~Our Bond Is Unbreakable~

Chapter Two~ Feb 14 Pt. 2

Josuke's POV
We walked back to Okuyasu's house where I waved goodbye and we agreed to meet in an hour. The second the door closed I was sprinting towards the nearest convenience store.

Which one of these chocolate's says I love you but in like... a bro way. I knew how upset Okuyasu was to not get a valentine, so I figured I could do something special for him. I mean he's my best bro so it's normal that I'd want him to be happy right?
"Oh are you looking for a late minute gift for a special girl?"
"Huh?"
Oh, I looked up to see that the girl working the register had been watching me scan through the chocolate display.
"Something like that..."
I nervously laughed. I figured it would be too much work to explain I was getting them for a guy but like not in that way.
"Well I think these would make any girl happy!"
She smiled, holding up a small box with three decorated truffles, each sitting in their own little wrappers. Hmm, yeah I could probably get him those without it being too over the top...
"Oh yeah those would work"
"Perfect! If that's all you needed I can ring you up in the front!"
I quickly grabbed a couple of soda's and followed her to the register.
"Alright, one chocolate and 2 sodas will come to 1,319.83 yen!"
I handed her the money and took the bag.
"Good luck with that girl of yours!"
She said, winking as I left.

I had about 30 minutes before I was supposed to meet up with Okuyasu, with about a 20 minute walk back to my house. I used the time to think up how I would give him the gift, while trying to remain as friendly as possible so he wouldn't think it was weird. I could bring it up non chaluntly... 'hey buddy I just remembered I got you this!'... no that would never work, you don't just forget you got someone a valentine... what about 'hey man I got you these to show how much you mean to me...' no, that sounds too romantic, he'd think I was gross or weird if I said that...
I continued to think up different ways to tell him, none of them being any good, and before I knew it I had arrived home. I only had 10 or so minutes so I quickly put the chocolate and soda's in the fridge, and changed out of my school uniform into a casual tshirt and sweatpants. It was getting about time so I slipped my shoes back on and walked over to Okuyasu's house.

As I approached the house I saw Okuyasu had just walked out the door, and waved once he saw me. He was also wearing a simple tshirt with some baggy pants. We really do just share the same braincell huh...
"Hey bro! So did you do that thing you mentioned earlier?"
He looked at me questioningly
"O-oh yeah I'll tell you what it was later"
I tried to laugh it off and waved my hand dismissively. He eyed me up and down knowing I was hiding something, but thankfully he just decided to drop it.
"So what do ya' wanna do"
"Well I figured we could hang out at my place, but my mom's working late so we gotta fend for ourselves for dinner. I was thinkin' we could pick something up and then come back"
Okuyasu thought for a moment,
"Yeah that sounds good, maybe we could pick up some food from Tonio's?"
"I like the way you think,"
I smiled and nuged him with my elbow,
"To Tonio's then."

We walked along to Tonio's, discussing our predictions for what food he would bestow upon us.
"I don't know that many Italian foods but I'm pretty sure lasagna is one of 'em"
I said, using all of my brain power to remember the foreign food items.
"Yeah that's definitely one of them, but Tonio always makes really fancy stuff. A lasagna feels too simple and straightforward."
I thought about it for a bit.
"You're probably right. Honestly it'd probably be impossible to guess what complicated dish he'll come up with this time."
The conversation continued until we finally reached our destination.

We walked inside, surprisingly it was empty.
We stood there confused, when a happy Italian man peeked around the corner from the kitchen.
"Hello boys, you got here just as I opened for the night so you're the first customers here."
He walked up to us still smiling,
"I've got to say, that doesn't seem like appropriate attire for a Valentine's date at a restaurant..."
He said, gesturing to our clothes.
Oh no he thinks we're here as a couple. My face immediately turned red and I could see Okuyasu trying to hide his flustered look.
"Uh o-oh actually we're not on a date, we just wanted to pick up some food,"
I managed to stutter out, not wanted to embarrass myself or Okuyasu any further.
Tonio looked at us, he obviously didn't believe what I said for a second.
"Hmm.. sorry my mistake."
He said, suspicion still in his eyes.
He looked at us again, but this time he seemed to be using his stand to figure out what food to make.

After what felt like an eternity (which in reality was only a few seconds) Tonio looked away, his gentle smile returning.
"I will go prepare your food now, you boys can sit down while you're waiting if you want."
Okuyasu walked over to the nearest table and sat down, I followed and did the same.
Trying to relieve some of the awkward tension I decided to make some conversation.
"Man, crazy how he thought we were a couple. I mean do we really look like that?"
Okuyasu looked like he was deep in thought.
"Bro you good?"
I asked, trying to snap him out of whatever seemed to be occupying his mind so deeply.
"Ah sorry, what did you say?"
"I said it's wild that he thought we were a couple."
Okuyasu thought for a moment
"I can see where he got the idea from. I mean we are at an Italian restaurant on a holiday dedicated to love. Plus we're constantly touching each other in some way so that probably led him to think that."
I sat there kinda dumbfounded. That was the most self aware Okuyasu had ever been.
"Uh yeah I guess so..."
I rested my chin on the table, slumped over, probably looking like some neanderthal who didn't know how to function in human society. But honestly that's kind of how I felt at the moment. Do we really touch eachother that much...? I thought back to all the times we had hung out or came to the restaurant together. He was right, in all of my memories one of us would either have our arm around the other, or we'd be so close together that our whole arms would be touching.
I never thought much of how people besides us would perceive that affection, but now it was obvious how Tonio arrived at that conclusion.
But thinking about it more I don't mind that much about how anyone sees us, we're just really close bros, no personal space needed.

My thoughts were interrupted when Tonio came back out with a bag containing two styrofoam containers.
"I marked which one is for which, so make sure you get the right one"
He smiled.
We paid and left with the bag, talking about how starving we were on the way home.

I grabbed my keys and unlocked the door, walking in I could see that mom still wasn't home yet.
"Guess it's still just us"
I said, slightly grateful we got to hang out without any adult supervision.
I led the way to my room and closed the door behind me.

We both ran up to my bed and jumped on it accidentally body slamming eachother.
"Ow uh sorry Josuke"
Okuyasu said, rubbing his shoulder where the main impact was.
"That was on me too, guess we're both a couple of dumbasses huh."
I said, laughing through the pain.
Luckily the bag of food had remained unharmed and intact. I pulled out a box labeled 'O'.
"Here this one's yours"
"Thanks"
I grabbed the one marked 'J' and opened it up.
"Bro you're never gonna believe it"
I look over at Okuyasu with a snarky grin.
"What is it bro?"
He tried to get a closer look at the box.
I tilted it up so he could see,
"Lasagna"
I giggled like a schoolgirl.
It wasn't even funny but it seemed to crack up Okuyasu too.
"Oh my god bro you called it! I can't believe he actually made that!"
At this point we were both howling with laughter, despite there being no real joke.
Once we calmed down I asked what he got, it was fettuccini alfredo.
"Wow, guess he went simple tonight"
I said, taking a bite of my lasagna.
"Yeah, it's still really good though"
Okuyasu looked like he was experiencing pure bliss, having devoured almost half his meal already.
I couldn't help but laugh a little bit, it was always funny to see someone as tough looking as him be so soft.

We had finished eating, our minor ailments having been healed by the stand infused food.
"What'da wanna do now Josuke?"
Okuyasu asked, laying back against the headboard and staring at the ceiling.
"Well..."
My mind drifted to the chocolates.
Not yet, not right after what happened at Tonio's, we have to do something first.
"We could watch a movie, play video games, or whatever else you can think of really.
"I haven't watched a movie in a while..."
Okuyasu said, looking at me as if to finish his sentence with his eyes.
"Me neither, wanna do that?"
He smiled and excitedly shook his head.

A/N

1666 words, just a few more than last time! I wanted to fit the rest of the Valentine's bit in this part but I didn't want to make it too long, so I'll try to write part 3 either today or tomorrow. After that I have a vague idea of where I want this story to go, but we'll see what happens!