It didn't take long for the two of them to reach a small restaurant in the centre of town. Josuke's heart pounded in his chest as he opened the door for the mangaka who strutted into the place like he owned it. Josuke smirked at that, expecting nothing less from Rohan Kishibe. The restaurant was quiet so they easily got a table.
Both of them sat down with menus. Josuke brought his up to cover his red tomato-like face. He was still unsure if this was a date or just a chance to become friends. His head was fine with either but his heart was feeling more towards the date side. Meanwhile, Rohan hadn't considered the idea that this was a date. It didn't help that the man had no dating experience to go on and Josuke wasn't exactly direct with his clarification.
Josuke cleared his throat as he peeked over the menu at Rohan. The mangaka noticed him do so and also noticed the blush that was blatantly on his cheeks.
"Are you checking me out, Higashikata?" Rohan muttered blandly, keeping his eyes focused on the menu.
Josuke jumped and looked over at Rohan. He was a deer in the headlights indeed. The teen gulped, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. He was speechless and had no answer for Rohan. Josuke wasn't doing as Rohan said but he couldn't help but feel anxious at the fact that the mangaka noticed him looking over.
Rohan smirked at the teen's lack of a response. "I know I'm quite irresistible but please control your actions."
Josuke huffed. "You may be attractive but you're still got a personality of an asshole." He muttered from behind his menu. It was a couple of seconds before he noticed that he just called Rohan attractive as his heart decided to take charge of his words instead and gasped in horror.
Rohan looked blankly over at Josuke's hair peering over the top of the menu. He blinked a couple of times as he registered what the other had said. The mangaka couldn't believe Josuke of all people had given him a compliment even if it was partly an insult; it still made his head spin and heart speed up. He cleared his throat, trying to clear up his thoughts and emotions. "Thank you, I guess. Though I can't really say that was a proper compliment."
Josuke laughed nervously. "Well, you're welcome?" He said, blush adorning his cheeks still. "And you're not a complete asshole anyway." He mumbled.
Before Rohan could come up with a comment to reply to him with, the waiter came to take their orders. Once that was done and the menus were gone, the two were left facing each other. Josuke had his eyes trained on the table to avoid further embarrassment and to hide his permanent blush.
"Josuke, if you continue to look at the table then I might start to believe you're either trying to start a fight with it or are in love with it." Rohan muttered, leaning against the table and closer to Josuke.
Josuke's gaze quickly shifted up to Rohan with a scowl aimed at him. "I'm sorry for not wanting to look at your face constantly."
Rohan chuckled. "Is it because it makes you annoyed or embarrassed. I can't tell from your cute expression."
"Well, whatever, think whatever you want, Rohan." The teen huffed, looking away from the elder. "And for the record, I'm not cute."
The mangaka laughed and smiled as he leaned closer to Josuke. "If you continue to blush like that, what else am I meant to call you, Higashikata?"
Josuke looked back over to Rohan and leaned forward until they were mere inches apart. He frowned at the mangaka. "Did you forget I once ruined your face?"
Rohan took no notice of the small distance between them. "I thought we were trying to mend our relationship, Higashikata." He replied venomously as he leaned back, previous smile gone.
Leaning back aswell, Josuke's expression was downcast. "Sorry." He mumbled his apology. "I'm just finding it hard to act like this after everything."
"Do you think it's just hard for you?" Rohan muttered, looking the teen directly in the eyes.
Josuke scratched the back of his neck nervously. "No, I just-" He cut himself off as he thought what he was going to say. "I just don't always have a way with words but I really do care about this."
Rohan tutted at his response. "Fine. I accept your apology but don't think I'm always going to give you a free pass." He looked away for a moment. "I, too, want this to work. I've just had quite enough of this silly argument between us.
As Josuke was about to thank Rohan, their meals arrived to interrupt them. Both began to eat as soon as they arrived and were, for a change, enjoying a comfortable silence.
