"Where the hell is that idiot? Ugh, I bet he skipped classes on the first day of school," she muttered quietly, tapping her pen in annoyance as she stared at the vacant seat beside her. "Why do I put up with his shit again?"

The door suddenly slammed open, showing a walking pompadour and- ah, there he is.

"P-p-pardon our intrusion!" he stuttered, bowing at the teacher whose lecture he and pompadour man rudely interrupted. But it's not like said lecture mattered anyway, since as far as she could tell, her classmates are pretty brain dead right now.

The teacher just rolled his eyes, probably too tired to give a shit this early in the school year. "Alright, just try not to be tardy next time," he sighed, before motioning to two vacant seats; one beside her and one at the middle. "You two can choose to sit over there."

Koichi did not sit with her. The traitorous bastard.

Instead of her best friend, all she got as seatmates were a non-descriptive sleeping dude and of course- pompadour man, who is now approaching the seat beside her.

Oh, wow.

Now that he's up close, she realized that the dude's taller than her. Like, she'd probably just reach his armpits or something. Does his hair have some added factor to that tall height, or was this guy just blessed with holy genes?

He's also really cute, yeah.

"...Hi," he awkwardly waved, facing her as she blinked at the sudden greeting. "I'm Higashikata Josuke," he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you," he added, flashing a friendly grin.

...God, his teeth is brighter than her future.

She gave Josuke a small, albeit awkward smile. "Nice," she said, before realizing that holy shit what the fuck is she talking about she doesn't make any sense. "I- I mean- uh, it's nice to meet you too...? Yeah," she laughed nervously, while internally face-palming.

God that was the worst human interaction she had ever done in her entire life. Josuke didn't make fun of her inability to socialize though, so that was okay.

But despite Josuke being friendly and cute, she's still pissed off at the fact that Koichi hadn't sat beside her. They're literally two peas in a pod- best of friends since diapers! (Okay the last one was an exaggeration but still.) How the fuck could he betray her like this?!

She did not care if she was being melodramatic about it; it doesn't change the fact that Koichi didn't sit beside her even though he had a choice.

The bastard's probably guilty that he forgot to go to their meeting place, and is ignoring her now. Well, good luck for him trying to avoid her, as she's petty adept at finding people who had pissed her off.

And so she spent the rest of the class glaring holes at Koichi, who tried his best to ignore her.

"Tsu-chan! Would you like to join us for lunch?"

"Merumi-san! Could you help me for a second here?"

"N-Natsu-chan! I have something to talk to you about!"

What the actual fuck why is everyone suddenly paying attention to her.

"Um. I have to go to the toilet," she stood up, ignoring the flocking of students around her (holy hell are they multiplying?!) as she duck around them until she finally left the classroom. "Okay, this is really weird," she muttered, breaking out into a run as she narrowly dodged some students trying to approach her. Like, why?! They're practically strangers!

Not even bothering to check if it's the male or female's restroom, she immediately opened the door and went inside, closing the door with a slam as she did so.

Someone screamed.

She turned to look at the source of the noise, only to witness the sight of Josuke Higashikata backed in a corner, face as red as an overripe tomato. "W-w-what are you doing h-here?!"

Well.

"I... uh," she muttered awkwardly, face also turning red. "Everyone seems to be out for my blood," she explained slowly, before realizing that her statement probably doesn't make any sense and also doesn't answer his question.

He glared at her- or at least he attempted to. "Well, the men's bathroom isn't really a good hiding spot, especially for a girl!" he angrily retorted, as she frantically held up a hand in defense.

"I panicked, okay?!" she hissed, frowning as Josuke suddenly paused, seemingly staring at something behind her. "Hey, what the hell are you looking at? My eyes are up here," she deadpanned, as he snapped out of his stupor.

He blinked. "Huh? I could've sworn I saw something behind you..." he muttered, before shaking his head. "Whatever, man. Just- you're lucky that it's me and not some other guy who's in my place right now," he said, as she sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"Heh, I guess so..." she agreed, as they both got out of the boy's comfort room. "Anyway, I have to go- um, find someone," she gave him a small wave, smiling slightly.

Joeuke smiled back, responding with a wave of his own. God, he was just too cute for his own good.

"Oi, Koichi."

"..."

"Koichi."

"..."

"God damn it, Koichi! Are you deaf?!" she screamed in frustration, as his head snapped out to her in surprise (and maybe slight fear).

He winced, seeing her hurt look. "...Sorry," he mumbled, avoiding her hawk-like gaze. It didn't help much that her eyes does look like a hawk's. "I- uh, I got- um..."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You what?" she practically demanded, leaning closer towards his face.

"I bumped into someone today and he- uh," he cringed, as if remembering a painful memory. "I apologized- and yeah that why I'm late, haha," he said, adding a weak laugh before faltering at her deadpan look. "Okay fine, I'll tell you- I watched some students beat up each other."

That piqued her interest. "Well, didn't expect you to have a violent side, Koichi," she teased, smirking as he turned red. "Too bad I wasn't there to watch the fight with you, though," she added, winking playfully at him. "Although I'd probably also join the fight, if prompted to..."

Koichi sweat dropped. How did he end up with a violent friend again?

"But whatever. I'm glad you're safe, or something," she remarked, oblivious to her friend's thoughts. "Yeah, it'd probably troublesome to explain to your family if you got beat up and stuff," she grinned, patting his back. "So! Lunch with me?" she asked, tilting her head.

Koichi blinked at the sudden change of subject, before smiling at her. "Yeah, I'd like that," he said, before brightening up. "Hey, can we invite another person to eat with us?" he asked, before quickly adding, "Well, if you don't mind."

"Sure," she shrugged. The more, the merrier, right?

"In that case," he stood up from his chair, approaching someone (Pompadour man? The fuck-) and talking to him. And that's how Josuke ended up being lunch buddies with them.

How did her life went from 'I have one friend and he's a loser' to 'oh my god I have a new friend that's cute as hell'?

"So, Josuke- meet Natsu. Although I guess you probably know already, since you two sit next to each other," Koichi said to Josuke, as he nodded while staring at her carefully blank face the whole time.

She turned to Koichi, all the while thinking of ways on how to tell him the bathroom incident. So far all of the ideas would result to Koichi probably getting a heart attack and/or avoid her for the rest of eternity.

So she decided to just fuck it and be blunt with him. "I interrupted his peeing session in the men's bathroom."

On hindsight, saying those probably made her sound like a pervert.

But to her utter surprise, Koichi just nodded in acknowledgement without even a little surprise or disgust. She doesn't know whether that's a good thing or not. She was a bit busy in her thoughts until she heard Koichi exclaim in surprise. "Wait, what?!"

Oh, never mind. Guess the information just processed a bit too late for him.

"Natsu, what did you do now?!" Koichi furiously whispered to her, pinching her cheek as she cried out in surprise and slight pain. Josuke pretended to ignore the situation in front of him, and failed rather spectacularly.

He raised a concerned hand, as Koichi kept pinching her cheek. Oww, since when did he get so violent?! Thankfully, he let her cheek go after a short while. "You- I know you're done a lot of questionable things in the past, but this is out of line, Natsu," he frowned at her in disappointment, as she rubbed her reddened cheek.

Josuke winced at her in sympathy, opening his mouth to say something but getting cut off by Koichi.

"And to Josuke-san of all people!" he kept ranting on, as she sighed and turned to Josuke with a look that makes her want to die. "Why would you even do that, Natsu?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "...Right. I was about to add about it being an accident when you suddenly exploded right in front of me," she dryly remarked, snickering as Koichi turned to her in surprise, his ears turning red.

"Then why didn't you say so at first?!" he grumbled in embarrassment, before turning to Josuke. "Sorry you had to see that... thing," he cringed, as Josuke replied with a weak smile.

"I-it's okay, Koichi-san," Josuke reassured, as he eyed her still red cheek. "More importantly, does your cheek still hurt, Merumi-san?" he asked her in concern, as she blinked.

She touched her cheek cautiously, not feeling anything before giving him an okay sign. "Yep, I'm okay now!" she said, grinning as she elbowed Koichi. "Besides, I'm already used to it already, haha."

"Oi. It's your fault that you only process things when inflicted with pain," Koichi retorted, as Josuke laughed weakly and she blushed in embarrassment.

She pouted, puffing her cheeks. "Well, whatever. Just eat your lunch already, idiot!"

"Ah, Koichi," she called out, as he turned to her questioningly. "Go on without me. I still have some stuff to do after this, so I'm not going home yet," she said, as he raised his eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" he asked, as she nodded. "I mean, I could come with you..." he added uncertainly, as she made a shooing motion.

"Just go. I know you want to hang out with that Higashikata dude today," she rolled her eyes good-naturedly, as Koichi stared at her for a moment, before chasing after Josuke, who had went outside immediately after dismissal.

She sighed, slinging her backpack over her shoulder before leaving school just minutes after Koichi left.

She still has a lot of shit to do.

Dinner time was interesting, to say the least.

"Alright, brat. Tell me why your teacher called me again for the third time today," she said, staring intently at the brat in question.

Ieyasu glared at her in response. "Well, it wasn't my fault that the kids in my class were too stupid to understand my opinions," he haughtily retorted before getting a rather harsh poke on the forehead by her sister. "Ow! You told me to tell you the reason, so I did!"

She clicked her tongue, snapping her chopsticks in front of him. "Alright kid, stop being a smartass already," she grumbled, rolling her eyes as Ieyasu stuck his tongue out. "Seriously, you're like, five. I know that you're a genius-"

"That I am," he preened at the obvious compliment.

"-but that doesn't mean that all the kids in your class can understand what you're gibbering off half the time," she admonished, as he frowned. "Also, could you stop insulting their intelligence every single time? Trust me, it lessens the calls your teacher gives me," she added in exasperation, before quietly muttering under her breath.

"Like what the hell she's now implying that I'm verbally abusing you when it's actually the opposite."

Her brother apparently heard that, as he shouted out an indignant "Hey!"

"Go hey yourself," she muttered in response, already done with his shit.

"...Hey sis," Ieyasu said after a while, as she let out a hum to acknowledge that she's listening. "Did you hear what happened today?"

She raised an unamused eyebrow. "Aside from the fact that your teacher called me three times a day?" she sarcastically said, laughing at his face. After she calmed down for a bit, she asked, "Okay- so what actually happened?"

"Some guy tried to hold someone hostage with a knife-" he replied, as she snorted quietly, "-but somehow- apparently the knife he used ended up getting stuck in his stomach," he said as she blinked in surprise at the second tidbit of information.

"His what got stuck in his what?" she asked incredulously, raising a skeptical eyebrow as she still doesn't quite believe what her brother had said. Sure, the brat may sound ridiculous sometimes but he never lies; she never raised him to be a liar.

Her brother merely shrugged. "Hey, it's what I heard from a police officer," he said, as she crossed her arms.

"And what the hell are you doing near a police officer?" she asked him rather harshly, as he blew a raspberry on her face in retaliation.

Disgusting brat.

"A policeman visited his daughter at school today, idiot!"

"Well, why didn't you just say so? And why the hell did you spit on me, you brat-?!"

She went to school with eye bags the next day, feeling dead both inside and outside. She could buy a coffee to revitalize herself, but she doesn't really want to spend her (almost non-existent) allowance on that when she could just punch herself whenever she's about to sleep.

Or maybe she could also just sleep the whole morning, who knows?

As she entered the classroom, she was greeted by a concerned Koichi, who immediately pestered her insistently about yesterday.

"Your brother got into trouble again yesterday, didn't he?" he asked knowingly, as she gave him a tired glare in response. "Ah, so he did."

She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "Mhm. I bet he's going to have to transfer to a different class now, since the teacher sounded so done when she called me," she remarked, which she immediately followed by a large yawn.

Koichi narrowed his eyes at the action. "...Have you been doing deliveries during night again?" he accused her, hands on his hips in an attempt to look strict (it didn't work).

It was at that time that Josuke chose to enter the classroom.

"Um, good morning, you two!" he greeted with a cute smile, as she grinned at him lazily.

"Sup."

"Good morning, Josuke-san!"

He sat beside her, as she leaned her elbow on her desk. Koichi was still standing in front of her, as she suddenly yawned again. "Alright dude, you done with your little interrogation now?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow as he frowned at her in concern.

"You still haven't answered my question, Natsu," Koichi deadpanned, as she tilted her head, feigning confusion.

"Question?" she repeated, her voice mockingly confused. "What question? You didn't ask me any question, Koichi-kun," she remarked airily, as Koichi silently groaned in slight exasperation.

"Natsu, stop."

Josuke, who seemed to be listening in to their conversation, couldn't help his curiosity. "Question? What did you ask her, Koichi?"

She turned to him, her attitude turning into a complete 180°. "Nah, it's okay, Josuke-san. Koichi just asked me about my part-time job, hehe~"

Koichi stared at her, his face unreadable. "...Natsu."

The atmosphere was quiet after that, with their classmates' chatter being background noise.

"...Alright then, if y'all are done questioning me now, I'm gonna sleep," she suddenly muttered, immediately collapsing on her desk as Koichi stared at her in concern. "I swear if you bother me I'm gonna castrate you," she added drowsily, her voice slightly muffled by her desk.

Koichi fortunately backed off, leaving her to snooze off the entire morning unnoticed.

He never got any answers from her.

Dismissal time. Today, she got to walk home with Koichi only, as Josuke left in a hurry, saying something along the lines of 'there was an emergency.'

"Natsu, be completely honest with me here," Koichi gave her a serious look, as she questioningly raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a crush on Josuke-san...?" he asked, as she stared at him for a moment, before laughing out loud.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

His face flushed red, feeling embarrassment after asking the question. "Hey, I was just wondering, alright?" Koichi said, as she finally calmed down enough to respond to him.

"Okay, first of all," she said, holding up her index finger, "That was pretty funny. Second of all," she held up two fingers this time, "No. I just think he's a bit cute," she answered honestly, as Koichi gave her another look.

"...That is a crush, Natsu," he slowly said.

She rolled her eyes, snorting. "Right, and I also have a crush on your dog because I find it cute," she remarked sarcastically, as he looked at her in surprise.

"Wait- then- oh, you-" he stuttered, face red, before pointing a finger at her accusingly. "You purposely misled me didn't you?! Why didn't you say that in the first place?!"

She chuckled in amusement. "Saying that just gave my intelligence way more credit than it's worth, you know."

"But it's true; you are smart with your words, Natsu," Koichi retorted, as she turned a bit red at the off-handed compliment. "Seriously, why do you think that restaurant hired you as a delivery person if it weren't for your wit, huh?"

She gave him a blank stare. "Uh, aside from the fact that they were desperate about getting employees? I got hired by luck, probably," she answered in all honesty, as he huffed at her humbleness. "Anyway, what was that you said about me and Josuke again?" she asked him, suddenly changing the topic.

Koichi blinked in confusion. "Eh? Oh-! I was just wondering if you actually like him, since you're personality becomes..." he paused, making a weird face. "...somewhat pleasant. You know, exactly the opposite of how you treat me," he dryly remarked, as she scoffed.

"Yeah, right! You do the same thing to me as well, so it's only fair!" she retorted, smirking wickedly as they both laughed at their silly banter.

It was... nice to have Koichi as a friend.

Sure, he may be a bit of a wimp, but he grows a backbone when you get to know him well.

AN: SSHHHH YOU DON'T NEED TO REMIND ME ABOUT MY OTHER STORIES FUCK- anyway uhh here's the jojo fc that's been lurkng in my phone for too long- warning this was made while i was bored and sleep-deprived so expect some crack