Diamonds Burn Gold

Chapter 42: Highway Go Go, Part 1

During a game of Cee-lo, Rohan glares daggers at Josuke as the blue-eyed teen stared down nervously at the three dice below him. Things were running smoothly before but now of Mikitaka's lack of tack, Josuke was put in a very horrible situation. He was about to go and reach them when Rohan suddenly slams his hands on the table and stood up. "Don't lay a finger on those dice, Josuke Higashikata!!" He shouted. Rohan took the bowl in his hand and walked away. "I would stay put if I were you."

'I wonder what he's gonna do. If he finds out I've been cheating this whole time...well, let's just say a simple won't be enough to smooth things over.' Josuke thought to himself as he watches Rohan dig through one of his drawers and pulls out a magnifying glass. He then walks out of view and was gone for a few moments before coming back. He walks back to the table and holds the magnifying glass up to the dice. Carefully analysing each one to see if they had been fabricated in any way. All the while, Josuke had been sitting in his seat with a nervous, forced smile.

"What exactly is the problem?" Josuke nervously asked him, trying to sound normal.

"It might be my mind playing tricks, but I could swear the dice are staring at me." Rohan said as he lifts one of the dice towards the magnifying class. As he said that, Mikitaka's eyes opened up at the bottom of the dice he was holding. He stayed still and quiet as his heart pounded inside him. This was stressful. Rohan looks over the dice, making sure he wasn't going nuts but when he found nothing he let out a small sigh and said, "Hmph, well, at any rate, let's get back to the game."

Rohan drops the dice into the bowl and added 30 chips to the playing field. Josuke kept on trying to act cool and collected as he acted like everything is perfectly fine as he picked up two chips. "Wow, you're way braver than I am. It'll just two for me." Josuke said as he picked up the dice and gave them a look. 'Catch my drift now, Mr. Alien? I know the point is to come out on top but I only have to do that by a little bit. Alright, go!' Josuke thought. He tossed the dice into the bowl, almost begging for Mikitaka to have gotten his message. But to his anxiety, Mikitaka landed Josuke another Triple Six!

'It's like what I'm saying is going in one ear and out the other!' Josuke thought. He looked up carefully to glance up at the manga artist, expecting to see his irate face. But, as if to further Josuke's anxiety, Rohan was...absolutely calm. He was even taking a drink. He spread a smile, chuckling as he said, "Guess that's what you call a streak of luck, eh? Rolling that score again isn't impossible. An omen is worth 5x the initial bet, yes?" Rohan kept smiling as he pushed another column of chips. "Here you go, the dice will roll as they may." He said, giving out a laugh.

Alright. Josuke was officially terrified. Rohan was acting way too friendly and too nonchalant about this and Josuke was now breaking into a cold sweat. Ugh, he felt like screaming. Josuke forces his smile to stay in place as he rubbed the back on his neck. "Ahahaha...guess so. You can never predict these kinds of things, am I right?" Josuke said. Rohan and Josuke shared a good-hearted, and awkward, laugh over the whole thing. Josuke was still terrified but he hoped he could get out this alive. Suddenly, Rohan had stopped laughing and stabs his own pinky with a pen.

"Wh-?! What-?! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Josuke shouted, shocked at what he just saw.

"I don't quite know how but it's clear you've been cheating me from the start. Damn it, not being able to figure it is unacceptable." Rohan said, taking in some breath as he powered through the pain.

"Hold on, that's why you stabbed yourself?!" Josuke shouted.

"You're insufferable. However, for Mr. Joestar, Koichi, Airi's sakes, I've been keeping my cool where you're concerned. But that ends now. Cheating me crosses every line ever drawn. I'm sure you've been gloating this entire time and the thought of it makes me sick." Rohan said. Glaring daggers at the young student who would dare cheat him in this game. He doesn't know how, but when he does, he'll murder him!