Work Text:
Ding-dong!
With a glare upon his face, Rohan rubbed his temple. The dreaded sound of the doorbell tore his attention away from his watercolor piece he’d been at for the past few hours. It wasn’t anything for his serialization, just some simple practice using his studio as a reference, but that still didn’t mean he wanted to be interrupted whilst he was focused. Placing his brush against the easel, he continued painting, whoever was at the door would just have to assume he wasn’t home.
Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong
Whoever was at the door was being an annoying shit, but he refused to answer it.
Ding…Dong…Ding…Dong…Ding…Dong
Rohan took a deep breath.
“20…19…18…17…” he counted down, calming himself before he’d end up heading downstairs and giving whoever was harassing him a piece of his mind, pretty much giving them what they wanted, his attention. No, he was going to sit right here and continue painting as he was doing before. Gathering back his focus, Rohan ignored the incessant ringing.
Finally, whoever was at the door stopped. Rohan let out a sigh of relief as the tranquil silence returned. However, right before he could get back to painting, he saw a certain pompadour-wearing brat quickly walking away from his front yard and down the street in a hurry. Now that piqued his curiosity, what could've had Josuke in such a rush like that? Obviously he had to be the one who was mashing his doorbell like a lunatic, so was it stand related?
As much as he didn't want to admit it, he did feel slightly worried. Setting his brush down, he made his way out his studio and down the stairs. Josuke hadn’t gone off that fast, so he probably could catch up with him or meet up with Koichi to find out what exactly was going on. Just when he opened the door though, his eye caught sight of something peculiar on the ground in front of his door.
A simple bouquet.
Rohan raised an eyebrow. “Now what is this for?” he wondered outloud as he picked the bouquet up. A little card was attached to it as well, but he couldn’t open it just yet considering he was using both hands to hold the bouquet.
This could be one of Josuke’s pranks… Rohan thought as he dug a bit through the flowers, but not enough to ruin them, Or a stand attack…
The safest option would’ve been to just leave it on the porch, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him. Closing the door behind him with his foot, he walked towards his living room where he sat the bouquet on his coffee table. Sitting down on the couch, he took the card from it and opened it.
‘Congrats on the anime Rohan-sensei!
From Josuke Higashikata.’
And that was all that was written.
Rohan rolled his eyes. Seriously? All of that just to congratulate him on Pink Dark Boy getting an anime? He would’ve been shocked, but he pretty much expected that out of Josuke at this rate. He sat the card on the table and planned to head back upstairs to finish his painting. However as he stood up, he noticed something off about the flowers. He wasn’t a flower expert, but the specific ones included in the bouquet felt…peculiar. There was something about it he just couldn’t put his finger on that he had to get to the bottom of.
He walked over to his bookshelf and searched around for a bit before his eyes finally landed on it. A book on hanakotoba that he picked up a while ago for an arc in Pink Dark Boy that had several clues revolving around it. Sitting back on the couch, he immediately turned the page to the one for lilies since the singular one in the center stood out the most to him
‘Lily - Used to describe the recipient’s beauty, comparing their appearance, behavior, and mannerisms with the flower. The white lily in particular represents purity and/or dignity, often in reference to love.’
Love? Rohan scoffed at the idea of Josuke being in love with him. Sure, the two had gotten along better than they initially had some years ago, even to the extent of spending time with each other without a mediator such as Koichi having to be there, but did that translate into romantic feelings?
It had to be a coincidence.
Of course, one flower didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. He’d have to see what the rest of the flowers meant before he jumped to any asinine conclusions.
For the next one to catch his eye, he noticed the various chrysanthemums scattered throughout in two different colors, white-yellow and green. He flipped through the pages yet again until he landed on the page for them.
‘Chrysanthemum - White chrysanthemums represent steadfast loyalty, devoted love, and connotations to truth. When mixed with yellow they specifically represent secret admiration or unrequited love. Green ones representing hope, optimism, truth, and happiness.’
…Two in a row? The lilies were one thing, but for there to be two flowers related to romance in this bouquet was really saying something. Surely that had to be a coincidence? Right? Josuke couldn’t nearly be smart enough to actually pay attention to something like hanakotoba…right? As he tried to wrap his mind around it, a memory from seven years ago surfaced in his mind.
~ 💐 ~
“Don’t you have anything better to do than stalk me, Josuke Higashikata?” Rohan asked in an annoyed tone as he looked at the teenager following him. He’d only gone into town for a quick walk to stretch and happened to run into Josuke much to his chagrin. Now, Josuke had kept trying to start a conversation with him for the past fifteen minutes, to which Rohan had no interest in entertaining.
“I mean, yeah probably, but I’m not stalking you! I’m just trying to have a conversation with you!” Josuke replied back, exasperation evident in his voice.
“Well I’m not in the mood for a conversation, so if you’d please stop stalking me I’d very much appreciate it.”
Josuke groaned. “Look, Rohan-sensei,” Oh so he’s trying to be polite now, “I promise you I’m not trying to get on your nerves, I just wanted to talk to you.”
Rohan looked at him with clear disinterest on his face. He could just ignore his cries as he usually did, but something in him this time was telling him to give an ear to the delinquent for once. With a sigh he replied, “Fine, what do you need to talk about with me that’s so important?”
Josuke smiled as he let out a sigh of relief.
~ 💐 ~
That memory was actually the earliest he could think of the both of them having a moment that didn’t end in petty bickering. It was…a nice one he had to admit. Josuke had went off telling him something about trying to get along with him and put the past behind them, to which Rohan at the time found pretty idiotic. However, there was definitely a gradual change in their relationship after that, a less antagonistic, though still bicker-y, one. Josuke had always been the type that tried to get along with everyone unless they crossed a line, even if they got on his last nerves. Rohan couldn’t help but grin a bit at that.
Bringing himself back to reality, Rohan continued his analysis. The next one for focus fell on the violets, scattered similar to the chrysanthemums in a lesser amount.
‘Violet - A symbol of honesty, hard work, and sincerity. A flower that seeks to only tell the truth. In giving violets as a gift to another, only best intentions are meant with hope that honesty will be returned.’
God, he really wanted to make it clear he wasn’t lying or anything of the sort wasn’t he. To be honest, it wasn’t a shock to Rohan, considering the way that Josuke had cheated him in cee-lo seven years ago around the time after they first met. It didn’t matter that it happened seven years ago, Rohan Kishibe was not one to let go of things, especially when he still couldn’t figure out what Josuke did to always have the dice favor him.
~ 💐 ~
"Come onnnn Rohan," Josuke whined. "You can trust me with this!"
"I don't know, cheaters aren't what comes to mind when I think of 'trust'."
Josuke groaned. "Rohan, that was four years ago , can you please let it go."
"Four years of you refusing to admit something was going on during cee-lo, Josuke Higashikata."
"Not my full name…" he sighed. "Look, what can I do to get you to trust me?"
Without missing a beat, "Admit that you were cheating," Rohan replied.
Josuke muttered an annoyed swear under his breath. "Fine, I admit it. Back in 1999, I cheated when we played cee-lo. Even though I've apologized before and this was four years ago, I apologize, Rohan-sensei."
Rohan smirked at Josuke's annoyed expression. "As you should be, now tell me how you did it! How could you manage to get the dice to roll exactly what you wanted!?"
"Nope." he suddenly grinned.
"What do you mean 'nope'!? Did you not hear what I just said?"
"Yeah I heard you loud and clear, Rohan-sensei," Josuke continued. "You told me to admit that I was cheating, you never said I had to tell you how I was cheating."
Rohan stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. Josuke was right, he didn't necessarily have to tell him how he did it, therefore keeping his end of the bargain. You irritating asshole, he glared at Josuke.
“Now now, you gotta keep your end of the deal,” he teased, letting his smug expression be clear as day.
Rohan sighed. “Fine then,” he turned around, “but if you mess this up, I’ll never trust you again.”
With that Rohan crossed his arms over his chest and suddenly fell backwards, no attempt to even protect his head from hitting the ground. As he approached the earth beneath him, suddenly Josuke grabbed him with both arms, holding him in place.
“See now, was that so hard?”
“I still would rather not do a trust fall with you, I don’t know why Koichi thought this would be a fun activity for the six of us.”
Standing off to the side beside them the other four in question (Koichi, Yukako, Okuyasu, and a confused Mikitaka), stared at the two. Koichi had his head in his hands, filled with regret at asking the two to partner up, considering they had just spent the past fifteen minutes arguing.
“You know we could always just leave them behind! The four of us could all go have a good time somewhere else!” Yukako pointed out.
~ 💐 ~
He’d swore to himself that he’d find out one day, but looking back he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the memory. Him and Josuke ended up having to apologize to Koichi and the rest in the end for inconveniencing them, but that was all in the past. Letting it go for now so he could continue with interpreting the bouquet, Rohan looked at the next one to catch his eyes, a few carnations.
‘Carnation - White one are commonly used as wedding flowers as they represent good luck, pure love, passion, and sweetness.’
Rohan stopped reading there, not out of disgust, but because he was pretty sure that Josuke wasn’t trying to ask him to marry him, even if he did turn out to like him. That would be rushing way too quick into things for lack of a better term.
At least take me out on a date beforehand, he thought to himself as he breezed through the pages to his next focus, the white camellias.
‘Camellias - Commonly called the ‘Rose of Japan’, camellias are a symbol of love, passion, and perfection. White ones represent longing, waiting, and an innocent love. ’
“Innocent love…” Rohan thought out loud. If he were interpreting it right, an ‘innocent love’ represented yearning for someone who'd you never confess your feelings to almost like a schoolboy. Considering how Josuke had given him a bouquet instead, maybe he hadn’t intended to directly confess, leaving it to fate to see if he’d noticed the specific flowers strewn within it and look up the meanings. He laughed a bit, truly he could still act like a brat in love even now.
There was one flower left now, a few roses colored a light peach.
~ 💐 ~
“Do you still hate me?”
“What do you mean?”
Rohan looked up from his sketchbook towards Josuke sitting across from him at the table. The two had ran into each other in town and decided to head to the cafe together. It was a bit silent between them, but not in an awkward or bad sense. Rohan’s eye had caught something interesting he just had to sketch down, and Josuke remained silent to let him focus. This was routine for them at this point which made the sudden question catch him off guard.
“I mean do you still hate me? Used to back in the day.” he laughed a bit.
Rohan sighed, this question was idiotic if anything. Did he really have to say it? Sure, Josuke could get on his nerves at times, and he had no issue letting him know he was grating on his nerves. However, if he were to compare it to back when they first had met, then he felt no hatred towards him, but that should’ve been obvious to him.
“No, I don’t hate you, you do happen to get on my nerves more often than not like it’s some sort of game.”
“A classic one.” Josuke smirked.
Rohan refused to acknowledge that. “But if I were to be honest, I do enjoy your company. You’re one of the few people I don’t mind being around.”
Josuke went silent for a bit, looking down at his lukewarm coffee.
“Of course, Koichi still reigns as my favorite to be around.” Rohan smirked.
Josuke shot him a frown to which Rohan laughed. Even if he still did get on his nerves, he couldn’t help but try to get under his skin from time to time. “What about you then?”
“Hm?”
“Do you still hate me?” Rohan asked.
Josuke rubbed the nape of his neck, “I mean, no I don’t hate you or anything…I didn’t like you back then, but I didn’t like hate you or something.”
“Oh, you’re way more patient than I was, I absolutely hated your guts.”
“Besides that, I do like being around you as well, it’s…nice I would say. If anything, I do admire you a bit.” he looked away as he said this, a clear blush evident on his face that Rohan took notice of. Just before he could point that out however, the waitress came over with their meals, throwing their attention elsewhere. Josuke immediately went digging into his meal, almost as if he was signaling to move on from that conversation, so Rohan let it be for now. However, he did make a mental note to question him about it later on if he still happened to have remember.
~ 💐 ~
‘Peach Roses - A classic symbol of grace and elegance, often given as a token of admiration and appreciation. Representing grace, gentleness, and happiness, these flowers can also mean trust and confidence.’
Rohan looked back at the card, congratulating him on the anime. These roses even matched with what Josuke had told him just a week before about admiring him. These couldn’t be a coincidence, Josuke had to have deliberately gotten these made as not only as a congratulatory gift.
But as an indirect confession as well.
Lying his back against the couch, Rohan became lost in his thoughts. Josuke having feelings for him? In hindsight when he thought about it, it wasn’t too much of a shock considering how the relationship between the both of them had progressed and Josuke’s own actions towards him. However, it still was a surprise he’d even think of confessing in a way such as this. Did he feel he just had to be sneaky with it? Just hope and see what fate had decided for the both of them? Was there even a specific reason he had to do it through congratulating him on Pink Dark Boy’s anime announcement…
Wait…
Rohan realized something right then and there.
The anime announcement hadn’t been published just yet, the issue containing it was still a few days away. However, there were news sources online that announced it earlier from reporters that were at the event. Koichi hadn’t even found out yet considering he didn’t call him or anything despite being one of his biggest fans even to this day. If Josuke knew about this, then that only meant…
In fact, on that note, the arc he wrote where hanakotoba was vital in revealing clues to the mystery had only finished a few months ago, it wasn’t even in a tankouban yet. Josuke could’ve only known this had he been reading Ultra Jump…
A smile worked it’s way onto Rohan’s face. “I see your little game, Josuke Higashikata,” he said as he moved the bouquet to the kitchen, planning on putting the flowers inside a vase to keep them healthy.
He could’ve still gone after Josuke, confronting him about the bouquet and maybe tease him a little about it, but he decided against it. What fun would that be when instead he could be a little sadistic and wait until the next time they met to get him to confess about the flowers himself. Oh he couldn’t wait to see the look on his face as he stammered and tried his best to keep calm, not knowing that he’d already figured it out the day of.
And for his own thoughts on how he felt about Josuke…well, he found the thought of starting a relationship with him one that he didn’t mind not one bit.
~ 💐 ~