who had come in the door. The air around them smelled ridiculously sweet, like cinnamon or vanilla… perhaps both. The room was painted a pretty pastel pink and decorated in a cutesy way. Where the hell had he arrived at?
“Welcome,” the boy standing in the middle said. He had bright, pretty eyes and a charming smile. His hair was styled in a neat pompadour and his uniform was slightly customized to show off his curvy figure. “We hope you enjoy your stay at our club.”
The only girl in the group stepped forward as well and smiled. “You’re a first-timer, aren’t you? I’m Jolyne, would you like me to spend some time with you?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him. She had black and green hair, with a bun on each side of her head and a braid in the back.
“What?” he asked, glancing back at the group, confused.
The pompadoured boy shot her a glare. “Hey, hey. You don’t know what our guest is into just yet. He may be…”
“Into men,” the shortest of the group finished. His hairstyle was even more bizarre than the other two. His bangs were curled up into three donut shaped curls and a long braid adorned the back of his hair. “What type of individual are you into? We don’t judge anyone based on their preferences here, so please be honest.” The smile he offered was almost sinister and not at all warm.
Rohan shook his head, taking a step back. “What the hell is this place?”
The blond smirked, but it was the beefiest of the group who spoke up. This guy was all muscle, though his features were gentle enough to put Rohan somewhat at ease. “This is the highschool host club, of course! Did you perhaps stumble inside by accident?”
Before he could answer, a boy with spiky, messy hair and a scarf around his neck stepped forward. “Oh, honey. It doesn’t matter if you stumbled in here by accident. See, the first time is completely on the house free with zero compromise.” He smirked, putting his arm around Rohan as if they were the best of buddies. “So why don’t you come with me, babe? I think we’d get along just fine.”
Rohan frowned, pushing his arm away. “I don’t… I don’t understand. Is this… allowed?” He gestured at the whole room. Surely the school must have something against these students doing… whatever it is that they did. It seemed sketchy enough. How come he’d never heard of them before?
The pompadoured boy nodded. “Of course. All we do is keep other students company, after all.” He grinned then, and Rohan felt his face warm up. He truly was gorgeous. This boy looked like he belonged in fashion magazines, perhaps even permanently captured in art pieces. He frowned, that’s not what he should be focusing on.
“In any case,” the blond started, drawing his attention away from the other, “If what you’re looking for is a princely type of guy, Josuke here is the correct choice. He’s the most popular one amongst the ladies due to his charisma and charm.” He pointed at the pompadoured boy, and Rohan raised an eyebrow. This guy was supposed to be princely? He looked more like a delinquent than anything else. An obnoxiously gorgeous delinquent. “If you want someone mischievous and devilish… Jolyne and Joseph will do the trick,” he pointed at the guy in the scarf and the girl, “For a sweet gentleman, you’ve got Jonathan.” The buff guy from earlier shyly waved at him. “Jotaro over there is the stoic, quiet type for sure.”
That was a lot of information to take in, but it all seemed to make sense. “What about you?” he found himself asking. He wasn’t interested in the blond at all, but it was odd that he hadn’t mentioned himself when he was clearly a part of this club as well.
“Giorno’s the cool, calculating type,” Josuke chimed in, glancing over at his friend before looking back at Rohan. The way he smiled made Rohan’s stomach flutter again, which was extremely annoying. He decided right then that didn’t want anything to do with this guy. Anyone who could provoke any sort of unknown feelings in him was not welcome into his life at all.
This could be a good learning experience. He could use it as a reference for his stories. But who should he pick? The safest bet was probably Jonathan, but Rohan wasn’t sure he could learn much from him. He seemed too oldschool, too nice. His brain was screaming at him not to pick Josuke, at the very least. He didn’t seem like the type of person Rohan should associate with. But then again… he wasn’t sure he wanted to interact with any of these people. They were all so bizarre.
“How about we pick for you, if you’re indecisive?” Giorno said with a smug smile on his lips. The rest of them looked at him, as if they knew something Rohan didn’t. “I’m sure you’ll be able to judge our services better if you’ll allow us to. After all, we have some experience dealing with this… Not to say you’re not capable of doing so yourself, of course. You definitely could... but perhaps you could learn more this way? It might be a bit more exciting to try and learn why we picked who we did, no?”
Rohan raised an eyebrow. This kid… knew exactly which buttons to push, didn’t he? Rohan knew he was trying to persuade him into it, but he couldn’t help but take the bait. Anything that could satisfy his curiosity and maximize his learning from an experience, was something he definitely needed in his life. “Alrighty then,” Rohan finally said.
Giorno smiled again. “Perfect. Now, step right in and sit wherever you feel the most comfortable. The host of our choosing will have a one on one with you in just a second.”
He nodded, stepping in and browsing the room. The first thing he noticed about the other guests was the fact that they were mostly female and all of them seemed somewhat intrigued by him. All the stares he was getting were extremely uncomfortable. Rohan shrugged it off, sitting on the furthest table. He could probably get some drawing done while he was here. It wasn’t quite as loud as everywhere else and he had to admit the atmosphere was nice.
He idly sketched, not really paying any attention to his surroundings. He sketched random objects around the room, making sure to capture every possible detail. It wasn’t long until he felt someone walking towards him. Rohan looked up and his lip curled down almost immediately. This was the worst possible choice they could have made.
Josuke smiled at him. “Hello!” he exclaimed, “Welcome to our club, Rohan. Would you like some tea?” he offered, already setting down a cup in front of the artist.
Rohan frowned. “How do you know my name?” he asked, putting his pencil down.
“Ah… Giorno keeps tabs on all the students at school. Just in case their information is needed for the club. Preferences and all that,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. Rohan raised an eyebrow. “Anyway! So you’re an artist, right? This one’s a guess, since you’ve been drawing since you sat here.” Josuke took a seat next to him, glancing over his notebook.
“I am.” He closed his sketchbook, glaring over at Josuke. “Not that you’d understand.”
Josuke’s smile wavered, but he quickly recovered. “Well I could always learn from you... If you’d be willing to talk to me about it, darling.”
The nickname made his face heat up again. “Don’t call me that,” he said, crossing his arms. “And I see no point in talking to you about it. You’ll remain ignorant no matter how much I explain.”
“Ah, yes… Well, how has your day been so far?” Josuke asked, looking at him. Rohan could tell it was getting hard for him to keep his polite and ‘princely’ facade and he smirked. Perhaps he could make this fun after all.
“Well, not very great. Yours?”
Josuke eyed him suspiciously. “My day’s brightened now that you’ve come, of course,” he paused, and Rohan felt his heart beat fast in his chest at the glint in his eyes. He almost believed him for a second there. “why has yours not been great? Is there any way I could help improve it?”
“Yeah, the sight of you managed to ruin my day,” Rohan stated with a small smile on his lips. “Perhaps you could improve it by getting a haircut and putting a bag over your head.” There was no reason for him to be so mean, and deep down, he knew that. But… he couldn’t help but want to keep Josuke away. He was scared of what would happen if they got close, he’d never felt so off around someone before.
Josuke tensed up and he looked away from Rohan. “Ah. I’m very sorry, in that case… I’ll bring someone else to keep you company.” He stood up, still refusing to meet Rohan’s eyes. He couldn’t tell whether it was of anger or sadness, though. “Which of my friends would you prefer to spend the next hour with?”
Rohan bit his lip as a terrible feeling settled on his stomach. It took him a few seconds to realize that feeling was guilt. Could it be that Josuke was really a nice guy after all? Not just some guy pretending to be nice so more girls will request him? Josuke finally looked back at him, the smile on his lips again. He wasn’t upset? “I… I don’t want any of them, or you for that matter. So I will be taking my leave now.”
Josuke raised an eyebrow. “Are you… sure about that?”
“Yes. Thanks for the tea.”
-
Rohan walked away with the intent of never returning again, he really did. Somehow, though, he ended up right at the door to the club the very next day after class. He just wanted to apologize for his rudeness, yes. That was all there was to it. It’s not like he wanted to see his pretty eyes or dumb smile.
Josuke tilted his head to the side when he saw him come in, but he quickly rushed over to greet him at the door. “Oh! Welcome back, Rohan,” he smiled, “I didn’t expect you to come back, but I’m very happy to see you again.”
“I… I just came back to draw. It’s relaxing here,” he said, looking off to the side.
A soft chuckle escaped Josuke’s lips at that and he nodded. “If you say so~ I’ll bring you some tea and a slice of cake? We could chat about your day, if you’d like.”
Rohan shrugged, finally looking back at him. “As long as you don’t interrupt my drawing time.”
They spent most of the afternoon together, Josuke checking back on him periodically. He allowed him to draw in peace for the most part, but he came back every now and then to share a few words. All in all, it wasn’t a bad experience this time around.
The only reason he visited the club again was to apologize. There was no other reason for him returning. He just wanted to set things right, not leave it all on a sour note. That didn’t really explain why he kept coming back to see Josuke every single day after that, though.