Chapter Text
The sun is setting. Leaves are slowly changing their colour, and the soft oranges and yellows begin to appear here and there. It's a golden evening. The streets look like they're paved in gold, the clouds are like gold cotton candy, the sea is like melted gold.
Josuke is fucked.
He's in love.
His beloved is now trying to drive a small bike. Hayato Kawajiri, that little boy who basically saved their lives is now an acquaintance if not a friend, and they meet eventually. Today, Okuyasu is trying to drive his new bike, despite the little kid's complaints. Okuyasu had reassured him that if the bike breaks, Josuke will fix it. And indeed, the bike breaks several times, but Okuyasu is determined to drive it, at least from the bench where Josuke sits to that big tree.
Josuke knows he's in love with a perfect idiot. But perfect is the keyword there.
And if anything, having fallen in love with Okuyasu was completely his own fault.
Alright, that wasn't very fair. It was Okuyasu's fault. He was everything a guy should be and more. He was handsome, unconventionally and carelessly handsome. He was intimidating, masculine, and strong. Determined, stubborn even. But, deep inside, he was sensitive, kind and gentle. A wounded soul, a kid who hadn't known love, and who could still feel it with the heat of a thousand suns. And to make things light and easier to bear, he was an idiot, a complete goof who wasn't afraid of ridiculing himself for laughter. Josuke hadn't lived a boring day since he met Okuyasu.
The problem is, that he knew all of this, yes. But there was always a line he knew he would never cross. He knew he loved Okuyasu dearly. He had known it since that day in which both almost lost their lives at the hands of a serial killer. But he never dared to think any further than that. Love, fraternal love, something innocent.
That until some weeks ago. When the line was crossed, and nothing and everything changed.
And it was, indeed, Josuke's fault.
"Josuke", Okuyasu said one time, when they were watching TV in the living room after finishing homework. "Today somethin' real weird happen".
"Mh?" The blue eyed boy barely pay him mind. The movie was interesting, and the actor had a nice nose.
"... Well, remember that barista chick with the piercing? She's a real badass".
"A total badass. She's hot", Josuke mumbled, chin on his hand, lips pouting as his regular rest face.
"Totally hot", Okuyasu agreed. "Well, ya ain't gonna believe it but... I... I kinda... Flirted with her? Like, I've never done before. And I think it worked".
Fine. That got Josuke's interest.
For the first time he turned to look at Okuyasu, who was blushing like a tomato and looking away. The image was perfectly contradictory with the boy's last statement, so Josuke simply scoffed, raising a disdainful eyebrow.
"Right. You got the attention of chick with piercings and a bitch expression that says fuck you. You, who cannot even look into my eyes as you say that", he said, mockingly.
"I know! I know it sounds crazy, but I swear to god! I don't know what happened to me, I just... I was going to the bathroom, and she was gettin' out... And I just-", the boy cupped his own face, as if trying to cool or hide the heat that had risen there, "I kinda stopped her, kinda, kabedon and all, and I told her I loved her style, and that if she was free I-I would like, like, you know, hang out, and bro I swear, I swear she looked at me!"
"Right. That chick looked at you", Josuke was arms crossed now, disbelief written on his face. "She doesn't even look at me".
"I swear, bro", Okuyasu sounded desperate for reassurance, "and she kinda blushed and she said she had to go back to work but I swear to my fucking dead brother that it's true!"
The girl in question was one of the rudest people Josuke had ever seen. He still didn't understand how she still kept her job. Although, two things were true: first, her coffees were the best he had ever tasted and seen; and second, she was gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous. The skin perfect, pore-less. The eyes huge and in a deep, dark brown that stared into one's soul. The nose, a tiny button decorated with a delicate ring on the left nostril. The lips, almost heart shaped, full and naturally pink. The beautiful face framed with a pitch black silky hair, long and straight, curling only at the ends where the black faded into a soft auburn. Her makeup was always on point, the beautiful nails always manicured with pretty, punk-ish patterns. An absolute doll.
But she was hideous. She never greeted, didn't look at people as she spoke at them, she was just, impolite.
Josuke was a fine looking boy, he knew it. He had more fans that he could count and had broken more hearts than he would have liked to. And even so, this girl had only looked at him once, only to roll her eyes at him when he complimented her manicure.
And Okuyasu, a boy who got rejected by at least three girls last month, each one of them as plain as the tap water he drank everyday, a boy who blushed when he tried to tell the story to a friend, was telling that that girl got flustered by him.
Right. And the sky in Morioh is blue.
There was one single problem though.
Okuyasu couldn't lie to save his life. He simply couldn't. If he was lying about something that could potentially expose him to any sort of jeopardy, he would be so anxious and nervous that he could break into tears. And if he was lying to try to prank someone, he would be laughing at the situation before he could even finish telling the lie.
Yet in that moment, the boy sounded so convinced, that Josuke feared that he had lost his mind. Because it simply couldn't be true.
"Okay. Say I believe you", Josuke sighed, to which Okuyasu nodded, "I would still like to see a proof".
"Well, I dunno 'bout that. But if we go now, it might still be open, I can try ta greet her? And if she looks at me or sumthin', you believe me?", The billion boy put his best puppy eyes on display, and Josuke snorted.
"Aight, let's go then", he yawned, standing up, "but if she's not into you, you're paying".
Words would fail to describe the amazement in Josuke's face as, once they entered the café, the punk doll blushed from the forehead down to her neck, and deliberately tried to avoid looking up, even more than usual. That, little as it was, was rare. But it didn't stop there. It all changed when Okuyasu spoke.
"Hi there".
Wow.
No, seriously. Wow.
Josuke's jaw could hit the floor any second now. Now his widely open eyes were staring at his friend, as if he didn't know who he was.
That voice? The confidence? Even Josuke felt a bit warm on the cheeks.
And when he looked back at the girl, SHE WAS SMILING. Still looking down, but SMILING NONETHELESS.
They ordered, now Okuyasu speaking as usual, Josuke stuttering something, and they were given seats.
Josuke was speechless, but Okuyasu was already grinning, victorious.
"Told ya", he snickered, to which Josuke whined, covering his face with both hands.
"What. The FUCK did you-- I mean, like-- HOW?"
The billion boy could only laugh. He explained that he had no idea where that came from, or why he decided to play so smoothly. Josuke asked if he had seen it in a movie, or if he read some comic with a character who seemed that suave. Okuyasu insisted that he hadn't. But Josuke still didn't believe him, so he demanded a demonstration. Okuyasu agreed and once the coffee was finished, they decided to leave.
"Thanks for your hard work. Give your best, huh? See ya", Okuyasu greeted her as they were leaving, even his pronunciation sounded smoother, and he waved her lightly, almost like a feline raising a threatening but elegant paw.
"Bye".
That was the barista. One of Josuke's hands flew to his mouth, the other grasped Okuyasu's wrist and they rushed out of the café before they could explode into victorious yells and groans. She greeted him BYE. What was next? Yukako breaking up with Koichi? Rohan taking a shower? Josuke had seen crazy things in his life but that was insane. Not the punk doll, not her!
"Okay, but now, you show me exactly what you did", he demanded, once they were back at his place, inside of his bedroom. "Like, step by step".
"Mkay. Huh, lessee... Huh, say yer closet door is the toilet's door, kay? Ya come out and I approach, ya follow".
"Okay. So, I'm the girl", Josuke nodded, hands in the air, making sure he was getting the scene as perfectly as possible, "and I'm getting out of the toilet".
"Mh-hum".
"And then?"
"Huh, okay, so, walk a bit and I show ya what I did. Tho I'm warnin' ya, in this context it'll be kinda gay", Okuyasu snorted, to which Josuke merely rolled his eyes.
"What, did you kiss her?"
"Nah, but I... Well, okay, so I show you, hm? And you judge".
"That's what I'm saying~~", Josuke tapped the floor with his bare foot, impatient.
"Okay, okay. Walk towards me a bit, but like totally ignorin' me, yer trynna pass by me as if I don't exist".
Huh, classic of the punk doll. Alright. Josuke did as told.
And his whole world changed.
As he was trying to pass by Okuyasu, his friend abruptly stood in front of him, which naturally caused him to stop. And in one fluid, smooth motion, Okuyasu placed his hands on his elbows, gently pushed him against the closet door and immediately blocked any way out, on one side with his leg, the knee bending as the arm rested against the door, the other hand barely touching the wood with his fingertips, but still blocking him from trying to get away. It was such an invasive movement that it was natural for anyone to be paralyzed; however, there was something so fluid and suave about it, that it wasn't threatening. So, despite knowing that colour had risen to his cheeks, Josuke dared to meet the eyes that were staring into his.
And then, when their eyes met, Okuyasu spoke.
"I've been wanting to tell you for a while. I really love your style, you know?", He purred. Josuke reckoned that between the doll and Okuyasu, the height difference would have forced him to look down on her. But in this case, with both of them being almost the same height, the tips of their noses were almost touching, and Josuke could feel his heart beating with the force of a pack of rhinos. This wasn't happening, oh god... "If you're ever free, I would love to hang out, you know?"
Josuke could feel his legs getting weak. His heart was frantic. His cheeks were burning. Okuyasu's eyes looked so sensual, the expression on them so certain, so sure, the slight smirk on his full lips exposing a bit of his fangs. Oh yeah, he was definitely staring at Okuyasu's lips. He swallowed hard. Then unconsciously licked his lips, and very slowly the gap between them began to close...
"And then she just pushed me away, sayin' gotta go back to work and kept walking, but she totally blushed bro. Like, she was all red and I coulda sworn she smiled. Well, ya saw, today, she smiled!"
Okuyasu broke the spell just like that. As if he just hammered a crystal window. Josuke felt dizzy. His friend was already sprawled on his bed, talking about how wonderful it would be if he could date that barista, that he would have never known he was such a natural.
And Josuke agreed. He was a natural.
And his heart had never pounded that hard.
For fuck's sake, he had almost kissed Okuyasu.