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Josuke launched himself on his soft bed, dragging his remote control to an alternate place on his mattress, while moving away all the other heaps of CDs and report cards that marked his recent admission to the second year of high school.
He sighed in relief, practically stabbing the air in a childish celebration as he followed the small frequencies swaying in his room on Prince's attractive tune through his newly purchased radio, which he watched for certain deliberate seconds before sitting back down at the edge of the mattress.
Summer vacation has come again. He would have a good time to rest and get rid of all the chaotic information at the end of a turbulent quarter in retake tests - which he could no longer bear to face. Despite the common title of delinquent that Josuke had been carrying since the beginning of elementary school, he had been a very studious and dedicated boy about all classes. He never let his grades drop more than they should, and his mother never had to worry about annoying coordinators lecturing hery when she notified him without any excuse. His new tutor's classes were the only hell that Higashikata would be facing until the middle of next year, with all that endless content along theoretical and practical lines that left his head tangled.
However, he could overcome it after all: with some effort and relatively constant visits to Koichi's home (which had a stunning repertoire of stupidly high grades).
Even so, there was a small commotion when thinking that one of his best friends had not been so lucky. Okuyasu faced a number of problems in that school race, as long as he was free from any stalemate. The taller teenager only became a believer that this would also be resolved at some point, so he accompanied him in most of his additional studies by pure and spontaneous will. Josuke did not have much to do in his home before the special celebrations that would bring forward the same traditional logics of closure. He just kept coming, switching between playing video games in his room for hours and visiting his best friend at summer school, helping him as much as he could.
It was on one of the last days of his school adjunct that Okuyasu tapped his fingers around his jaw, dropping one of the biology tests for a safe amount of minutes when the teacher left the room to look at Josuke - who was entertained on his Nintendo 64.
“You've been coming up with a lot of new things lately, Josuke. Did you happen to get a part-time job and decide not to tell me?"
The bigger teenager's blue eyes traced his new attention, causing him to recondition his posture. He let a tired breath fade from his full lips, beating a small pout before bending over the table: combing his pompadour.
"No,” he replied, disinterested. "In fact, I was spending as much of my savings as I could as soon as my mom found out about how much we made last year, and then she decided to block my account."
Now, he had more than 500.000 yen accumulated in his bank account, but that would be untouched for a long time if he depended on the older woman.
He heard things like: "You need to learn to manage your money, Josuke" and "a teenager shouldn't have access to such a high amount".
Seriously, how could he keep up really *well* without any income for the next ninety days? Josuke barely started to experience it, but he was already going crazy. Nevertheless, it was a bonus to think that he would not be having to remember the origins of all those banknotes so soon... The figure of Shigechi did not seem very encouraging now.
“I'm sorry for you, bro. I mean, although even I could find a way to support my pocket for the next semester,” Okuyasu replied as the most natural thing in the world after hearing his explanation shrouded in sadness: his cheeks marked by his scars showing some of his self pride.
Josuke, however, took a little longer to process it. "What?"
"There was an advantage to visiting Tonio's restaurant more often during the week,” the other added, returning his focus to the representative schemes of the endocrine system in his handout. "Last week, he offered me a job as his apprentice all summer and I will earn for it."
Higashikata practically whined when his best friend sent him a sympathetic smile, receiving short pats on his shoulders in the form of consolation. He was condemned to spend all the following weeks confined to his home, filling himself with low-calorie foods and plasticizing himself in front of the television.
“Don't be discouraged anytime soon, dude. There are several ways you can guarantee yourself on vacation. We haven't even started yet.” Josuke just shook his head in response, with no hope that he could genuinely help him at that point in the way - although underestimating Okuyasu has proved to be an ineffective way ever since.
Suddenly, it was as if the tallest one had finally been left alone. But, as soon as he looked up, Nijimura was making a strange expression like someone struggling to think about something.
The problem was that Okuyasu did not think about anything. And when he thought, unimaginable things were to come.
The boy prepared himself mentally, watching him stroke his chin and, as if a lamp had cleared all his thoughts, he jumped in his chair. But it did not last long after he seemed to process his new idea. Okuyasu learned to reflect before sketching what had been on his mind in the past few months, which prevented him from expressing concepts that he might be regretting; however, Josuke used to look at him with a dose of caution, since the last thing he wanted to do was to suppress his creative sense.
The tanned young man just scratched behind his ears, sounding a little embarrassed when he swallowed suddenly, reverencing the air:
“Well, there's that thing, you know? L-Like sugar mommies or something. Although, in your case, I believe you would choose a sugar daddy, at least...”
The only audible sound was the sparrow’s song outside, in addition to the constant flow of students and staff through the corridors.
Josuke thawed, crossing his arms in a rigid posture that made him shiver. "Okuyasu, are you serious?"
“Hey, don't give me that look! I did my best to find a solution that could help you!”
Josuke was martyred for several consecutive minutes for not only telling him that he liked men, but specified that older men. His mother syndrome hit him badly - he supposed - but that was more than out of the question.
"I just think you should try."
Under all circumstances, Josuke could do little more than accept his fate. Back in the cramped cubicle that catalyzed the wallpapers in his well-lit room, Higashikata decided to take out his cell phone.
He turned on his screen, looking for the program he had recently installed on his device - but which, so far, he had not had the courage to access.
Who knew that Josuke would be taking advice from Okuyasu in an almost religious way. It was his only chance, after all. He was in no position to choose much.
A receptive and lime green colored panel framed a menu of options. Josuke bit his lower lip when facing the flashy source that narrated the social networking site, preparing to register. Well, he was not yet an adult, but Josuke was used to lying to himself (and also to others) in his online chat networks around RPG games. It would not be difficult to do the same here, would it? He would only need to fill in all the information in a strictly random manner, adding some truthful notes to set up his plan and make him have a minimal chance of success.
In the meantime, the app gave him a particularly strange form that asked him to describe his true “ideal type”. The boy felt his cheeks heat up, running his sweaty palms across his face.
Why did he need to be so materialistic?
Josuke meditated more seriously, analyzing his own personal tastes. His first line of rambling seemed intact when he realized he could not get involved without passion. It was a lightning-fast conclusion, running through the grass.
He took a deep breath, deciding to venture into the empty spaces.
Higashikata determined a steady range for men over twenty, with a great and successful heritage. He had succinctly described a testimony about what circumvented his most particular preferences, such as the fact that he preferred shorter boys who liked good fashion - which he hoped was not being too demanding.
As soon as Josuke realized, all the gaps were complete. The young slid his fingers across the plasma, smiling to himself as he realized that, until now, this was an easy task. However, it became clear that no happiness could last long the second he visualized a small symbol that prevented him from taking the next step: informing him that he had forgotten to include an important detail.
Josuke forgot to send his pictures.
He froze, looking at his webcam icon as if he were facing a deadly predator. This was where his plan ended, with him being swallowed up by all his expectations.
An annoying sensation was tingling in his stomach as he walked into his room, biting his nails as he thought. Perhaps Joseph could make it up to him by sending him some kind of recompensation to the fact that he was absent all his life? Or, perhaps, he could honor the false nobility of the title of pseudo-delinquent that he has been carrying on his back all these years.
Robbing convenience stores and unsuspecting old ladies did not seem too bad... Josuke shook his head, slapping himself. His grandfather would be disappointed in him.
The teenager looked back at his device above his pillows, swallowing deeply. He had restricted a specific distance for future partners in his compatibility parameters: therefore, he would only receive suggestions from people living in Morioh. The situation was that, if Josuke was recognized through all those pictures, he would have a much bigger problem than a frozen bank account, eventually...
Finally, he surrendered. Josuke took that damn cell phone and turned on his camera, staring at his own face on the other side of the screen reflecting his vibrant celestial eyes and his hair combed under his dark pajamas. It was difficult to admit, but sacrifices needed to be made if he wanted to keep his identity immaculate.
Higashikata snuck into his bathroom, looking for a brush strong enough to undo his hair. He came close to crying as he slid the bristles through his black-blue locks, directing them just beyond his toned shoulders. Within seconds, his tuft had been completely undone and his parted bangs fell on his face. When looking in the mirror, observing its voluminous and shiny shape, Josuke believed that no one would recognize him.
“It's all in a day's work,” he repeated.
Five clicks were enough to fill his need. Five images of Josuke at different ends of his room, with poses he did not even know how to judge if they looked attractive.
He tried to value his abdomen and strong physique, at least. There was also a brief session for his backside perspective: but he chose not to go into details.
It was embarrassing enough to think that he was trying to seduce other people by selling his body, but it got even worse when he imagined him as nothing less than a real "daddy". It was a big joke.
Josuke twisted his fingers, loading his profile. His account was already live on that social networking web site and, most likely, it would not be long before he got an answer.
Higashikata decided to fight his anxiety by setting his hairstyle back, gathering all the hair products in order to keep it flawless once again. On second thought, it was natural for him to imagine a variety of high-quality products for luxurious hair sprays and more expensive gels afterwards. The image was enough to make him believe that it would all be worth it.
The student left for dinner, abandoning his phone for a few hours. He should take a break until he gets a wider range of results before choosing.
After a marathon of games in the living room and a call to Koichi in order to keep up to date, Josuke returned. His device was the same way he left it at the bedside, a new dozen messages had popped up on his notification bar, though. He laughed as he scanned the entire panel, filled with people eager to meet him. He could already visualize all the things he would be buying randomly, starting to feel enthusiastic about the whole idea.
However, a message stopped him in the middle of his rapt acquisition. Flickers fell through Higashikata's fibers when he read the message: "I know who you are" - received fifteen minutes ago.
Josuke's blood went cold. He quickly opened his chat, accepting that unknown user's conversation request without even bothering to rate it. The teenager raised his eyebrows in an apprehensive countenance, acting on impulse when he answered:
"I know you?”
It was only a few minutes before he had an answer, while each sounded like a great eternity.
"You should make sure to check on users before accepting them, Higashikata."
The youngest went into a short circuit. There was only one person who called him that, and there was only one man in the whole city who could treat him with such animosity. He hurried to click on his anonymous user, faced with a multitude of sophisticated and considerably obscene pics of none other than Kishibe Rohan.
Rohan was twenty years old. Rohan was filthy rich and, although Josuke did not know it yet, Rohan was also gay.
"Holy shit,” he replied, choking on his own saliva and discovery.
Soon, the response indicator turned against him, and Josuke was surprised at how the other seemed willing to answer him so quickly.
"It was difficult to recognize you without your vulgar pompadour, but all my doubts were eradicated after I read your less than creative biography."
Josuke snorted, belatedly believing that he could never get rid of Rohan, no matter where he was. It was hard to deal with the artist as he wandered around the same places in the city with his body exposed through the hottest temperature, and now he would have to endure him by directing him lessons about his access to adult networks.
Higashikata decided to see his profile in a mixture of curiosity, minimally surprised to find a doubtfully eccentric description.
“I have my own priorities and I'm not looking for anything but sex. Furthermore, you will only be able to see my face if I'm interested in you. If you're not well-hung, don't bother me: you will just waste your time.”
Inflexible. In fact, Josuke thought that this suited Rohan.
He was a celebrity, so he could not show his identity everywhere. The only way the boy identified to discern him was through his strange clothes and striking features.
He settled down, resting his hands on his cheek as he reflected around those thoughts - typing a new message with his other free hand.
“So why did you come to me? Did you want to provoke me or just lecture me?”
The answer took a little longer to arrive this time. The younger could almost see a frown forming on the mangaka's thin face, exuding superiority in his most convinced expression.
"Don't be ridiculous. I didn't look for you.” Josuke's device vibrated again. "The app was only recommending you because you filled in a lot of information that happened to be compatible with me."
"But you called me."
"I was wondering if it was really you."
"Why?" Josuke countered, unable to stop his digits against the keyboard. He was not planning to confess, but he was starting to like it. The student did not believe that the other would be preventing him from continuing his strategy. So there was no problem in postponing it - at least, for now. “No, don't answer that. Or rather, what was that thing about sex and well-hung men? I didn't know you were a pervert, Rohan-sensei.”
“Tell me you , Josuke. What's up with that looking for experienced sugar daddies who treat you like their baby boy?” the older one defended himself, making Josuke shudder at the way the artist managed to squander his threatening atmosphere even several kilometers away. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not the only non-Puritan in your point of view."
A pause declared an invisible war field between Josuke and Rohan. In this way, the teenager realized that if he wanted to win, he would need to play.
Nevertheless, before he could say anything, Rohan advanced his pawn:
"Do you consider yourself a well-hung man, Higashikata?"
He swallowed his saliva, thinking about it, "Somehow."
Simultaneously, the boy received a pic. The mangaka was sprawled on the expensive sheets of his luxurious bed, sporting mischief in his subtle smile: an open robe creating expectations of what Higashikata could see. "5.000 yen," Rohan added in his caption, asking for an equivalent reward in return.
Apparently, Josuke found what he was looking for.