Josuke Higashikata X Reader [The One I Want]

Going through high school was always a tricky time in the life of a young adult; the changes in your body and identity were ones that no teen can ever truly prepare for. You were thankful that you had a close friend to help you through it, to let you know that you weren't alone.

You also looked up to a certain Higashikata boy, one that made your heart flutter whenever you were around him. Freshman year you felt an urge to be around him, simply because he was cool. Sophomore year consisted of you turning red and smiling as your body felt warm in his presence. Junior year, you found yourself detaching yourself from Josuke as your heart would beat out of control just looking at him; you weren't ready to accept these feelings. And now, senior year, you realized you had fallen. Hard. And not just recently, no, these feelings had been slowly blooming over several years, and now reached a point where your heart physically hurt when you were around him. Bursting with admiration would have been a great understatement.

Yet you did not approach him with a confession. No, instead you spent most of your time with your close friend, (Friend Name). You two had been through everything together, including the awkward phases of your childhood; there wasn't anyone else you could trust with your life. Although, you weren't completely trustworthy of them.

Whenever you two were together, you saw more and more of Josuke. It caused qualms in your stomach that combated the fluttering in your chest; you never saw him when you were by yourself. The only reasonable assumption was that he was interested in your friend, and that broke your heart. But at the same time, it would still make you happy as long as two of the most important people in your life were enjoying their time on this planet together. Though, it was inevitable that you would get jealous, especially as time went on throughout the senior year.

“Yo, (Friend Name), (Name)!” Josuke called as he sat next to your friend, away from you, at the cafeteria. You all three had lunches, and the other two had began to talk about the homework from math, you listening in while you ate. Okuyasu joined in soon after, sitting next to Josuke, while Koichi offered a greeting and sat next to you. Trying to take your mind off the fact that your friend and Josuke were deep in conversation, you asked Koichi about how his family was doing and what kind of cool things he had been up to. It worked in distracting yourself from the internal cracking of your heart. With every laugh Josuke crackled, the more you wanted to curl up into a ball and hide.

The lunch bell rang, breaking up the conversations. You were quick to dismiss yourself, standing before the others and taking your tray to the counter. Glancing back, you saw your friend waving goodbye to your long-time crush, but you forced yourself to smile anyways. Until you caught Josuke’s eyes on yours from over your friend’s shoulder. He looked...saddened. Did he really not like you that much?

A few hours later and school was out. You couldn't stop thinking about the look in his eyes, they completely consumed your thoughts and it was everything you had not to break down in the middle of class. Your insides felt scrambled and cold, refusing to let you think about anything else. The walk home was much needed, but you almost regretted having to go home because of what soon transpired.

Josuke had called your friend over, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. It was too much to take as you felt as if your heart was shattered across your chest, the shards digging into the skin, and you fled.

For two days you refused to leave the comfort of your bed, despite having to miss those days at school. You had occupied yourself with anything you could, telling your parents that you were sick and didn't want to see anyone. Apparently your friend had come over often to ask about you, but they were the last person you wanted to see as jealousy engulfed you entirely, wrapping you up in its tense bindings. Yet, you felt guilty for being jealous, and the feelings spiraled into a painful realization in your stomach. No, you wouldn't be mad at your friend, you were supposed to be happy for them.

“(Name)! You have a very persistent guest,” your mother called from downstairs. You sighed and said you didn't want any visitors, your voice hoarse from lack of proper fluid intake. The door handle rattled anyway, and you sighed heavily as you covered your head with your blanket.

“Please go away, (Friend Name), I don't feel so hot right now,” you started, sighing once again as that guilt took hold of your insides and squeezed painfully.

“It’s Josuke,” came a soft voice, the soft voice that immediately made your breath hitch in your dry throat. You peeked over the edge of the blanket to see him smiling down at you, hands stuffed into his school pants. “Yo.”

“What are you doing here?” you asked, body stiffening a bit as your heart raced. If he couldn't hear your heartbeat from the door, he would surely have been beyond deaf.

“Had to come check on the coolest girl I know,” he chuckled a bit, noticing your red cheeks and puffy eyes. “I heard you weren't feeling all that great, so I came to check it out myself.” You sighed a bit, looking away from his interrogating gaze.

“Did (Friend Name) tell you that?” Your own voice betrayed you before you could stop it, the words spilling like venom. Your eyes looked back up to his face to see that his expression was slightly downcast, almost offended looking.

“No, I asked your parents yesterday after school. You were asleep,” he replied with a calm voice, taking a step closer to the bed. You flinched, looking away from his gaze, the guilt eating you from the inside out.

“Why go through all the trouble? Why when I’ll probably be back to school soon?” You couldn't look him in the eyes, so you turned your head to the side and looked at the wall you had already stated at for hours.

“Because something’s not right, and you’re not telling me,” he firmly spoke, taking another step closer to the bed as your eyes widened. You were about to ask him why he had such ludicrous thoughts, but he kept talking. “Something’s been off about you for a while. I'm not like Okuyasu, I notice these things, (Name). You’ve been avoiding me like the plague, and your friend won't tell me why. We used to hang out so much, but now I-I feel like you’re running away from me,” Josuke’s voice cracked as he went on. The emotion was pouring through his every word, leaving you with a feeling as if someone had punched your heart and kicked you in the ribs. You choked back your hiccups as the emotions became too much for you to contain.

“I'm so sorry, Josuke-kun, but I can't take it anymore. The way I feel when I’m around you, it just hurts too much,” you squeaked out, not even noticing that he had sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning over your form as he tried to look at your face.

“What hurts? Tell me, please. I want to be around you, (Name), I care about you,” he tried to encourage you, leaning slightly closer as his heart began beating out of control. He could almost feel the heartbeat against his eardrums.

“My heart hurts. I care about you too much, I love you so much that it’s painful, but you deserve someone better,” you choked out, eyes leaking as your nose burned. “You deserve (Friend Name), it's obvious they want to be with you, and you two would work so well together.”

There was a pause as Josuke let it all sink in before he let out a shaky chuckle, inhaling sharply at the end.

“I can't believe I'm saying this, but you might have a skull as thick as Okuyasu’s,” Josuke chuckled again, a hand coming to rest on your shoulder through the blanket.

“(Friend Name) isn't the one I want. Why do you think I've gone this long without ever having a girlfriend? You know I'm more into the ‘true love’ stuff anyways,” his words were smoothing out as he seemed to feel a heavy weight lift from his chest.

“I know that, but that doesn't make me feel any better at the moment,” you sighed heavily, “I'll learn to get over it and live with it, and eventually I'll move on.”

“You should feel better though, and you won't need to get over anything,” he spoke gently. Heat flushed your cheeks as you could hear the smile in his voice. “(Name), look at me,” he commanded in the softest tone he could muster. When he talks like that, you have no choice but to turn and look up at his handsome, smiling face. Your cheeks blazed as your chest constricted tightly, your heart thumping loudly as usual.

“W-Why?” you asked, though you began to have a feeling as to why. The feeling that inflated your chest as your body felt warm and fuzzy all over.

“Because you’re the only one I want, (Name). You’re the only one for me.”