the haunting of josuke higashikata's lover [josuke x ghost!reader x rohan]

wraith

A/N: here we are folks. im heckin ready to end this shit (in a good way). this actually hurt to write bc i feel bad for rohan-- this chapter is very heavy in the unrequitedness, poor boy. i will read through + edit a couple things tomorrow. more notes at the end.

Fuck.

That's all Josuke can think. Fuck Rohan, fuck paper cranes, and fuck the old man running the occult shop that sold him the trash book that indirectly roped him into letting Rohan accompany him on his walk back to see you.

"Josuke— I really cannot believe you thought you've considered doing this. Time is priceless. It's your ally right now, but you're going to make it your enemy." Rohan felt like he was back in the villain role now; not your lover, but the man who's trying to stop him. In his world, it's not a villainous act that he's committing. He's trying to stop a teenage boy from burning years off of his life for a dead teenage girl. Simple enough, he might've thought, if the situation didn't involve you and Josuke Higashikata. He's grumpy and shocked even with himself that he volunteers to walk back to your "home" with Josuke, because he knows that he will be stuck with damage control if the ordeal isn't sorted out in a timely and concise manner.

Josuke begins with an intense amount of conviction. "Time can be my enemy for all I care. Her life is worth more to me... I think." He ends on a sour and unsure note, which immediately warrants a glare from Rohan.

"You can't half-ass these things. An ounce of doubt will ruin everything. So if you have any second thoughts... Don't."

"I know, I know!" Rohan rolls his eyes after Josuke snaps back. He takes in the sight of the telltale red mailbox and braces himself for an awkward, but necessary confrontation between you and Josuke. If anyone could change the stubborn boy's mind, it'd be you. Then again, Rohan couldn't be sure that you'd turn down the ever-so-romantic offer of your boyfriend giving sixteen years of his life to you. How desperate could two teenagers in love be?

You sat with your knees tucked to your chest, surrounded by your colorful array of origami cranes. For an outsider, it'd be a beautiful, artistic image, one of melancholy, and maybe even hope. But it would only make Josuke's stomach churn as he set his eyes on you. What he wouldn't give to run up to you and crush the paper birds as he lifted you into the tightest embrace he could muster, if only to see you smile one more time. He'd truly give his life for it. He had to be set on it now, taking in your dejection when your eyes glazed across the mass of cranes around you.

"Josuke." You looked up from his shoes at the very edge of your origami fortress. He was in normal clothes, for a change. A refreshing change, at that. He seemed to perk up when given your attention, but it made no real difference to the dismal mood shared by everyone. "I— I missed you."

It took a lot for Josuke to hold in a mess of blubbering tears. It's not like his emotions were foreign. He was just set on this— you, making you happy, seeing you in an elegant wedding gown, and spending any and all of the time he had with you, whether it was for his own selfish reasons or not. He had to have you in his life. "I missed you too—" He squatted down to your level and touched one of your precious life-giving birds with extreme caution, like the tiny origami crane would shatter upon contact. He could always fix it with Crazy Diamond if that happened.

"Did Rohan tell you about the one-thousand paper cranes?" A wave of relief washed over you when you could finally make eye contact with Josuke again. His cheeks were puffy and he rubbed at the few stray tears he'd let fall, while Rohan stood aside as an uneasy bystander. Normally he'd interject with some sort of offhand comment, but he felt evil when considering ruining a delicate moment between lovers. His own enjoyment of a good story kept him from bursting in.