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Your chair scraped against the floor as you stood up, stretching your arms and subduing a yawn with the back of your hand before giving the slumped over form next to you a nudge with your foot. While you admired his bravery, which some might consider stupidity instead, at falling asleep during the lesson of your strictest teacher you already knew that it would be such a pain to teach Okuyasu the formulas he just fell asleep over. “Oi sleepyhead, you’re smushing your pomp.”
It took you a few more nudges of increasing intensity to have your friend startling awake, noticing how he had been drooling onto his table during his nap. You felt your lips quirk up and your gaze soften at the sight despite the gross puddle of drool between his crossed arms, too focused on his short lashes fluttering to reveal his unique pair of beady eyes. Heh… cute.
“Didcha say somethin’?” Rubbing his eyes Okuyasu turned his head to face you, his words at first not that concerning… until you remembered that he had still been sleeping when you addressed the pomp problem, not having uttered another word either while lovingly kicking your friend awake. Unless… Your eyes widened and your heart hiccupped upon the embarrassing realization that you may have just called him cute out loud.
Without giving your head a second to hit the panic button and have a minor mental meltdown you quickly repeated the warning of him ruining his hairdo, leading to the formerly sleepy young man suddenly leaping to his feet as he carefully smoothed his palms over his hair while searching for the closest reflective surface. Your hand flew up to hide your lips as you coughed in an attempt to mask the need to laugh at your friend’s antics.
Your mind drifted as you observed Okuyasu freak out, your smile growing into something fond as you watched him palm the modest bump that shone in the artificial light from all the hairspray he used to create the petit pomp. Since you had found out about Okuyasu and your two other friends sharing a unique secret, which was a little too strange for you to comprehend, you had grown considerably closer to them. Of course, it didn’t quite erase your “odd one out” status due to your lack of a so-called stand, the description of one sounding more like a possibly dangerous imaginary friend to you than anything else, but at least now you had a vague idea of what they were talking about.
And your basic understanding of their situation in turn allowed them to be upfront with you, something Josuke and Koichi definitely weren’t used to at first. When Okuyasu had sat all parties down to ease the tension, that had been building on your end due to their constant secrecy, a part of you had expected them to blow up at Okuyasu for telling you about it. But as it turned out they were relieved about the truth being revealed, admitting that stand activities could be quite dangerous so they had tried to keep you out of it at all costs. Josuke especially had looked so sheepish as he rubbed his neck, explaining how he had only meant to keep you from following them into danger.
His reasoning had been sweet even if you weren’t someone who blindly charged into dangerous situations to begin with. But still you could understand where his concern came from. After all you were oblivious to those apparently invisible beings and utterly powerless in comparison to them, if you were to believe your friend’s fantastic claims of abilities like deconstructing things with a well-aimed right hook. It took no genius to figure out what might happen if you got mixed up in a stand related situation with your inability to see, avoid or even fight back against a deadly, ghostly entity.
And knowing the possible dangers, you were lucky that instead of pushing you away the trio still invited you into their dynamic with open arms, seemingly as happy about the newfound ground rules to your friendship as you!
Finally, you met up with the boys outside of school too, be it a visit to the arcade, a study session over at Higashikata’s or simply a walk home with a small detour to grab some snacks, giving you enough time to chat or goof around. The time spent together made you feel like a part of the gang and with Okuyasu making it up to you for a past misunderstanding with a promised café visit, sponsored by his wallet, you started to grow especially close to the kindest delinquent-looking boy around town.
Overall, you had developed a deep appreciation for the teen with the intense eyes. And luckily, he seemed to have similar feelings towards you despite you having been anything but easy to befriend.
In fact, he cared enough about you to try and argue with Josuke during those rare moments when he wouldn’t pick up on possibly dangerous situations, visibly upset as his best friend told you to leave using a few codewords the four of you had agreed on beforehand. While you caught on quickly it was always endearing to watch your knight in a not-so-shiny uniform slowly catch onto the codewords as Josuke repeated himself with emphasis on each meaningful word, even if you still thought “americano” was a bad choice for “avoid all manholes”. There was just something about Okuyasu's disapproving scowl that made him look like he was about to throw hands with his friend on this decision before realization dawned upon his sharp features, his full lips shaped into an o as his eyes darted back and forth between you and whoever suggested your departure via a coffee run order.
Although for some time now his silly expressions and random reactions, be it something goofy like the drooling in his sleep or the protectiveness during hangouts, made your chest feel funny aside from the usual wave of fondness you always felt towards your friends. It was something you tried to ignore for simplicities sake.
Okuyasu was almost convinced that his hair had survived his nap when you heard the familiar voice of your resident shorty shouting from the door, Koichi’s head poking into the classroom and waving the two of you over. Lately the little guy had seemingly grown, not physically but metaphorically, and it never failed to astonish you when you ended up noticing it. There was just something in his eyes, in his smile, even in his posture, that told you how he was changing bit by bit, day by day. Part of you wondered if Okuyasu and Josuke had picked up on it too.
With Koichi waiting by the door the two of you quickly moved to join him, your good mood and the delicious lunch in your hands almost making you miss this unsettling sensation at your back that made the hairs at your neck stand on end. You were no stranger to the searing heat of someone’s gaze burning into you, although it had been quite a while since you last felt it as it usually was a phantom sensation created by your worked up mind. But this time you had been quite serene before picking up on this eery feeling and curiously enough it disappeared when you shuffled closer to Okuyasu. You couldn’t resist sneaking a glance over your shoulder at your innocuous classmates as you followed him out the door, wondering if your mind was trying to play tricks on you.
Due to Josuke’s vague, yet detailed explanation of stands and how you were supposed to stay away from any golden arrows, anomalies that defied the laws of physics or people who held intense staring contests, you thought that you were prepared for anything involving the turbulent trio.
Still, you couldn’t help but stop and stare as if Cthulhu had awoken from his slumber, crawled out of Morioh’s harbour riding on Godzilla’s back and decided to stop for a quick coffee break before causing eternal damnation for humankind when you saw something that had you asking yourself if you were supposed to run considering the anomaly you were faced with.
After all you were pretty sure that this was your dear friend Koichi sitting with a girl at a corner café, the surreal sight forcing you to stand still in your tracks.
And not only was he with any girl, no, he was with a real beauty! Seemingly endless waves of raven hair, sparkling blue eyes trained fondly on your ash blond friend, soft and rosy looking lips pulled up into a demure smile… Wait a minute. Was that Yukako Yamagishi?
As you remembered to shut your mouth after your jaw had dropped without your notice something hard hooked around your neck. You got pulled along before you could even manage to squeak, only stopping when your vision got obscured by a tree trunk. From the corners of your eyes you saw a flurry of dark blue with accents of yellow rush behind your captor, your back pressed into a broad chest hard enough for you to feel the outline of a dollar sign right between your shoulder blades. His strong hold forced you to tilt your upper body to the side along with his as he peaked around the tree while rumbling your name, his raspy voice so close to your ear that it made you want to squirm.
“O-Oku, what-?” You immediately got shushed by your friend, your head tilting back in favour of an upside-down view of his face revealing an unexpected level of intensity and interest, his pinprick pupils intently trained on the table for two. “Ain’t that Yamagishi from our class?” He didn’t even spare you a glance as he asked you. “Uhm.. y-yeah… you remember her name?” Okuyasu failed to answer your question, obviously far more interested in the sight in front of him than you or your body still awkwardly held against his via chokehold.
It didn’t sit right with you that he ignored you, nor did you enjoy the way he casually restrained you while spying on your friend. And on top of it all your annoying heart decided to act up again despite this not being the time nor the place for it, your face flushing as puffs of hot air hit the shell of your ear. The slightest move on your end only made you more aware of the unrelenting hold that kept you pressed against this stupid, delinquent-looking friend of yours with those stupidly strong muscles wrapped around you to keep you pinned against his stupidly broad chest and-
In your silent ranting that kept the heat coming to your face to your utter frustration, you failed to follow the conversation that started up between Koichi and the girl. But how could you pay attention with your silly heart jumping on its bouncy ball and filling your ears with its erratic beating? Your hearing only returned when your captor cried out in disbelief in response to a few words falling from your other classmate’s lips.
Okuyasu’s sudden outburst upon Yamagishi’s confession had the hiccupping inside your chest stopping, his body lurching forward with you still trapped in his arm, pushing you off balance like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You were still stumbling to find your balance, trying not to accidentally get choked by your friend’s arm, as Josuke decided to cover his friend’s mouth and pull him, and in extension you, back behind the tree. It startled your captor long enough to loosen his hold on you long enough for you to jab him with your elbow and wrench yourself free with a gasp for air. What the hell had gotten into him?!
You were about ready to chew Okuyasu’s ear off for that stunt as you rubbed your throat, knowing that he didn’t do it on purpose but still not appreciating the moment of dangling off his arm by your chin with your legs scrambling to catch up. Taking another deep breath you already had a glare fixed at your classmate, your lips parting for the lecture of a lifetime... one that he’d never receive as the words got stuck in your throat. Within the blink of an eye Okuyasu’s tiny pupils drowned in two intense waterfalls that were flowing down his cheeks, his sight trained on Koichi and Yamagishi as you attempted to process the sight of the yakuza-looking tough cookie of your group breaking down into tears.
Of course, you were aware of his habit to get somber whenever girls were swooning over Josuke, his oh so scary face usually morphing into a dismayed look that got overshadowed by his intense eyes chasing away any girl looking his way. But whenever that happened the most you’d see were slumped shoulders, brows set in a frown and full lips puckered in a pout. Never before did he cry a literal river over a confession of some girl, his head turning to ask an startled Josuke if he also possessed the sharp features Yamagishi just praised on Koichi’s face.
But… come to think of it, this wasn’t just some girl confessing her feelings. This was Yukako Yamagishi, the girl that was considered a beauty by pretty much everyone in your class. And on top of it all this Yukako Yamagishi was the first and only girl, as far as you knew, that Okuyasu bothered to remember by name. Which meant… she was special enough for him to notice her.
So… did he get upset because… he liked her?
Suddenly your neck didn’t bother you anymore as a strange numbness filled your mind. The lecture that had gotten stuck in your throat ultimately dying on your tongue as the world came to a sudden stop.
Did Okuyasu like Yukako?
While you felt like the world began to spin the superiorly pompadoured teen had started his attempt at calming the crying mess of a friend, both too busy to notice how you slowly slumped over while leaning against the tree, one hand placed upon your chest as it began to ache. Your lungs cramped for a second, forcing your breath to hitch as you heard Okuyasu loudly exclaim how cute Yamagishi was.
What was happening to you? Why was your chest stinging in this foreign way? Why did your lungs feel like they were covered in tar, unable to expand properly to take in a deep breath?
Nothing made sense, especially since your mind was oddly empty, your inner voices that usually managed to give you hell, the whispers that were so skilled at hurting you and poisoning your mind somehow nowhere to be found.
Instead Okuyasu’s words were the ones starting to bounce around the vast and startlingly empty expanse of your mind, the raspy voice that usually gave you solace now causing a wave of nausea, your vision blurring at the peripherals and only focusing on one crack in the pavement close to your feet where the tree managed to push one of its roots through the concrete.
You didn’t understand how your body could act up while your demons remained silent, especially when it was the one voice that always caused such warm and fuzzy feelings within your chest that sparked this distress. There was no reason to feel this distressed, this hurt, this sick…
But there was one thing you understood quickly: You had to get away from here. So you choked out a goodbye that probably didn’t get registered by your friends as you took off into the opposite direction of the café. They didn’t reply when you left but somehow you could hear Okuyasu’s voice, even when you were several blocks away, repeating everything he said over and over again. And somehow him calling Yamagishi cute got under your skin the most.
During your walk home the echoes of Okuyasu’s voice slowly quieted down, retreating into the back of your mind so you could use the newfound space to try to make sense of it all. Slowly you pulled polaroid after polaroid, shot by your inner eye, onto your workspace to pick apart his words and tears as you tried to determine every possible explanation. But by the time you turned the lock to the front door of your home there was only one logical reason connecting the mental snapshots explaining why he would grow this upset over the sighting at the café.
Okuyasu must have a crush on Yukako Yamagishi after all.
To your frustration instead of making you feel better after finding a conclusion it only made you feel worse. Or rather said, it didn’t get rid of the pain, instead turning the nausea and breathlessness into a cold numbness with a persistent and painful squeeze of your heart. It was similar to the pain you felt when you had thought the troublesome trio would not want to be friends with you any longer… the pain that had grown worse when you had pictured losing Okuyasu as your friend.
But maybe it wasn’t so bad that the nausea and breathlessness got exchanged for this numbness and persistent ache that left you drained, since you knew something that would help you feel a bit better. Your glorious remedy of course was falling face first onto your bed without even bothering to change out of your uniform.
You could already hear the nagging you’d receive for getting the clothes wrinkled but your body felt like lead, needing the rest and immediately gaining a small sense of comfort at the soothing scent of clean sheets. Now you could put your mind to work again, this time around connecting the strings as to why you felt this bad.
The empty stage that was your mind conjured up the image of a little man with a beige hat and a trench coat, looking like he jumped out of Sunday morning cartoon with his curled moustache, round glasses and oversized magnifying glass. He began snooping around, picking up pieces and gathering evidence all around your brain to find out why you were aching despite your inner demons apparently not getting involved this time.
Your internal investigator was thorough, even taking the ladder down and approaching this little Pandora’s box hidden within your chest, magnifying glass set on the heart shaped lock to fickle with the mechanism before a fresh wave of pain swept him back up into your brain, his glasses knocked off his nose and found again somewhere around the place in charge of your empathy. And the first thing he saw in there was the framed mental polaroid of Okuyasu breaking down in tears, causing a tiny lightbulb to appear over his head as he came to his conclusion.
You were feeling sorry for Okuyasu.
Which meant that of course you’d feel down in the dumps if your friend was crushing on a girl that only had eyes for someone else! And it was only natural for him to cry if the one he liked ended up confessing to one of his close friends instead of him! And you as someone who cared deeply for a dear friend, who was struggling with an unrequited love, it was only logical for you to feel bad too! It was your empathy that had to be the answer to your pain and heartache.
Finally there were answers but to your frustration the ache only got even worse as you mentally elaborated on that unrequited love scenario, imagining how Okuyasu’s heart was probably beating faster whenever he saw her, his intense eyes picking up on all her little habits and mannerisms that had him smiling like a fool. He probably thought of her when things got rough to cheer himself up… and now he had to deal with the memory of her confessing to Koichi, the moment repeating in his mind time and time again.
When the ache in your chest got too much to bear you turned onto your side and pulled your pillow close, wrapping your arms around it and hiding your face as you desperately raked your mind for something to make you feel better. Your thoughts took you back to the beginning of your lunch break, watching your friend slowly stir before ultimately startling awake due to the endangerment of the pomp.
You refused to think of anything other than the myriad of cute expressions that could cross his face throughout the day, the corners of your lips twitching as you felt a smile creep up just picturing how he had looked while fixing his hair. It was selfish but your heart ached a little less as you reminded yourself that not many knew the silly, expressive and kind side to your scary-looking friend since people usually were too frightened of him to pay attention and notice how special he was.
Your hands grabbed at the squishy sides of your pillow as you remembered the way his body had pushed up against yours, his tall frame that towered over most people curling around yours and his strong arm keeping you secure against his chest. You knew how capable he was of throwing painful punches and intimidating others but that easily got overshadowed by the times he got you something out of your reach at a store or apologized for underestimating the force he put into a pat on your back, the sting never stronger than the urge to laugh as he offered you to hit his back in return.
You pressed your face further into the pillow until it got hard to breathe at the bitter-sweet thought of Okuyasu revealing his inner sap and crying over wanting to get confessed to because the one he probably liked was revealing her feelings to his friend. Your smile crumbled before it could fully form on your face, squeezing your eyes shut more tightly in hopes to see nothing and yet you couldn’t see anything but him in front of your inner eye, asking you with tears in his eyes if his face was sharp enough for the cute Yukako Yamagishi to notice him.
By the time you got reminded that dinner was almost ready the pillowcase was damp. The fabric sticking uncomfortably to your face slowly peeled off of your skin as you rolled over onto your back, shouting at your family that you’d be there in a minute. Your cheeks itched, forcing you to wipe your face with a wrinkled uniform sleeve before you willed yourself to move again.
“Y/N, where did ya go yesterday? One second ya were ‘round and the next-“, Okuyasu made a motion with his hand, though instead of opening his fist to simulate an explosion like you expected he swiped his flat hand down in front of his chest, “poof! Gone.” You decided to focus more on his strange gesture than his face, turning away from your friend while quickly unpacking your materials for first period.
“I told you two I had to get home quickly but neither of you responded.” Honestly, you couldn’t remember what you said when you left… or if you even said anything at all, but the boys must’ve been too invested in Koichi’s love life to spare you even one glance anyways. And with your friend not challenging your claim of having announced your departure you knew you were right with your assumption of the dorkish duo not properly acknowledging your presence yesterday, the thought alone making your shoulders slump.
If Okuyasu noticed your slumped shoulders he didn’t mention it as he continued on, skipping past the issue of your disappearance to tell you how you missed something. Usually you would’ve been curious with how urgent his voice sounded. Usually you would’ve leaned over after you sat down to meet him halfway so no one could hear your whispers. But today you sorted through your notes, not sparing him a glance while he balanced at the edge of his seat to erase enough space between you so no one could hear him.
Though before he could tell you what exactly you missed out on the teacher stormed into the room, calling everyone to rise and bow before hurriedly checking attendance. Your friend was only shortly deterred however, taking no interest in the continuation of the formulas he slept through the day before as he kept leaning over, making noises at you like you were some stray cat he wanted to call over.
And for the first time you kept shushing and ignoring Okuyasu throughout the whole class whenever he tried to talk to you in a hushed voice, eventually evading his attempts by turning your head away and glance across the room. And during one of those glances you ended up noticing a certain girl quickly turning her head away as if she had gotten caught staring herself. Had… had Yukako Yamagishi been looking over? But if she looked this way it meant that she was either glancing in your direction… or in Okuyasu’s.
Okay, maybe now you were getting antsy over not knowing what exactly happened after you left the crime scene yesterday. What was so important that made the possibly lovesick oaf next to you almost fall out of his chair in his attempts to tell you? Did it have something to do with Yamagishi stealing glances? You really wanted to know!
But not in the way it ended up happening...
“L/N?” You startled at the soft, feminine voice saying your name from right behind you, your eyes trained on an equally surprised, if not internally screaming, Okuyasu. But despite wanting to know why the proto delinquent of your class looked like he was having a Vietnam flashback you knew that you couldn’t ignore that girl. Especially not after what you witnessed yesterday.
“Yes Yamagishi?” You turned around slowly, not quite knowing what to expect but feeling certain that you weren’t prepared for this epitome of grace in front of you, asking you with the voice of an angel if she could ask you something. It was almost painfully obvious why half your class had a crush on the reserved and mysterious girl and you felt your mind going back to your friend calling her cute, your stomach quickly sinking as if you just swallowed rocks. An almost meek sounding Okuyasu asked if he should wait for you only for Yukako to wave him off with a sweet smile, asking if she could have this moment alone with you.
What followed were the most excruciating two minutes of walking to a desolate part of the school as Okuyasu headed off into a different direction, throwing you a last, concerned look which you barely caught as you turned to follow Yamagishi. You were wondering what she wanted and the one persistent part that couldn’t forget her looking over during class questioned if she might start asking you all sorts of things about your friend to decide whether the young Nijimura was an eligible bachelor or not. But you were bound to find out as once she stopped at an empty classroom far away from any students or teachers roaming the building. And she didn’t waste another second upon arrival.
“I saw you at the café yesterday.” Oh no. Of course she did after you stood right out front the café with her facing your way. You knew the right thing was to admit to it, though your stomach was churning at the thought alone. Confrontations really weren’t your thing, even if this was the sweet darling of your class you were talking to. To not leave her hanging you swallowed, working up the courage to speak up and apologize only for her to beat you to the punch.
“Don’t try to deny it. I know that you were there. I watched you. And I know how you look at him.” She watched you?! You could’ve sworn that her eyes had been on Koichi only, but then again you your presence had been rather… obvious. And if she watched you getting pulled behind the tree she must’ve spotted Josuke and Okuyasu too… Okuyasu.
After getting pulled along you had only been looking at him in search for answers… was she saying that she saw you looking at him? Did you draw her attention to him by accident? “You can see it too, I can tell. The things no one else seems to see… the potential. I thought I was the only one who noticed but of course a man like him would draw others attention.” You blinked repeatedly, still trying to wrap your mind around the situation you were in. What was she trying to say? Was she aware of the sides to Okuyasu that no one else knew? But didn’t she confess to Koichi?! You really had to say something, still willing to apologize and talk this through as you took a deep breath. You had to figure this out, not only for your but for your friend’s sake.
“Do you like him?” The breath you took immediately got caught in your throat, the shock releasing your inner fish as your mouth opened and closed several times without making a sound. She was still not facing you, probably taking your silence as resistance instead of utter shock. Her hair was swaying in a breeze you couldn’t feel, the glossy shine distracting you from choking on your spit. “L-Like him?! Where is this coming from?! What are you even-?” This was not what you meant to say but the words left with the breath you just drew, trading an apology for whatever this was supposed to be. She didn’t appreciate your rambling though, her voice having gained a sharper edge you'd never expect from her. “Don’t avoid answering me. I see you having lunch together every day. So, tell me, do you like him?”
Why was she asking you this? What was going on? For how long had she been watching him? You still struggled to find your voice again, let alone the words to answer her question, as she whirled around to face you, intense eyes staring you down from between strands of midnight hair. “Don’t you try to play dumb and. Answer. My. Question.”
You genuinely didn’t know what to say, trying to push through the intimidation, the confusion and the heartache that decided to act up again. Yamagishi looked nothing like the perfect version of herself you got to know since attending school but that didn’t matter to you right now.
Your brows knit together as your scrambling mind tried to recall if she had been watching Okuyasu, if she had seen him the way you did from that blank stare of his that made you want to pinch his cheeks to the wide grin he would don when teasing poor Josuke about his hot mom. Your hands were growing clammy as you kept sputtering, unable to deny her accusation with your mind still reeling from the unexpectedly distressing question.
By now the air seemed to grow thick with tension, the breeze picking up in the room as her hair whipped more forcefully behind her despite you not feeling the wind, probably numb due to the rising internal panic caused by four simple words. Why didn’t you deny it already? Could it be because of her scary eyes, narrowed and filled with rage, that froze you like a deer in headlights?
Swallowing thickly you felt your chest expand, taking a shaky breath and hearing a bit of air leave your throat with a pitiful noise which you took as your body allowing you to quickly vocalize an answer with the rest of that breath. “I-I’m sorry for spying on you and Koichi yesterday! I swear I didn’t mean to! A-And I had no idea you were looking at him like- like that b-but why are you asking me if I like Okuyasu-“ Her voice cut through the air like a dagger, seemingly fed up with your word vomit. “DON’T PLAY DUMB ON ME WHEN YOU’VE BEEN SPYING ON MY KOICHI!”
Time stopped as the both of you stared at each other, the tension in the air lingering like a thick blanket while the wind stilled as her hair stopped moving. The room had fallen dead silent, neither of you moving a muscle as both processed what the other just said, faces morphing into different stages of disbelief and confusion.
“Y-Your Koichi?” - “That Nijimura?”
You spoke up at the exact same time, both realizing the error the other had made. And somehow upon that revelation the tension had deflated like an air balloon without a knot, not with a bang but… with an agonizingly drawn out whooshing that left a weirdly unsatisfying emptiness behind.
“Why would I ever care about that ruffian?” She turned up her nose at the mere thought of him, obviously not understanding why on earth you’d mention the boy with the baseball marks on his face. Meanwhile you pulled a blank face, realizing that you had gotten ahead of yourself once again. Of course she had been talking about Koichi, probably having noticed how much time you ended up spending with him and having misinterpreted your friendliness towards him as you being her love rival. “I-I don’t know… It’s just… Why would I ever like Koichi more than a friend?” How could she misunderstand?
Still not looking convinced, she furrowed her brows and elaborated. “With the way you always act during lunch I was certain you have feelings for him. Those silly giggles, the occasional flustered face, the way you tug at your uniform... And to top it off the way you stopped and stared in the middle of the sidewalk when you turned up at the café had me expecting you to cause a scene to interrupt us.”
Her explanation had you mirroring her expression as you crossed your arms, not recognizing yourself in her observation at all. As if you’d ever act like the bumbling, awkward protagonist from a teen rom-com when hanging out with your friends! This girl started getting a rise out of you, one you didn’t even consider yourself capable of as you felt something rattle in your chest. Somehow she managed to tickle your confrontational side out of you, making you glare like a ferocious kitten.
“Are you kidding me? I don’t act like that. Like, at all. Those are some Josuke-groupie antics, not mine.” Your tone had grown defensive, something you chalked up to not liking how Yamagishi had turned up her nose at the probably most precious young man walking around Morioh. Though she just sneered, a look that suited her sharp features perfectly as she flipped the hair that had covered part of her face back. “Oh please, have you ever seen yourself during lunch? I am not surprised Koichi’s dense company won’t pick up on it but you’re acting so obvious it’s almost painful. So stop lying to me. A maiden in love can pick up on this stuff even better than others, no need for those futile attempts at denial.”
While visibly cringing at her “maiden in love” comment it didn’t distract you from the purposeful tone of her voice, making you wonder if she was about to hop back onto the “you’re in love with my Koichi” bandwagon. But her accusations still had you roll your eyes so hard that it felt like they were doing a 360. “For the last time. I am not in love with Koichi.” The simper on her lips looked positively punchable to you as her voice grew condescending. “You made it very clear that you are not interested in him but there’s no way in hell you’re not in love. Seriously, just this morning the way you zoned out with that dopey smile on your face spelled it out so hard even a blind man could see.”
You were seriously getting nowhere with her but for some reason she seemed to have found interest in the topic as she strode over, cruel eyes sparkling in an unsettling way that screamed "I know something you don't know". She reminded you that women in love should be feared. “You didn’t even realize it yourself? You got it good, (L/N). And if you didn’t daydream about the pinnacle of male perfection fetching you for lunch…” Her eerily mesmerizing eyes widened, giving her a truly unhinged look, which sparked the wish in you to lock yourself in a bathroom…preferably with a kitchen knife in hand.
Her tongue was locked and loaded, delight and disgust mixing in her eyes in an intoxicating swirl as she saw through you, leaving you feeling exposed and defenseless like a newborn babe. Your defiance cracked enough for her to see a truth you had hidden even from yourself. There was no time to brace yourself before her words hit their target.
“Oh my god. Of course! You are in love with that Nijimura!”
Any retaliation died on your tongue as her words unleashed their true power within you, turning into an army of crowbars that descended into your chest to pry open your secret little pandora’s box. Denial, blaring like sirens in your ears, tried to suckerpunch your mind back into the depths of oblivion, scrambling to protect a cherished friendship, but the beast escaping that little box dogpiled the one force that had clouded your internal vision for so long.
“I’m… in love…?” Unexpectedly the cruel angel seemed to realize that what she said actually turned your world upside down, watching your expression faltering as your blood drained from your face. “But… I thought… he’s just a really good friend…” Once more you thought back to the café situation, your fingers curling into trembling fists. “And even if… I’d do something as stupid as… like a friend he’d never…”
Yamagishi seemingly hadn't intended for the atmosphere to turn this oppressive, the both of you sharing a look until she ended up turning her head, breaking the connection and hurriedly walking past you. Her steps faltered by the door but you didn’t turn around, your arms slowly crossing in front of your body as you hugged yourself. You felt a familiar stare at the nape of your neck, this time around suffocating you in pity before Yamagishi’s steps faded. Your chest felt like something had ripped, heat flooding from that place in a way that made you believe you ruptured an organ.
Your mind was in a trance for who knew how long, still piecing together what just happened and how to best deal with this new, unwanted truth, by the time your ears faintly registered a change in the stillness of this side of the school building. But try as you might, it wasn’t enough to rip you from your frozen state as the despair of realizing your true feelings while knowing that Okuyasu liked Yamagishi only made this more painful to admit to yourself. Your body had curled in on yourself without you noticing, the realization that this was heartbreak you experienced and not empathy almost making you want to laugh hysterically but something inside you knew that one strum of your vocal chords would break a different dam inside of you.
The faint noise from before finally registered properly through the inner turmoil as steps echoed throughout the hallway outside the classroom again, not slow and refined but thunderous and quick. Before you could even convince your body to move deeper into the classroom and hide from this one-man-stampede they arrived, the wheezing bringing you back to a moment in time just before getting mixed up with the current bane of your existence.
“THERE YOU ARE!” Oh no.
Three more booming steps and you felt a pair of large hands grab your shoulders and spin you around as if you were a beyblade while your body locked up in a silent panic. You really did not want to be anywhere near him right now but that was hard to accomplish when the boy with the pinprick eyes had a death grip on you, his face too close for comfort as he looked you over. “I was searchin’ all over for ya! Are ya alright? Where’s that-“ He paused as you turned your head away while trying to squirm out of his grasp, tiptoeing the line between discomfort and pain.
Did he want to question you about her? Was that why he searched for you? You grimaced as your chest hurt again, the tears ducts begging you to punch the purge button and unleash a flood that would put Okuyasu’s display from the day before to shame.
Your good friend though was oblivious to your heartbreak, instead only seeing you hunched over, squirming and apparently hurting so he freaked as he began to twist and turn you from side to side with a speed that made you do the shimmy. “What’s wrong?! Do ya need Josuke to fix ya?! I didn’t think nothin’ of it but the boys were right, chewin’ me out for lettin’ ya go with that crazy bitch!”
Your squirming stopped at once but his tugging didn’t, sending you stumbling forward as you put up no resistance. Too perplexed about his words to worry you simply let it happen as you tripped shoulder first into Okuyasu before the rest of your body followed, his arms instinctively wrapping around you as he called your name again in worry.
“Who’s a crazy bitch?” Tipping your head back slowly so you wouldn’t scrape your nose at the dollar sign on his chest you watched your friend’s face contort in confusion. “Yukako Yamagishi of course. There ain’t no other crazy bitch ‘round here.” The way he looked down at you made you feel like you were missing out on something, although it got increasingly harder to think as you noticed just how close his face was to yours, your heart making a flip but landing on broken legs as a new wave of pain burst in your chest. Why did that bitch have to call you out on your feelings…
“Oh.” Maybe you could agree on that observation concerning your female classmate but how did he know about that side of her? Did he see her pop off yesterday after you left? Why would she freak out in front of Koichi? Did… she stare at you and approach you because of whatever you missed? And if Okuyasu called her a crazy bitch…
“Wait. So you don’t like Yamagishi anymore?” If Okuyasu looked confused before your question it now made him appear utterly flabbergasted to the point where his already out of tune inside voice shattered completely in a scandalized outcry. And as much as you liked his expressive nature your ears didn’t appreciate the volume as he began a rant about how he’d never like someone like her, his worry about your well-being apparently completely forgotten until your call of his name broke through to him... after your fifth attempt. You could tell he was expecting an explanation from you at your apparently outlandish suggestion of him ever liking that fury with the face of an angel and it only reminded you of the painful sight you were granted the day before.
“I… thought you liked her since you’ve gotten so worked up over her and Koichi yesterday…. Remember? You even started to cry and… ignored me…” His expression froze completely, either because he remembered his outburst or because he slowly realized how he had treated you, and the longer his unblinking eyes remained on you the more you wanted to just shrink away and hide. Whatever he was thinking about, it turned the offence to guilt as his pinprick pupils darted around to read your face.
“I hurt ya again.” It was not a question but a statement, his eyes narrowing in what you assumed to be anger, though knowing him it was not directed at you. “I’m sorry I… I swear I didn’t mean to ignore ya I jus’… got jealous of Koichi." He struggled to find the right words, not used to talking about his feelings but visibly trying. He always tried if it was you who asked. "Ya know, I didn’t expect Koichi to get a girlfriend so soon an’… I know I have a face only a mom could love but… even knowin’ that it’ll never happen… I kinda always wanted someone to tell me they liked me too…”
At the last part he flinched as if having said too much, his head turning to the side but he was too close to hide his face from you. And seeing him from up close you could tell there was something in his eyes hinting on more than just being a secretly hopeless romantic who was embarrassed by his wish for love. His gaze held a deeper loneliness and pain than you thought possible for a teen his age, after a second even losing his focus while his eyes glossed over as if loosing himself in a place far away. The anger on his face gradually shifted into pain, the raw emotions startling you out of your stupor as your mind was convinced that if you failed to say something, you’d lose him forever to his mind.
“Listen, Okuyasu. I like you. And Josuke likes you too. And Koichi likes you too… and...” What started out as your personal fall from grace as you blurted the first thing in mind it quickly turned into one of your trademark sputtering ramblings. “And Josuke’s mom likes you too. And Koichi’s dog also! There are so many people who like you and appreciate you for who you are! A-And while it is normal to feel a little lonely that doesn’t mean you can just say mean stuff about your face or claim no one will ever like you and be mad at yourself just because you didn’t notice me and-“
You only stopped yourself as Okuyasu’s bewildered face blurred over, making you want to scoff in annoyance at yourself but causing you to sob, the noise returning your bumbling sweetheart to you again. What started as an annoying trickle turned into a steady downpour as you felt his pair of strong arms circle your frame fully and pull you into his strong chest again with a concerned rumble of your name, his hand resting at the back of your head to awkwardly pat it while the other tentatively drew circles into your upper back. Only when you threw your arms around his middle and grabbed fistfuls of his uniform, your nose digging into the fabric while properly crying into his chest, did his embrace turn more confident.
It felt so good to let it all out, the pain, the fear and the uncertainly brought on by the discovery of new and complicated emotions feeding into the stream of tears just as much as the relief over finding out that he didn’t have a crush on someone, even if it hinted on some of his own inner demons lurking just beneath his chipper surface.
The tears still hadn’t dried by the time the bell rang, announcing the end of your break, so Okuyasu convinced you to skip class just this once, his chin resting on top of your head as he looked out of the windows. His lips tugged up into a small smile as he heard your muffled groan between hiccupping sobs, the both of you knowing full well what a pain it would be to catch up to the lesson since you relied on the teacher’s explanations to get stuff while Okuyasu relied on you to tutor him.
But you stayed, remaining in his arms even when there were no more tears to shed and soak into his uniform. Neither of you budged as the air cleared with the two of you speaking up occasionally to exchange dumb jokes, the rumble in his chest as he laughed soothing you to a point where you managed to forget about everything that had happened during the last 24 hours.
And as you tried to pull away you didn’t question it when he kept his hand on your head, asking you to stay like this for a little while longer and leaving you oblivious to the heat rising to his face as he moved slightly until his cheek was against the top of your head, allowing his chin to move without digging into your scalp as he opened his mouth to whisper a simple but heartfelt “Thank you.”.