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In the summer of 1999, Toshikazu Hazamada claimed that Stand users are drawn to each other by a force of fate, a gravitational pull of destiny that never fails. A force somewhat similar to the way, some believe, soulmates who are destined to love will be drawn to each other again and again, no matter what, until they realize their love.
As the head of Stand research in Asia, Jotaro Kujo was tasked with reporting this theory to the Speedwagon Foundation offices in New York, and to the best of his knowledge the matter was documented and investigated in depth with the same seriousness as any other report.
But in the summer of 2005, as Jotaro found himself peering through his hat at the small velvet box that had opened wide before him, and gazing at the large emerald stone at the center of the thin gold ring, he found himself remembering the sentence he had heard that summer, and asking himself which of the two was the force that had drawn this loud, stubborn, and rigid couple into each other's arms. Whatever it was, that force must be one of the powerful forces that moves the entire world.
"Ah, Jotaro, what do you think?" his younger uncle asked hesitantly, "Do you think it's good enough?"
The grown nephew sighed heavily, his fingers gripping the brim of his hat, "I think Rohan-sensei would like the ring, Josuke. Even a stubborn person like him will say yes."
A big smile spread across Josuke Higashikata's flushed face, even without him knowing that his nephew's large arm holding his hat was intended to hide a similarly wide grin.
—
After the events of summer of 1999, a relative calm settled in Morio. Stand users came and went, but none of them disturbed the peace of the town that enjoyed being sleepy once more.
Josuke was released from the hospital in September of that year and said goodbye to his father, older nephew, and baby sister. The boy stood at the edge of the pier, clutching a wide leather wallet bursting with yen and dollar bills, and laughing until his stomach ached at the sight of the grumbling old man sailing away on the giant ship. At that moment, the boy felt light and drunk with victory, but the truth was less pleasant. He spent nearly three more months in physical therapy three times a week after school, limping everywhere, and his free time almost entirely disappeared in an effort to reduce the academic gaps that had accumulated during his time in the hospital and rehabilitation.
Josuke regained his ability to walk and run shortly before the start of the last month of the last year of the millennium, only to find out that every adult around him expected him to devote his free time to studying. That's your future, they all said.
After giving it some thought, the boy gathered his courage and found himself sitting on a leather sofa in the spacious living room of a warm, luxurious, and bright house. His hands were folded on his lap in a gesture that he hoped looked polite, and it took all his strength to stop his body from jumping in panic when the tray carrying cups of tea and a box of snacks from Kyoto was dropped onto the coffee table with a ringing clatter.
"Why did you come here at all, Higashikata? If you don't have something urgent that will definitely interest me, get out of here. You know I'm busy."
Josuke wanted to tell Rohan Kishibe that it was a strange thing to say to a guest you had seated in the center of your large sofa and served steaming tea and special snacks, but sixteen years of life experience and half a year of acquaintance with the crazy artist had taught him to hold his tongue. Instead, he took a Yatsuhashi snack out of the package and bit into it. Delicious.
"My current editor left me this snack pack when we met this morning to discuss the New Year's illustration." Rohan sighed as he settled into a high backed armchair that was placed near the sofa, "There was nothing to discuss of course, the illustration was ready long ago, perfect in every respect. It's not as if anyone could think for a moment that I would deliver anything less than that."
Josuke sipped his tea eagerly. For some reason, he suddenly thought to himself, the food and drink in this house are always especially delicious. "So I hope I'm not bothering, Sensei. Actually, I came to ask if I could study here after school. I promise not to disturb you, Sensei, I'll be right here in the living room." His eyes found refuge in his own reflection in the dark tea. When he didn't hear a response, he immediately continued, "uh, I mean, I have a hard time concentrating at home and I have to improve my grades, you remember what happened to me last summer, right? I barely managed to pass the last exam period. I can't focus on my assignments in class and certainly not at home… ahem, because of my gaming console. Anyway, I thought about it because Koichi says that during the week you sit in the studio upstairs, and no noise at all bothers you at work, not even when Koichi tries to talk to you."
The mangaka's face contorted as if he had eaten something sour, "That logic is completely unrealistic. You speak as if there are only two relevant study spaces and you're doomed to think of another neutral place yourself, being the first in the world to come up with such a solution. Ha, perhaps you're plotting something? Maybe you have hidden motives? You always have hidden motives."
Instead of tensing up, Josuke immediately smiled, "Not at all, Sensei. The truth is, I was also thinking, in between, about how you must have been in a similar situation to mine. I heard you started publishing your manga when you were my age, and you had to work like an adult, but you were still a student. You must have fallen behind your schoolwork too. I'm not sure what it was like when you were young, but maybe if you remember your childhood you'll be able to understand my struggle."
"What- my childhood-" Rohan coughed loudly and moved the teacup away from his face, "I graduated high school two years ago, Higashikata. And for your information, I truly am a genius. Even without studying in class or at home, and while working full-time, I was ranked first in my grade. In fact, I received full marks in Japanese, English, and mathematics."
"Wow!" This time Josuke couldn't hold back his honest reaction, "Really, Sensei? Are you that smart? You have to help me, I'll definitely close the gaps by next semester!"
"What do you mean ‘help’?" Rohan almost shouted, "You said you'd study here without disturbing me!"
Despite the arguments, Josuke appeared at the artist's doorstep every school day at four o'clock and left at seven. Despite the threats, light snacks, always delicious and special, were served when they sat together around the living room table. Surprisingly, Rohan turned out to be a fairly effective teacher. After a quick flip through the textbooks each day, he would usually be able to immediately summarize the material. Although he would speak rudely, insult and complain, he even showed relative patience, explained things in a simple way several times when necessary. To be honest, Josuke never expected Rohan to be such a good private tutor, or to be a tutor at all, especially considering the fact that he seemed to be doing it only to prove a point, or, in some twisted way, to correct Josuke for his assumptions in the conversation that had taken at first in the living room.
In fact, on the day following their first conversation, when Rohan greeted him with the cold "Higashikata" on the doorstep and cleared his way for him to enter the living room, Josuke looked at the mad artist's outstretched hand in wonder. "Well. Come on, bring the notebook, I have to go through it before we talk and I don't have all day to waste staring."
The boy's eyes widened in wonder as he realized that it was indeed his full intention to teach him, and ti remain present for the entire duration of the study session. The artist apparently never planned to go back upstairs to the studio or leave the house during the hours Josuke was visiting. The realization sent some sort of warm feeling to spread in his stomach, almost like pride, although a small voice told him that perhaps Rohan truely was that lonely.
Josuke couldn't put into words the source of the feeling he experienced as he listened to the way Rohan explained how to remember kanji, or what to pay attention to when solving equations, and how to most effectively read an English academic text.
Moreover, when Rohan leaned over his notebook, Josuke often found himself hovering over him, gazing at his face, observing his profile and focusing on his soft looking hair combed to the side and smelling of an expensive shampoo, the bandana on his forehead that changed colors to match his outfit, the thin, groomed, frowning eyebrows, the eyelids that were often tinted in pinkish, and especially the brilliant eyes. He asked himself why his heart was beating so fast the first time he noticed that one eye was grayish green, and the other was yellowish green. Josuke had never met anyone with eyes like those. At some point, he found himself staring at his lips as well. Often, they were blue, yellow, and even green. And the strangest thing was when he smiled genuinely, which didn't happen very often at all. His face would light up, and usually at that moment the air would vanish from Josuke’s lungs, leaving him breathless with sharp pain in his chest. He had never met a person like that, who made him feel this way. This realization made him deeply excited.
During their third week of studying, Josuke slammed the thick math book shut and sighed lazily. They had worked practically hard that day and finished earlier than expected. They found themselves sitting crossed legged on the floor in front of the coffee table, Rohan leaning back so that his head rested on the sofa seat. The student immediately mimicked him. To be honest, this crooked sitting angle was not very comfortable for his barely healed hip and leg, but when he turned his head and saw the artist's face up close, closer than ever, he knew there was no way he would move a muscle.
Rohan stared at him as if his eyes could drill holes in his skull and peer into his brain, which in some ways wasn't entirely untrue, his eyebrows furrowed as always. He was lost in thought.
"What?" Josuke asked weakly, not hiding a small smile.
"Your wisdom teeth haven’t grown in yet, have they?"
"What?!" He hadn't expected that answer.
"Wisdom teeth. I don't have any wisdom teeth at all. I took a panoramic x-ray to verify the matter." Rohan replied in a tone suggesting he didn't understand why he needed to explain.
"Wh- what are you talking about? What do you mean you don't have any wisdom teeth?"
"These are the last teeth to grow in the adult dentition, they begin to erupt around the age of 18 or 20 or even later, and sometimes get stuck and cause pain or the need for surgical intervention. We are born with primary teeth and even most of our permanent teeth, they are hidden within the jawbones and behind the gums, and they come out throughout the stages of childhood. All teeth appear and develop within the jawbones years before they are due to come out, that’s why you can see them in en x-ray, but some people are born without wisdom teeth at all. There are all sorts of evolutionary explanations for this.” Rohan’s eyes looked dreamy for a moment.
“Oh, okay, I- I don’t know if I have wisdom teeth. I d-don't think they're out yet, I think I would have noticed." Josuke stammered, "But why are you asking?"
"What do you mean ‘why’? Why are you asking unnecessary questions?" Rohan asked with sudden irritation, "For my manga, obviously. I need to find realistic representations and it's always more complicated when I can't apply relevant principles to myself."
Josuke wasn't interested in manga at all, but he was almost certain that Rohan's manga was a detective horror genre, and he couldn't imagine how a realistic wisdom teeth growth experience would fit into the plot.
"Can I check?" Rohan asked.
"What do you want to check? My mouth? Do you want us to go get an X-ray?"
"No need for that. I can check myself."
Josuke shuddered, "Ew, what do you mean by yourself?"
"I have a dental probe. I can prick your gums and see if the tooth can be felt underneath."
Josuke was speechless. Surely this weirdo has a probe specifically for feeling children's gums. There's no way he'd let this freak get that deep into his mouth. And for manga, what nonsense.
Josuke immediately found himself sitting on the office chair in the studio on the second floor. The truth is, he had only been here once before, at their first meeting, and he'd spent almost his entire stay in this room blinded with rage. For some reason, it felt like a long time ago, too long, and so many things had changed, and on the other hand, it hadn't been long at all.
"No matter what, do not close your mouth, I am putting my precious hand in there now." one of Rohan's hands was gripping the young man's chin and the other, wearing a nitrile glove, was gripping the dental probe as if he were holding a fountain pen.
Josuke made guttural sounds through his open mouth that were meant to express protest, but he didn't dare close his jaw. Rohan's gloved palm entered his mouth and suddenly the boy felt a sharp stab deep inside his gums.
"Ouch!" he yelped and jerked his head back violently, Rohan's hand was removed from his mouth, "What did you do?"
Rohan laughed with satisfaction, his one specific evil laugh that made him look like a cartoon villain, "You have a wisdom tooth in your lower left jaw! I felt it when I poked!"
"What's so funny about that?" Josuke muttered, and when he saw Rohan staring at him expectantly, he tensed up again.
"What are you waiting for? Open up again. We only checked one tooth, I am not certain you have all four."
"But why does it matter to you anyway?" Josuke whined but found himself praying his mouth open again.
A few minutes later Rohan handed Josuke what looked like a dentist's medical record containing an anatomical diagram of the entire adult dentition. For some reason, Rohan filled it out with absolute seriousness, made all sorts of notes, and presented it to Josuke as if he were a real, licensed dentist. "You have four wisdom teeth under your gums. I don't need this data," Rohan explained, as if it mattered. Josuke took the medical record out of politeness, intending to dispose of it later.
"I carved your mouth," Rohan continued to chuckle as he disinfected the probe with an alcohol wipe, "Haha. With a tiny carving tool. Do you know that there's a restaurant in Italy that's carved into a mountain, like a tunnel? It's designed so that you sit inside the rock and see the sea on the other side. At night, they turn on big yellow lights all along the driveway and it looks like a snake winding along the cliff. I have to show it to you next time I am around."
Josuke froze in the middle of bending over to throw the medical sheet into his school bag and turned to Rohan, "Italy!" he exclaimed in surprise. It sounded dreamy. Italy. A restaurant carved in stone. And with Rohan? He debated whether this was the time to express enthusiasm or ignore him. It was so Rohan to throw such irrelevant comments, as if he always had some kind of a weird plan, but maybe for him all this could be perfectly rational. Josuke knew that Rohan traveled often, around the city, the country, and even the world. Maybe sometimes he needed an assistant to carry things or punch something. Josuke thought to himself that he could surely prove his worth as a useful enough servant to be a serious candidate for such a mission if it's in Italy.
—
On Christmas Eve, about two weeks later, Josuke arrived at the big house at his usual four o'clock. This time he didn’t bring a school-bag with books and notebooks but a paper bag containing a box of homemade fried chicken. Tomoko was happy to devote a free morning to preparing the traditional dish when she heard that he wanted to honor the famous local artist who dedicates his precious time to helping her son with his studies.
Before he could ring the bell, the door of the house opened as if on its own, something that happened often and had already stopped startling him, and before he could speak, Rohan, who was standing in the darkness on the other side of the doorway, immediately spoke.
"Josuke." He noted, "Why are you here? We did not schedule a meeting."
Despite the cold greeting, he turned and walked away from the door that remained open. Josuke understood that the owner of the house had invited him in. "Merry Christmas, Rohan Sensei," he smiled calmly and went inside.
Rohan's sharp eyes immediately noticed the bag in the young man's hands, and he sighed. "The truth is, I just happened not to go to Jump's holiday party in Tokyo. I was supposed to go I managed to dodge. Otherwise I would have been on the train south and you would have been wandering around with this food for nothing."
"Well, it seems you have no choice now, right?" The smile did not leave Josukes face. A wonderful satisfaction washed over him when Rohan turned away again without saying a word and went to the kitchen. Josuke took the box with the chicken out of the bag and placed it on the dining table. He knew that Rohan used it very rarely. Those who eat alone at irregular hours do not tend to sit at the dining table most of the time. Rohan returned with a cold can of Coke, a glass of wine, and eating utensils. To be honest, it was too early to sit down to eat a fried meal, but Josuke came without an explicit invitation, hoping that due to their new habit Rohan would be free around their regular time despite it being holiday eve.
"This is wonderful, the chicken is juicy and the coating is crispy and a little spicy, much tastier than in restaurants. In fact, one could say that the sincerity, sensitivity, and authenticity that can be felt through home frying brings a bouquet of flavors that rivals dishes served in Michelin restaurants in London and Paris. I, Rohan Kishibe, am grateful for this wonderful experience. You must tell Tomoko that, but in those exact words, it’s important.” Rohan ate a surprising amount of food compared to what Josuke would have guessed, leisurely placed his hand on his stomach, today covered by a sweater, and sipped red wine.
“Wanna watch a movie? I saw you have a DVD player.” Josuke said carefully.
"Time and time again completely underestimate my time. I invest much more in you than you deserve, do you even know how much I sacrifice to teach you your simple schoolwork? You are only a tenth grader. You have just started life and you know nothing. My time is worth a lot of money, in fact every hour of mine is worth more than a month of your labor. You are welcome to do the math, last year I earned over one hundred and seventy million yen." Rohan attacked with harsh words, but at this point Josuke knew that it was almost a ceremony.
"Yeah, yeah. And thank you." The boy rose from his chair, cleared the plates and washed them quickly. Rohan's gaze followed his movements to the kitchen.
"You never consider your surroundings at all, I don't understand why everyone is so sure you are generous and kind-hearted, I see through your masks, I always notice the stupid smiles you think you are hiding." Rohan continued to complain, a slight breathiness was heard in his voice. Josuke put the clean dishes in the drying rack, wiped his hands, and went to the living room. He knelt over the CD and DVD shelf and examined it with great interest. Rohan had a large collection of classic American films, and some very new ones. Josuke chose the one that looked the newest. It had a dark cover. He managed to read the title in English, The Matrix. He had never heard of this movie before.
Josuke sat on the sofa and took in his hands three of the five television remote controls that seemed relevant in his opinion to operate all the devices used for watching movies in this house. Although he approached the task with complete confidence, he was unable to operate the DVD system because the menu was in English, and when he pressed the buttons that he guessed made sense, a blue screen immediately appeared with white text in English letters that Josuke didn't even attempt read.
The artist clicked his tongue and snatched the remote control, growled, and then took another remote from the boy's lap. After a short struggle of his own, he went to the TV and unplugged it, and plugged back a moment later. He sat down lightly next to the boy. He restarted the menu, and soon the movie began to play with Japanese dubbing.
On any other day, Josuke would probably have been captivated by such film, and in retrospect, about a year later, when he had opportunity to watch it again, he discovered that it was one of his future self's favorite films, but on Christmas Eve of 1999, the boy couldn't stop talking. An inexplicable restlessness boiled inside him, and once in a few minutes he turned around, looked at Rohan, and searched for a topic of conversation with all his might. He found himself chuckling weakly, asking about the last time Koichi visited, talking in fragmented sentences about the new pastries sold at the French bakery near school that were always snatched up before he could get there, about how a week ago he had to go to Okuyasu's dilapidated house across the street to wake him up for morning class, and about his father and Stray-Cat, who now lived in the attic together.
Rohan paused the movie, turned off the screen and looked at him through his eyelids without turning his head in his direction. He clicked his tongue again, "Why is it that whenever you suggest me something I always feel like all my survival senses are screaming that you're trying to cheat or get something from me?"
"Do you really still think that?" What Josuke really wanted to say was that he was convinced that Rohan had no survival instinct at all, and if he did, he chose to actively ignore it as a matter of habit.
"You never corrected any bad impression you created with me. You remember, no? When we first met you beat me up and made me skip a month of work! I fled to Italy to recover!"
"Well, you know why it happened," Josuke answered immediately, almost offended, and without holding back added, "You were in Italy? That's where you saw the restaurant carved into the mountain? I want to see it too."
"No no, that time, I accidently posed as a priest and watched a man being chased by several demons," Rohan answered with a shrug, "but that's not what's important at all. That is not the subject of this conversation. Whenever you sniff an opportunity for a con or a scam you always think of me. Remember the dice game? I have no idea how you did do that, and I swore I would find out, but what annoyed me most was the fact that you chose me as a convenient target for criminal activity. I don't know if you were looking for money, attention or ego stroking but know that I swear, Josuke Higashikata, no one will ever bend me like that again. After all that, you had the nerve to burn down my house. You don't know the incredible imported furniture I had here before, what's here now is just temporary junk. You know what, this whole house is temporary potential junk, Because if I have a goal, no one will stand between me and it!"
"I'll tell you the truth about the dice! I promise! I'll tell you now!" Josuke raised his voice in order to stop the artist's alarming flow of speech. The more he spoke, the artist's tone became faster and more nervous and the content became less and less coherent. Josuke didn't flinch at all, but felt the need to stop his talking. The boy also wanted to add that he wasn't the one who burned the house down but decided there was no need to insist on it right now.
"Do not! Not a word! Remember what I said, I said I would find out on my own, it doesn't matter how long it takes!" Rohan replied immediately. "It doesn't end with the game. Remember our argument later on the bus? You tried your best to ignore me, of course I was right in the end as always. And the most annoying thing you ever did was to come back to the tunnel and then not listen to me when I told you not to fall into that idiot Yuya Fungami's trap. Really. You're so annoying. Do you think that defeating Kira in battle makes everything you did forgivable? Maybe you were the hero of the day, and maybe you sacrificed your health, and part of your childhood, and you didn't think for a moment to call on Jotaro for help when you almost died, but you just so you know, I was very close to finding Hayato Kawajiri before you and solving the mystery myself."
Josuke's breath caught. None of the accusations or insults hurt him in the slightest, but the last sentence caused a sudden pressure in his temples and he felt for a moment as if he might burst into tears. He felt as if he had forgotten something shocking from that day that was definitely connected to Rohan.
"What happened the morning of Kira's battle was bound to happen exactly like that. I don't know exactly why, but I'm sure of it." Josuke spoke quietly, hoping that at the very least, the change in tone would make Rohan stop shouting, and then added, "You claim I'm always thinking about how to screw you over, but it sounds like you think about me a lot."
"Absurd nonsense, absolutely not-"
"It sounds like you do. Besides, I heard what happened in the summer with the Stand Cheap Trick and with that kid Ken Oyanagi, it sounds like you're always rushing into fights without any sense of responsibility. And didn't you say a moment ago that you tricked someone into letting you watch demons fight in Italy?"
Surprisingly, instead of getting angry, Rohan thought for a moment and then said, "That's nothing, I once raced in a gym with an avatar of God."
Josuke let out a chuckle, and when he looked at Rohan's face he realized that he was completely serious.
"But now that you put it that way. Don't you feel like there's a force leading you exactly where you need to be? Something that pulls you to the right place at the right time and makes sure you do exactly what you need to do when you need to?" The artist asked.
Josuke suddenly felt his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
Rohan continued speaking, "I oppose the idea on principle. If necessary, I will punch fate in the face."
The boy felt his heartbeat in his ears and for a moment feared that it could be heard from outside. At that very moment, he understood exactly why his heart was exploding like this.
"It's even something I would be happy to experience." The man finally noted.
Josuke leaned forward a little and with half-open eyes quickly brought his face closer to the artists.
Rohan quickly leaned back as if he had been electrocuted.
"What do you think you're doing, Josuke?" Rohan's voice sounded as if he was trying to shout in a whisper, his eyes widened in complete horror, shining in two different shades, "What do you think is happening here? What do you think that we are?"
Josuke's mouth opened to answer but his cheeks burned so badly that he didn't trust his ability to answer coherently.
"Don't be stupid, you know what you're doing. Answer me, now." This time Rohan didn't shout, his voice sounded more collected, his eyes piercing as ever.
"I don't know," Josuke said quietly, in a flat tone. He felt ashamed of the rejection, but no regrets about the act, and his answer was honest. He gave in to the heat of the moment and moved without thinking about anything else. Apparently Rohan was right when he said Josuke was inconsiderate of others.
"You understand that if this is the case, we can't continue this. The thing that is going on here. We have to stop now. For many reasons." Rohan sat up in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. The cold gaze didn't move for a moment, drilling holes or scanning the inside like an X-ray machine, "I hope you find a new study space. Good luck, happy holiday, and Happy New Year. In case it wasn't clear, I'll say it explicitly. Don't come over again."
The artist rose from his seat on the couch and walked briskly up the stairs. A few seconds after he disappeared upstairs, Josuke heard what must have been the studio door slamming. The winter sun had long since set, and Josuke was left sitting alone in the large, dark, and cool room for a few more seconds that felt like an eternity, mostly because of the painful emptiness in his stomach even though he just had a warm, festive meal.
——
"No, man, I don't understand what you're saying," Okuyasu said. His textbook was wide open and his seasonal parfait dessert glass dripped condensation onto the pages. He didn't notice. Cafe Deux Magots was quite empty and was serving as the temporary meeting place for the study group that Josuke had convened. Aside from academic reasons, Josuke had other motives for holding the meeting.
"Are you messing with us?" Koichi tried to smile, perhaps to lighten the conversation. He sharpened his pencil in an automatic, continuous motion until the point broke, but he didn't seem to even notice because he continued to sharpen, "The truth is that both you and Rohan fool me quite often, I wouldn't be surprised if despite the bad blood between you two this summer you decided to join forces for the prank of the millennium."
Josuke sighed heavily, "Oh, it's not the prank of the millennium and I'm not fooling you, things have changed since the summer. I've been seeing Rohan for a month now for help with my studies, originally I just asked permission to study in the living room but he insisted on giving me private lessons, and the truth is he can be really nice and smart. He helped me so much that my mom made him fried chicken on Christmas Eve."
"I don't understand," Okuyasu said again, in total sincerity.
"But on Christmas I took it a step too far. We watched a movie argued a bit. We didn't exactly watch a movie. I'm not even sure we argued at all. I think we had a good conversation. Rohan insulted me most of the time but he spoke honestly. The only problem is that I tried to kiss him."
"I don't understand."
"You're not pranking me, are you, Josuke? Tell me you would never prank me about something like that."
"No." He wasn't sure how true that was, but anyway, Josuke really wasn't lying at all right now, "After that he kicked me out of the house and told me we wouldn't study together anymore. It's not that I don't appreciate your help, guys, but it's not the same. I think I was dumped. I know I need to start letting go of Rohan but I know there's no way that's going to happen. Something there just felt right and natural, everything I said and everything I did. And from the way Rohan spoke on Christmas Eve, I think he felt that way too. I don't know how to explain it."
"I don't understand..." Okuyasu looked so lost that he picked up a pencil and began to solve an equation.
——
After deep reflection, Koichi said that in his opinion, Josuke should stay away from Rohan and let him calm down. He claimed that Rohan was known to be a person who quickly gets heated up, holds grudges, but also gains curiosity and motivation again at an unexpected moment. Despite this, on New Year's Eve, shortly before midnight, Josuke was once again standing at his usual starting point at the threshold of the artist's house.
This time he had to ring the doorbell several times in a row. He waited for a few minutes and just before giving up, the door opened.
"Josuke." The usual observation was heard, Rohan spoke with increased impatience than usual, his hands folded across his chest, "I thought that even an idiot like you would understand hints and conclude that if the door didn't open, maybe there was no need to keep ringing. But here you are, as always, breaking boundaries and not considering me at all. Did you come here to talk?"
Josuke looked up from his wristwatch and said, "Not to talk, Rohan Sensei, I’ve just been walking around all day with the feeling that if we don't share this moment together as the new millennium begins, we'll regret it. I decided to take a chance. The truth is, I'm really glad you didn't go to Jump Magazine's New Year's party this time too. Look, right now, and three… two..."
The boy's hands gently grabbed both sides of the artist's face, he bent down slightly and his lips brushed against Rohans for just a moment. The contact was momentary, brief, but he felt the warmth and softness in the lips that today weren't painted with any color. He managed to catch a glimpse of Rohans expression. He looked surprised and perhaps not even as angry as he could have thought, aside from the constant frown. The man’s mouth dropped slightly and hot air was exhaled through his lips.
Josuke quickly straightened up, spun around, and started running as fast as he could, aiming to get out of Heaven’s Door's attack range, "I'm sorry Rohan, we'll talk about this later, when you want. Happy New Year!"
The boy couldn't believe his luck when no flying boy figure hit him hard and caused him to crash onto the sidewalk with a face that opened like a book.
—-
Almost four more months passed. Josuke wanted to say he concluded that when you concentrate on anything other than the person who made you restless, time passes quickly, but that wasn't true. Meaning, maybe it was true for those who managed to really concentrate on other things. Josuke spent almost all of that time studying, but a dark part of his mind was always thinking about one particular person. The boy tried to keep it stored in that dark place until the time felt right again.
He grabbed his end of the year report card and looked through it several times in a row. There wasn't really anything there to be proud of. He wasn't first in his class and he didn't get full marks in Japanese, English and mathematics. Not even close. But he had significantly caught up with his studies compared to last semester.
When he showed it to Tomoko Higashikata in their kitchen, she went over it with a serious expression, the kind a teacher saves for just this situation, then smiled and gave the boy a playful punch on the shoulder, "I knew you could do it, Josuke. I know you worked hard to get where you are and did everything you could."
Josuke rubbed the back of his neck, "Thanks, but it wasn't exactly like that."
Tomoko poured some whiskey into a wide, low glass, "I remember the beginning of this school year. I wanted us three to celebrate you getting into high school. I never thought for a moment that this day would end like this." Her voice trembled and she paused for a moment and took a sip of the whiskey and placed the glass back on the table.
Josuke remembered everything like it was yesterday. He picked the glass and took a tiny sip of the whiskey. The taste was disgusting. Grandpa was brutally murdered by Angelo the day he entered high school, the same day he first met Jotaro Kujo, a man who was able to complete all the missing pieces of his life up until then. He talked about Stand powers, about enemies approaching, and also about his very old father and the rest of their family. That day, Josuke didn't have enough strength to do the correct thing, which might have saved Grandpa, and since then he's been trying to learn from his mistakes. Maybe he'll eventually become a decent adult. Maybe when he grows up and matures he'll even love whiskey like Grandpa did.
"And then you got injured in that gas explosion. We barely had time to recover. You've been through so much pain this year. And now we're here!" She wiped away a single tear that stood at the corner of her eye.
"Thank you for the support," he said again, "I promise to keep working hard."
"You should thank your friends too. And you know who too."
"Of course I thanked Okuyasu and Koichi, I treated them to desserts at the cafe!" Josuke shrugged.
"But there's also him, you know... I think you should." She winked through wet eyelashes.
Josuke figured it was worth listening to his mother's advice and ran along the familiar route to the artist's house. He stood at his spot in front of the door, caught his breath for a moment and raised his hand to knock on the door, but it opened as if by itself. Josuke took one step back and immediately dropped to the floor, bowing deeply, and immediately spoke loudly into his two spread out hands on the wooden floor, "Hello Rohan! It's been a while since we last saw each other, maybe you know that today is the last day of school for students and I came to say thank you for your support at the beginning of the semester. You helped me close the gaps and gave me motivation to move forward and not give up. I appreciate and thank you for your hard work. And I'm sorry I hurt you and didn't respect your boundaries."
"Josuke. ‘Maybe I know it's the last day of school’? Really now. Do you want me to remember my childhood again? Because I'm so old?" Rohan responded. Josuke raised his head from his hands and smiled. The artist turned and went inside. The door of the house was left wide open.