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It was a Friday morning. Koichi, Okuyasu, and Josuke were walking to their classes together. Just a few minutes before the first bell, Oku and Josuke started hugging and cuddling each other, muttering romantic yet cheesy stuff to each other.
"We're gonna meet up after class, right?" Okuyasu asked shyly.
"Yes..." Josuke replied, hugging him and patting his back.
"We're gonna walk home together like usual, right?"
"Yeah..."
Poor Koichi couldn't help but stare at them with a very confused look on his face. Why were they acting like this? Acting... gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but this is a small Japanese town in the late '90s.
Anyway, he's honestly never seen them act like this around each other before; the best they would do is have little to no personal space. Koichi just thought that's a bro thing! Between bros!
"...Guys? We're gonna be late," he finally blurted out.
Okuyasu and Josuke turned to Koichi with a slightly annoyed look on their faces but backed away from their embrace.
"..Byee Josukeeeee," Oku said, giggling like a teenage girl.
"Byeeeeee," Jojo replied in the exact same tone.
Hirose just looked at them with the straightest face he could make until they both walked off to their separate classes. He then went to his first class as well.
---
Later, after school, he, Josuke, Okuyasu, and Yukako were all walking home together. While Koichi was having a conversation with Yukako, he glanced over and saw Josuke and Oku holding hands while clearly blushing at each other. Koichi was SUPER tempted to straight-up ask if they were dating, but their relationship is none of his business—or so he told himself.
"..I love being with you, Okuyasu," Josuke whispered. Koichi heard it and started to slow down his walking. Yukako noticed and slowed down, too. At this point, he definitely knew they had some sort of relationship.
"Something wrong, Koichi?" Yukako asked.
"..Yeah, I'm good," he said, though he couldn't help but shift most of his focus toward them.
Okuyasu abruptly stopped walking, and so did Josuke. They spent a brief moment just staring into each other's eyes.
"I love you too, Josuke..." he uttered. Just as it seemed like they were about to kiss, they immediately continued walking.
"What the fuck?" Koichi thought to himself.
"Hey, uh... guys, I gotta go somewhere..." The rest of them stopped walking when they heard him say that.
"Oh," Yamagashi replied, then followed up with, "That's alright. Make sure to call me when you get home."
"Me too!" Okuyasu added.
Hirose nodded in response. "Yeah, see you later, man," said Josuke. Koichi waved at them and basically ran off in the other direction. Josuke began to wonder if something was going on or if Koichi just decided to act like a weirdo for some reason.
---
Koichi was now at Rohan's place. The whole time he was there, he talked about how Josuke and Okuyasu were acting really different with each other than usual. Rohan was just drawing in his notebook the whole time, listening to his dear friend Koichi—or so he thought.
"So now I'm wondering... did I miss a chapter? What's going on, Rohan-sensei?" Koichi asked frantically.
Rohan speculated for a bit, and then, ding ding! It seemed like he knew why. "They're raging homosexuals," Kishibe said confidently. He then continued, "To be honest, I expected this. Higashikata is a walking fruitcake. If you bit into him, you'd find seeds in your mouth."
Koichi didn't understand what the hell that even meant; he just stared at Rohan with a confused look.
"...What does this have to do with how Okuyasu and Josuke are acting with each other?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Well, since he's such a homo, it's no surprise he eventually got a boyfriend! Besides, I just like to blame everything on him," he said.
"...Rohan-sensei, I feel like you are not understanding what I am asking."
"Well, what do you want me to do? Use Heaven's Door to remove being gay from their minds? I have better things to do with my time," Kishibe said in a very sassy tone. Koichi just got up from the chair he was sitting on and left, barely getting an actual answer.
---
Koichi, Okuyasu, and Josuke were hanging out outside a shop, eating ice cream. Then, out of nowhere, Josuke asked, "Oku, could I try some of your ice cream? Pleeeeeeaaaaseeee?" in a pleading tone.
"Of course, babyyyyyyy," Okuyasu said eagerly and proceeded to let him taste some of the ice cream, because they're besties, and besties eat each other's ice cream. However, Koichi couldn't take it anymore and just asked:
"Are you guys, like... dating?" Koichi questioned.
Josuke and Okuyasu turned to each other, then back at Koichi. Josuke then proceeded to cover his mouth with his hand and replied, "Maybe."
Maybe? The hell you mean "Maybe"? All that happened and all this guy could say is "Maybe." Koichi turned to Okuyasu with the most puzzled look on his face.
Okuyasu shrugged. "Shiii, maybe. I mean—I wouldn't be against the idea," he said.
Koichi put his face in his palms and let out a groan. The two gay lovers/besties/to-be-announced looked at him with confused expressions.