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Every Thursday night served as the legendary Higashikata Curry Night, and for the first time, you'd been invited to partake in it.
The first Thursday night of September 1999 marked your first anniversary of the elusive curry night you'd heard so much about. Okuyasu sang praises; it was apparently curry cooked to perfection that even his sensitive tongue could handle. Koichi lit up at the mere mention too— you could only believe that Tomoko Higashikata cooked a mean pot of curry, and you had to get yourself involved.
“Thank you for letting me come over for dinner, Miss Higashikata,” You washed your hands vigorously in the kitchen sink. If one desires Tomoko’s curry, they must assist in making it. “Everyone keeps telling me how good your curry is, and I couldn't wait to try it anymore.”
Josuke’s mother heaved a large pot from a lower cupboard onto her trustworthy old stove. “It's no problem, [name]. I always tell Josuke to have people over on curry night because we make too much, but you all treat it like such a delicacy that he thinks he can get away with making it so. I'm shocked he hasn't started charging for a taste.”
“I'm home, you know. I can hear you trash-talking me in the living room.” Josuke waved a finger scoldingly.
“I know you're home, that's why I'm saying it loud enough for you to get the message.”
“Damn,” Josuke grumbled and slouched into a kitchen chair and stared intently at the checkered linoleum.
“Watch your language! You have a guest, after all,” Tomoko took the towel you'd dried your hands with and whipped it at her son. Besides, I'm sure the last thing [name] wants to see is soap in your filthy mouth!”
Josuke winced quietly at the very thought of sucking on a bar of soap. It was hardly ideal, especially given that he didn't want to ruin his reputation in front of the person of his affections. Of course, he couldn't tell you that. If you didn't return his feelings, you'd play it off like you hadn't heard what he said. And he'd be too embarrassed to repeat himself. Josuke had every possible scenario figured out; and the only successful situation to confess to you in was if he invited you to the famed curry night.
“Actually, I might enjoy that. Don't hold back, miss Higashikata, really.”
“Hey! Don't condone her punishments. I don't get cut enough slack around here.” Josuke jutted out his lower lip. The sight of you and his mother getting along hunky dory was sending him mixed messages. If you two got too close, she'd bring out the mortifying pictures from his youth. Yet it could also work in his favor…
“Josuke, start chopping up the peppers, would you?” Tomoko gestured over to the cutting board across the kitchen. You busied yourself with stirring curry powder into the large pot that sat on the stove. Your motivation, even in the strangest of things, was one of the many reasons Josuke found himself attracted to you. Your ambition was never misplaced— your energy was never wasted on something you considered pointless. It was something he could truly admire you for, romantically or not.
The teen slipped a knife out of the knife block sitting on the counter, and began chipping away at the vibrantly colored peppers. He had to start thinking a little more in depth on how he was going to confess, if he was to do it tonight. When should he do it? After dinner, or before? Should he kiss you, or hug you, or maybe even shake hands?
“Shit!” Josuke’s train of thought was completely cut off, as was a sliver of his index finger’s skin. The blood flowing from his cut nearly matched the red bell peppers exactly.
“Josuke, what the hell did I say? Watch your lang—” Tomoko whipped her head around to scold her child, instead greeted with a picturesque moment mixed with blood, peppers, and a cutting board. “Well, hurry and get that cleaned up! The first aid kit is in the bathroom.”
Josuke gripped his cut finger tightly and frowned. “[name], mind wrapping my finger up? I think I'm gonna faint if I keep looking at my finger.”
“Fine, fine. Where's the bathroom?” You ushered him into the hallway, and Josuke directed you down to the first door on the right. The bright light flickered on after flipping the switch, and Josuke sat himself down on the toilet seat, weak in the knees.
“Okay, first aid kit, first aid kit…” You fumbled around the Higashikatas’ bathroom for a good minute or two before checking in the only obvious location— under the sink. “I'll wash it off, disinfect it, and bandage it up. Don't whine when the alcohol stings, alright?”
“I make no promises.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Josuke leaned up towards the sink to wash the excess blood off, and you prepared a cotton swab with disinfectant. Not even a gentle rub onto his cut and he cussed in pain, breaking the promise he didn't make.
“Damn, it hurts [name], it hurts!”
“I know! Sit still and it'll be over faster.”
Josuke didn't listen. He squirmed and wiggled on the toilet seat cover to ignore the pain, looking rather stupid in the process. You shook your head and concealed your grin, trying to focus.
“You sure do like to give me a hard time, huh?” You tossed the cotton swab into the garbage can and began dressing his tiny wound with a few bandages.
“Hmm, yeah, only because I know you'll keep putting up with it.” Finished with wrapping the bandages tightly around his finger, Josuke stood up. The cramped bathroom put you two rather too close for comfort. Josuke could say this was all a plan, a ploy to get you alone and close to him, but he'd be lying. “So, um… [name].”
“What?” You gazed up at him after putting the medical kit away. He was blushing, and you couldn't help but do the same, given the proximity. His height and build made you feel significantly smaller than you actually were. Perhaps this is what Koichi always dealt with.
“Thanks for fixing me up, and stuff.”
“Yeah, no problem. You do the same for everybody else, so it's not a big deal if I return the favor.”
“You see, that's the thing… I, uh, I don't want to treat you like everybody else,” He could've worded that better, but Josuke wasn't the best speaker in times like these, of inexperience and infatuation.
“So, what, you want to kick my ass?”
“Hey, you aren't stupid. Think about it for a minute.”
You held your chin in one hand and studied Josuke; hard. Dusty red cheeks, less than a foot separating you, and darting eyes up your figure and hastily away.
“You like me?” You came to a solid conclusion. The pieces finally fell together; the curry night invitation, his dorky behavior showing more than usual, and a breath away from sending shudders down your neck.
“Well, yeah.” He paused. “Do you like me back? And you know it's not like, but like-like, as in I want you to be my girlfriend like—”
“I'm not that dense, Josuke. Really…” You reached up and pushed down on his shoulders so he'd sit down on the toilet seat again. Josuke complied near-instantaneously. He watched you with eager eyes, awaiting the reciprocation of his feelings.
“I could’ve easily read the signs, I mean, I've known you long enough to pick up on those little quirks of yours. You look at me the same way you looked at that one girl you liked in middle school.” You caressed his cheek with the utmost of care, eliciting a shaky breath from him. “Not that it's a bad thing… I’ve always wanted you to look at me like that.”
“Always?” Josuke brought a hand up to your waist, feeling rather daring now that you were on his wavelength.
“Longer than you can probably imagine.” Your fingertips grazed the exposed skin of his neck, down to his collarbone. “How come you waited so long to invite me to your damn curry night?”
“I wanted to wait for the right time to ask you, so I– in my mind I ran through all the possible situations and how they would play out.” Your laugh was sultry and irresistible. Josuke’s other hand wandered down the outside of your thigh. One wrong move, and he could ruin everything; but the temptation of touching you more and more was becoming harder to suppress. “This isn't really what I planned, or even imagined… Not that I'm complaining.”
You nudged the bathroom’s door shut with your foot carefully in hopes not to break Josuke’s tight grip on your waist.
“W–Wait, my mom is gonna think something’s up.”
“It's fine, we’re still cleaning up your finger, remember?” You eased your legs around his hips, closing the narrow space between you. “I know you want me, and I want you, but we can't just fuck on your toilet.”
“Yeah…” Josuke’s heart was beating into his throat. He really wanted to— God, that was all he could focus on right now— but you were right. Toilet sex, especially with his mom’s hypersensitive ears, would be the worst choice at the moment.
“So, we can improvise for the time being.” You stroked the front of his uniform pants with one hand, evoking a premature moan from your sweetheart.
“S-Sorry, I've never done this before and you're so cute and I don't know what to do,” He was panicking, nearly vomiting his words. He was apologetic for his inexperience, in that all you had to do was brush your hand over his slacks and he was already hot under the collar.
“It's okay. I can stop if you want.”
“No! I mean, it's okay, I just don't want you to be mad if I do something wrong.”
“You can't do anything to make me mad at you right now, Josuke.” You buried your face into his neck and littered his bare skin with soft pecks and the occasional hickey, to which he had to suppress his vocal response. You rose back to your original position and locked tender lips with the muscular teen. His mouth was rough and frantic, begging immediately for a deeper kiss. You broke off to catch a breath before allowing him to study your mouth with his tongue. Josuke’s hands surged with desire, digging under your clothes for flesh. His fingers swept against bare skin and you reveled in his touch, his undeniable lust for you only pushed you to ache for him more.
“Josuke, [name], what's taking so long? Josuke, did you faint?” Tomoko’s voice was far away and muffled, but audible nonetheless. You pulled your lips away and hopped off of Josuke’s lap in a panic and smoothed your shirt down your torso again.
“Everything's fine Miss Higashikata! We’ll be out in a sec!”
Josuke was visibly disappointed. He sat outstretched and ready to mess around with you some more, but there was curry on the line as you'd come to recall. Legendary, Higashikata household curry, that'd brought you here in the first place.
“Ugh, I wanted to touch your boobs and I couldn't even get that far.” Josuke stood up and dragged the door open in a huff.
“I appreciate the honesty, but I'm here to eat. You roped me into your hot ass and I almost sacrificed the damn curry.” You followed him closely behind back to the kitchen, and resumed your previous jobs. Rather, you took up the vegetable chopping and Josuke went for the pot and ladle. The completion of the curry went off without a hitch, excluding the bouts of banter between Josuke and Tomoko.
•••
“[name] is pretty cute, huh?” Josuke’s mother scrubbed the used dishes from the very exciting night in the sink. Josuke sat in the kitchen with his homework, unable to keep his mind on the lengthy algebra problems that decorated the page.
“You don't even know the half of it, mom.” Josuke flicked his pencil around in a circle for a moment before gripping it tightly in a confident realization, “And, I think the curry tastes a lot better when she’s around.”