Work Text:
Tanaka shoved Rohan against his locker door, much harder than he should have. A sharp inhale escaped Rohan at that, but he still glared up at the taller boy. “Why’re you wearin’ makeup like that? You think you’re a girl now, Kishibe?” he asked, poison staining every one of his words.
On top of being known as an artsy nerd, Rohan was the only openly gay boy in their school. Or, at least the only guy that everyone knew was into other guys. So, naturally, that meant that he was a prime target for all kinds of bullies.
Unfortunately, most of the school bullies were Josuke’s teammates on the school’s baseball team, which meant he was always forced to witness and be an indirect accomplice to all of their attacks. He didn’t like the fact that they always picked on the poor guy, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Despite being straight himself, his teammates had all been suspicious of his sexuality when he’d first joined the team. Something about him was off, according to them. Josuke had to prove his straightness to them countless times before they eased up on him.
If he rushed in to defend Rohan… then, they’d no doubt turn on him again. He couldn’t have that.
The fact that Rohan liked men was unsettling and strange to Josuke. It made him very uncomfortable, but he wasn’t exactly sure why that was. If it weren’t for his friends, he would have avoided Rohan at all cost. He didn’t want to risk… anything happening. He didn’t want to be associated with that kind of person.
Instead of shrinking down, or losing his cool, like most of the other students would, Rohan stood up straighter, staring Tanaka straight in the eyes. “What I wear is none of your business, Tanaka. Keep your eyes to yourself if you’re so bothered by my appearance.”
Josuke didn’t understand why Rohan always did things like wear makeup and crop tops to school. Sure, he looked good in them, very good, but it only made him more of an obvious target. He didn’t get why the boy always fought back when confronted either. It was admirable, in a way, but…
If only he’d just been quiet, if only he’d let go of his pride every once in a while, then the boys wouldn’t bully him as much. The guys had said countless times that what they hated the most about Rohan was how flamboyant and prideful he always was.
“As if you’re not just wearin’ that for attention, you little faggot,” Tanaka said, pushing Rohan one more time before taking his bag from him and throwing it towards Keicho, who caught it with a smirk.
Rohan frowned, trying to head towards Keicho in order to retrieve his belongings. “Give that back!” he said, uselessly struggling against Tanaka’s grip. “And let me go, you insolent brute!”
Keicho unzipped Rohan’s bag, rummaging through all of his belongings. “Ah, let’s see what the gay boy has here,” he said, grabbing on to random items and throwing them down on the floor. Rohan looked angry, but mostly unbothered, until Keicho pulled out a sketchbook.
“Ah, what’s this?” He opened the book, skipping through the pages with a frown on his face. “This really the best you can do? I thought you were an artist or something like that, you pouf. These are shit”
Josuke glanced up at Keicho, just as he started ripping off a page of Rohan’s sketchbook and held it up for a second or two. It was a drawing of a pretty girl with pink hair. “Ugly,” Keicho said, ripping the page up piece by piece.
Fuck. They were going too far. This… this wasn’t okay. Josuke turned back towards Rohan, who looked on the verge of tears. Josuke winced, glancing away from the scene. He wished his friends would stop this.
So what if Rohan looked attractive when he wore girly things? The poor guy hadn’t really done anything wrong.
“No, don’t-” Rohan called out, his voice shaking slightly. “Please. Please stop doing that.” That was the first time that he’d ever heard Rohan beg for something and definitely the first time he’d ever seen the other boy cry.
Rohan’s sharp emerald eyes seemed softer now, much more vulnerable and sad. His cheeks were tinged red and his lips were shaking.
The rest of his teammates started laughing as soon as Rohan started crying. Keicho threw the sketchpad as well as the rest of Rohan’s belongings on the floor. “Oh, don’t be a baby. It’s just a drawing.”
“Fuck you,” Rohan said, seemingly trying to keep the tears at bay. “You are all-”
Tanaka frowned, punching him straight in the stomach. “Shut the fuck up, fag. Stop wearing makeup to school you pervert. No one wants to be around you, especially not when you look like that, ya hear?”
Josuke couldn’t help but wince again as he watched Rohan double over in pain. The boys only started laughing louder, and Josuke was sure that things would only get worse the longer they stayed here. He didn’t want this to go on for any longer.
“Hey, we’re gonna be late for practice if we don’t hurry…” Josuke said, trying to take his friends’ focus away from Rohan. “Coach will chew us all out if we’re not there on time.”
Okuyasu was the first to speak up after that. “Oh! You’re right bro! We should probably get goin’, no?” he asked, looking almost as uncomfortable as Josuke had felt.
The rest of the guys reluctantly agreed, and Keicho turned to face Rohan one more time. “Better not see you wearing girly shit anymore, less you wanna get your ass kicked, you hear?”
Before Rohan could even think of replying, Okuyasu dragged his older brother away from the scene.
Rohan frowned anyway, moving over to pick up his belongings. “Fucking… jocks,” he muttered under his breath, holding the broken up drawing in his hands and looking just about ready to cry again.
Josuke watched him for a few more seconds, unsure of what he could say to make the situation any better. He glanced back at his teammates, waiting for all of them to round the corner before leaning down and helping Rohan pick up what his friends had dropped on the floor.
As soon as he started collecting things, Rohan stopped and glared up at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Higashikata?” His words and his tone were venom, filled with pure resentment. Josuke couldn’t really blame him.
“I’m just tryin’ to help you out,” Josuke said, holding up the book that he’d gotten from the floor.
Rohan snached it from his hands and hastily shoved it in his bag, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve in order to get rid of any leftover tears from earlier. “Well, don’t,” he said, slapping Josuke’s hand away as soon as he reached for a pencil. “I don’t need pity nor help from the likes of you. If you really wanted to help, you’d have done so earlier, when your friends were here.”
Although Josuke knew, deep down, that Rohan was right, the comment didn’t sit right with him. Rohan really understood nothing about how those guys worked. He watched on as Rohan angrily placed his belongings in his bag.
“I’m sorry,” Josuke muttered as he stood back up. He wanted to say more, to explain why he couldn’t just intervene earlier, but he knew that Rohan wasn’t going to want to listen to him. Honestly, Josuke probably wouldn’t if their roles were reversed. “If there’s anything else-”
“No,” Rohan interrupted. Once he made sure he had everything in his bag again, Rohan stood, dusting himself off and straightening his shirt. Josuke couldn’t help but stare at his exposed midriff, something inside of him warming up at the sight. “I don’t need anything from anyone and much less from a bigoted, brainless and ignorant jock as yourself.”
Rohan stood up straighter, seemingly trying to appear taller than he was. “Now, get the fuck out of my sight, will you? Unless you’re looking for a fight, in which case I will not hesitate to punch that pretty face of yours, Higashikata. You do not scare me.”
“I don’t want to scare you,” Josuke frowned. “Nor am I looking for a fight. I just…” he drifted off. What did he want from Rohan? Why was he still standing here like an idiot? He was already running late for practice, he really didn’t want to raise suspicions by hanging back for too long. “I want to go out with you. Hang out, I mean. I… I want to properly apologize for how my friends treat you all the time,” Josuke stumbled out in a rush.
Rohan scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Fuck you, Higashikata,” he said, turning around and walking away without giving Josuke a chance to say anything else.