Josuke sighed brashly as sat down cross-legged on his bedroom floor, haphazardly packing a duffel of his with his daily belongings, trying not to do so too slowly as he knew doing so was only just delaying the inevitable.

But was it really inevitable?

Of course, he could always bail on the whole thing. Blab to Koichi and Okuyasu and tell them how much of an weird asshole Rohan was being. But at the same time, not only did that risk further incurring Rohan's disapproval in him, but he knew Koichi would remind him that he did warn him not to go in to his house and to keep any conversation to his porch, and Okuyasu would probably say something stupid like 'Well it ain't like you gotta actually be in love with him, right? Think about how much money any cut of that deal's gonna be!', all while laughing at him.

However, theoretical Okuyasu's words resounded within him inside his head. With that kind of money, he could take a gap year, maybe even go do some travelling! He'd only ever left Morioh once when he was a small child, and that was just to S-City because of the fever he'd contracted from developing his own stand.

And, there was the added bonus that being outside of his home for a little over a month, he wouldn't be pressured in to college applications or entrance exams yet, or even finding a career path right away.

He could just spend the summer kicking back for one last time, only to do what, maybe make coffee or tea and meals for Rohan occasionally, take care of his errands for him and scare off any overzealous fans his address got leaked to? And... that's when his stomach dropped again as he remembered.

Right.

'Boyfriend stuff'... whatever that would entail.

Of course, despite never having been in a relationship before, Josuke had his own idea of what boyfriends did, and none of it was anything he'd ever considered doing with Rohan, or really, with anyone else he'd ever known or met, for that matter regardless of their gender.

But maybe Josuke would get lucky. Maybe Rohan was the kind of guy that just wanted a hug, or being told that someone cared about him and that would to considerate acts for him out of such a feeling.

Or, either that, there was also the extreme opposite end of the spectrum that Rohan was a real complete and utter freak and leave him feeling more messed up at the end of this summer than their confrontation with Yoshikage Kira in 1999 did.

He figured that was perhaps the first thing he should do - suss out with Rohan just how bad this was going to be for him.

After standing up and throwing his duffel's strap over his shoulder, he left his room and stopped by his mother, Tomoko, on the way out the door.

"Well, I'm off. I'll be pretty busy but I'll call when I can." Josuke said, faking a cheerful smile to Tomoko, who gave him a tight hug in response. She was tough on Josuke and didn't know him this side of her often, but with what she thought was Josuke taking his life seriously for once, she was completely over the moon.

"I'm so proud of you, Josuke - it's about damn time, putting your future first and working for such a well-respected name living in our town, for the summer!" Tomoko spoke with excitement, unaware of just how much shit her son had really gotten himself in to.

"Yeah, it's great..." Josuke's expression faltered as the corners of his mouth twitched, before then taking a deep breath and collecting himself as he pulled out of the hug, putting his shoes on and making his way through the late afternoon streets of Morioh.

By the time he'd reached Rohan's home again, the sun had just set below the horizon, giving the ember sky an ethereal glow against the royal blue of the night sky. But upon climbing the steps to the front door, before he could even knock, it opened for him - as if Rohan had been waiting by the door the whole time for him to come back.

As he walked back inside and set his duffel down on the sofa, he looked over to Rohan with a concerned furrow to his brow.

"Hey, I forgot to ask this in the first place, but like... how far is this going to go, Rohan...? I mean, this whole 'boyfriend' thing?"

"I already told you. Higashikata, I will do anything for my research..." Rohan spoke sharply, following up with a brash 'tsk!'.

His expression turning more towards the uneasy side, his lips pouted out a little as he pointed out something else entirely that bothered him about Rohan's strange ploy.

"Oi, oi... you know, this is bugging me a little, but if you're my 'boyfriend' now, shouldn't you at least use my first name...?"

"I suppose you have a point, but... hmmm..." The artist paused in place, staring down Josuke pensively with emerald eyes as he tapped his well-sculpted high cheekbones with his index finger, before finally making his suggestion. "Let's make it a little more interesting than that, shall we, 'Jojo'?" He had a devilish smile playing on his lips as he spoke. "It's a pretty 'cute' and endearing nickname, don't you think? Just in the way it kind of rolls off the tongue..." As soon as he said the last word, he rolled his tongue and gave it a subtle click.

"It sounds better, I suppose, but that still doesn't answer my question though - just how far is this gonna go, damn it...!?" Josuke's tone gave away his building frustration, which was quickly quashed by the Manga-Ka.

"Then don't go around changing the subject while I'm trying to communicate just that, Jojo!" Rohan raised his voice a little, scolding Josuke for being so distracted and all over the place. "That being said, there's no limits or bounds to how far I'll be committed to this act, and I expect the same dedication to this out of you."

"S-so, like... it could go..." Josuke was beginning to get flustered, his lips curled in to an uncomfortable curl, while averting his gaze from the other man. "Like, you know... 'all the way'...?"

"I take it that you're referring to sexual intercourse?" Rohan spoke without hesitation, crossing his arms sternly as he lifted his head high in order to 'look down' upon Josuke.

"W-well..." Josuke muttered, sheepishly turning his head even further away from direct contact with Rohan's gaze as the artist essentially tripled down on seeing his plan through.

"I'll say this one final time: I will do anything for authenticity in my work." Rohan spoke slowly, putting heavy emphasis on his words before asking the other young man, "Am I clear?" For the first time that evening, Josuke was silent, his ultra-blue eyes vacantly staring at Rohan in bewilderment, to which he asked the younger man, "You're nervous?" Which was then followed by a deep sigh. "Of course you are. Listen, it sounds like you're far too caught up in our current dynamic, which isn't good for my creative process." The artist jammed his finger in to Josuke's chest a couple of times, before running that same finger up his neck, holding his chin up with it. "Stop being so caught up in being Josuke, antagonist of Kishibe Rohan; Instead, be Josuke, doting and loving boyfriend deserving of the affections of Kishibe Rohan."

"Thanks, that wasn't helpful at all." Josuke sarcastically remarked with an involuntary twitch of his brow. "I mean, how the hell am I supposed to just act like - "

"Were you ever in any plays as a child, Jojo?" Rohan quickly interrupted Josuke, who looked at him with a hint of surprise, even though he still looked a little like a mix between wounded and annoyed.

"Huh?" Josuke seemed to be taken aback, starting at Rohan blankly before answering honestly but somewhat confused. "Well, yeah, in elementary school. But what's that got to do with - "

"Because it's the same concept. You put on a costume and pretend to be someone else to play a role. A change of clothes, a different..." Suddenly, Rohan paused, literally holding his breath; preventing himself from saying something that would surely make this whole operation go to hell before it started. And so, he literally redirected himself instead, turning away and heading up the stairs. "Clean up before bed, would you? The bathroom is up these stairs, I left the door open for you so it's easy to find."

Josuke didn't sense any malice behind what Rohan was about to say, and rather, felt that it was just about to be an accidental slip of the tongue. But still, he appreciated that Rohan stopped himself before bringing up his hair.

Josuke stayed downstairs until Rohan had disappeared by rounding the corner, before grabbing his duffel again and heading up the stairs, looking both ways before seeing the light of the bathroom in the dimly lit hallway.

After walking in and locking the door behind himself, he turned around to look at himself in the bathroom mirror, thoughtfully leaning in and examining his own appearance and muttering out under his breath.

"The Josuke that's Rohan's boyfriend... huh?"