Chapter Text
With fresh grease wiped across his brow and a wrench in hand, Okuyasu sat back to admire his work. He had just finished fixing a radiator on an old rusty Cadillac. Spare and broken parts littered the garage he worked in and tools were everywhere. He knew exactly where everything was, though. It was easy when he was the only one running the garage. “Looks like we'll have a little bit of extra cash now.”
He sighed as a tired smile shown across his face. Wiping his hands on an already dirtied towel, he headed into the small office in the back of the shop so he could take a quick break.
***
With a fresh coat of wine colored lipstick and a freshly coiffed pomp, Josuke was ready to head out shopping. Glancing at his reflection in a mall window, he made sure that he was freshly dressed. He had on a new designer blazer with crisp high-waisted jeans and floral pattern shirt. His jacket was bedazzled with various fashion buttons and pins.
He met up with his friend Yukako first who was his usual shopping buddy. She was wearing a cute crop top that hung off of her shoulders paired with a high-waisted skirt. “How’d that date go last night, Josuke?” She asked with a tone that showed little interest. Neither of them hung out with many others from their part of town.
“Awfully. He was boring as hell and had no redeemable qualities whatsoever. Worse than the girl from last week. All he wanted to do was talk about how much money he has and how he spends it. And he wouldn't stop staring at my body instead of my face. At least the girl actually looked at me, she just kept lying about herself.” An expression of disgust came across his face.
“Why do you even go on dates if you hate it so much?” She asked with a quirk of a perfectly groomed brow. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Josuke sagged his shoulders.
“I dunno. It's just something to do. I'm holding out little hope that there's at least someone decent in our town that isn't all about the money. Or status. Or looks for once.” Yukako rolled her eyes at his complaint.
“Then stop looking and just wait for them to come to you. And there's plenty of other stuff to do.” He began to softly whine.
“I don't like waitinggg.” She was suddenly holding interest at something in a display window at the mall.
“I've noticed.” Her interest in the item soon turned to interest in her appearance.
“And all we do is spend money on all the same stuff. There's not really much else to do together. You don't like to play video games or go to concerts.” Yukako shrugged.
“Those are all boring.” before Josuke could even make a retort or a complaint, he heard a familiar voice call his name.
“Hey, Josuke!” his short friend Koichi came running up to them with a smile on his face. Yukako instantly went red at the sight of him. As she busied herself with trying to hide her face with her hair, Josuke and Koichi happily greeted one another.
“Hey, Koichi! What are you doing here? How's it going?” Koichi was the only other person they ever hung out with who happened to not be from the upper class like they were.
“Oh! I'm good. I'm on lunch currently. I came here since they have a decent food selection.” Yukako watched him with pure admiration on her face as he spoke. Koichi suddenly looked surprised as he eyed what his friend was wearing. “Did you take your bike today? You're awfully nicely dressed for a ride.” Josuke gave a nervous smile.
“Ah, well ya see… I kind of broke my bike? It doesn't wanna start and I can't figure out why. I haven't had anyone look at it yet and I'm not sure where to go. So many mechanics make up stuff to get more money out of you and half the time they don't even fix it right.” He huffed with a slight pout to his lips.
Koichi seemed excited hearing his friend's lament. Josuke looked at him in confusion before his friend spoke up. “I know a guy who could help you! He's a good friend of mine since middle school, has a shop all his own. He fixes up all sorts of things for really cheap. And he's really good, I promise.” Josuke was completely taken aback by his friend's excitement as the smaller of the three began to reach into his pocket for a piece of paper and a pen. He began to scribble numbers onto the small parchment before forcing it into his taller friend's hands. “Here’s his number! You should give him a call!”
“How resourceful.” Yukako proudly beamed. Josuke simply didn't know what to say.
“U-uh. Okay. I'll… Do that.” as he spoke, Koichi was glancing down at his watch and suddenly yelped in fright.
“Yikes! I gotta go grab my lunch now if I want time to get back and eat! I'll see you later! Josuke! Yu-yukako!” He stammered as he yelled and waved at them. Yukako watched him with a dreamy stare. After a moment of looking at the small note in his hand, Josuke looked over to see the expression on his friend's face before scoffing.
“Ya know, if you're so into him why don't you just ask him out already?” a gentle punch was thrown his way before she spoke.
“He's too good for me. He's so responsible and polite. I could never deserve him.” it was Josuke's turn to roll his eyes.
“Maybe he might like you back. If you gave it a shot. What was that about waiting for them to come to you?” She punched him again but a bit more playfully.
“Let's go look at what new shoes are in today.” was what Yukako said to change the subject. Her long hair swished behind her as she walked off towards one of the many department stores. Josuke stood back for a moment and looked at the paper in his hand once more. He suddenly felt something strange in the pit of his stomach, something unknown, before he frowned and shoved the paper in his pocket. “I'll call him later.”