heart of glass | josuke higashikata

.:. eight .:.

Josuke ran through the hotel, just missing the elevator so he opted for the stairs instead. It only took him a quick look to figure out she wasn't in the lobby, and he ran outside-ready to chase her down the street-when he saw her duck around a nearby wall.

"Y/N!" He called out, dashing towards her. When he rounded the corner he found her on the ground, her knees up to her chest and her back against the wall as she buried her face in her hands. "Y/N, whats wrong?"

"Nothing! Go away, Josuke!" Her voice was slightly muffled by her hands, but Josuke heard her just fine. Instead of leaving, he silently took a seat next to her, leaning back against the wall. "I told you to leave." Out of the corner of his eye, Jouske saw that she'd moved her hands.

"I'm not going anywhere." He looked ahead, placing his open palm on the grass between them. "Just talk when your ready." He heard her sigh, and after about a minute, her hand slipped into his. He closed his fist slowly, fingers interlacing with hers.

"You're so cool, Josuke." She was speaking just louder than a mumble. "You save people and you fight for what's right and you're so yourself. You're a hero. What if Jotaro is right? What if my stand is nothing without you? What if I'm not strong enough to do anything by myself?" Josuke wanted to argue against her, but he bit his tongue-knowing she needed to just let her thoughts out. "I've never jumped into a fight to save anyone. I've never even gotten into a fight. It's always you. You're always there, jumping into anything to protect me.

"And it's not like I don't appreciate it, Josuke, because I do. Of course I do, I'm so lucky to have you. But I...can I do anything?" A deep sigh passed her lips as she reached her other hand out, her fingers brushing across Josuke's wrist. There was a faint scar there, one she was very familiar with. At it's deepest point there was a small divot, the tip of her pinky fitting into it perfectly. It was from the day she'd discovered that Glass could make small pieces of glass, and the day they found out Josuke couldn't heal himself.

"Josuke..." Y/N sighed again. "I'm sorry." Finally, Josuke turned to look at her.

"You don't have anything to apologize about." He frowned.

"Yes, I do." She insisted, then pulling his arm off the ground and pushing his sleeve down-her pinky resting on the scar. "I never apologized for hurting your arm, I was too amazed by what Glass could do. I'm so sorry, Josuke." Josuke looked at her funny, thinking she might've been trying to play a joke on him, but her face was nothing but sincere.

"It's okay, Y/N, really." Josuke insisted. "Are you feeling okay?" He freed his hand from hers, placing the back of it against her forehead. She was warm, but not alarmingly so. "You're acting so strange today."

"I'm fine." She insisted. "Really, I'm okay." Josuke sighed, grabbing her arm as she stood up. He grabbed with too much force, though, pulling her down and straight into him. After untangling her limbs from his, Y/N sat up and realized she was in his lap.

"Y/N...can I say something?" Josuke didn't seem to care, instead putting an arm over her legs and looking into her eyes. Y/N had only been this close to his face a few times, none recently, and she'd honestly forgotten just how pretty his eyes really were. That bright, ocean blue, with little specks of black. His eyes fluttered shut as he took a deep breath, bringing her out of her thoughts. "I don't think Jotaro was trying to say that you or your stand were lesser or weaker than me and mine. I think he was saying that we are so connected that me getting a stand caused you to get one too.

"So it's not that you couldn't have one without me, or that you need me to be strong enough to have one or anything. It's just...they're linked, you know? Fate." He shrugged lightly. "At least, that's what I got from it."

"Oh." Y/N breathed, Josuke's words soaking it. That would make a lot more sense. "Oh." Y/N's face flushed pink. "Oh god!" She buried her face in her hands again.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" Josuke hurried.

"Oh god, Josuke, how embarrassing!" Y/N whined. "I totally misread what he was trying to say and made it all about me! How much more self centered could I get?"

"N-No Y/N it's not that big of a deal!" Josuke hurried. "Besides, you know Jotaro. When he said he didn't care he really meant it."

——

Okuyasu had come down with Y/N's bag a few minutes later, and the three teenagers started meandering back towards town. It was about lunch by the time they finally reached the town square. Okuyasu wouldn't stop whining about getting some food, so he split off to go to some Italian restaurant near the graveyard. Y/N and Josuke, on the other hand, wandered around until eventually ending up at the waterfront. They were both quiet, Y/N deep in thought and Josuke not wanting to say something that might upset her.

"Hey Josuke?" Y/N eventually spoke up. "What do you think Jotaro meant earlier?" Josuke inwardly sighed.

"I dunno." Now, he was racking his brain trying to come up with any other conversation topic.

"I-I mean, think about it." She started. "Fate, right? What are people usually fated to become?"

"What?" Josuke was completely lost.

"Like in fiction." She tried to clarify. "Fantasy. When there's some destined, fate shit involving two people-what are usually the outcomes?"

"Oh, I see what you mean!" Josuke nodded along. "Uh, let's see. I mean, the obvious one I guess is enemies, but I can't see that ever happening to us."

"Yeah, me either." She frowned, thinking for a moment. "Well, friends, duh. But we already are. That can't be it, too boring."

"What about teammates? Like a superhero team!" He smiled widely. "I guess we're already kinda that, too."

"Superhero." She breathed amusedly, shaking her head lightly. "Uh, what else?" By now the pair had stopped walking, Y/N leaning against the pier railing next to her. She looked out at the calm water for a moment before over at Josuke, seeing a pink blotch across the center of his face. "Josu, you think of anything?" He didn't look at her, his eyes fixed forward. Sighing, Y/N sidled closer to him, reaching a hand up and snapping close to his face. "Earth to Josuke, you in there?" He jumped slightly, looking down at her in surprise before averting his gaze once again. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah." He nodded, clearing his throat. "Yeah, fine."

"Well I'm all out of ideas." She huffed, turning back towards the water.

"I have one." He said after a few moments of silence, and Y/N saw him lean against the railing out of the corner of her eye. "Um, just one."

"The suspense is killing me, Josu." Y/N joked, eyes fixing on a pair of ducks that were floating a few feet out.

"Uh, okay..." He sounded uncharacteristically nervous. "What if...um...what if it's...lovers."