Josuke's POV:

It's the day after Kuro, Koichi and I met Genji Ito. We called Jotaro and told him about Genji's stand and its abilities. Koichi and I are now waiting for Kuro to get out of class under an oak tree so we can walk her home. Leaves danced through the air as the two of us stood. I tightened the navy blue scarf around my neck.

"Damn it's getting cold fast," I complained to Koichi. He was wearing a green coat over his uniform along with a yarn knitted white scarf.

"Yea. I can't believe we're in October already." He said as he tightened the scarf around his neck as well.

"Where did you get that scarf from? It looks pretty girly"

"Oh Yukako knitted it for me, I need to figure out what to get her for her birthday before the end of this month. She keeps making and giving me stuff, so I have to get her something good. Do you have any ideas?"

"Hmmm," Although Yukako was the crazy girl that stalked Koichi in the beginning, she at least turned around when the two of them started dating. That being said, I have never given a gift to a girlfriend in my life. "Maybe give her some earrings? Girls like those kinds of things, right?"

"Yea but I don't know if she even has her ears pierced."

"What about some flowers?"

"I don't think there are any flower shops that are open this time of year."

"What about a cute dress?"

"That would require me to go shopping with her, ruining the surprise. Josuke, have you ever given a girl a gift?"

"Of course I have!"

"Your mom doesn't count." Koichi placed his thumb on his chin. "What about Kuro? Have you ever given her a birthday gift?"

"Well," I started. Now that I think about it, I've never asked her about her birthday. Whenever it comes around, she never mentions it and I always find out about it weeks after. Maybe this time I'll get her something if I didn't miss it already.

"Isn't that Genji over there?" Koichi pointed into the crowd of people. A boy with a bowl cut started walking towards us timidly. Every time he bumped into someone he apologized profusely and walked even faster towards us until he finally arrived.

"Hey," Genji said awkwardly. He kept avoiding eye contact between Koichi and I as he fiddled his thumbs in his hands. "So I talked to Hazamada in the gym today. I think we're friends now"

"Really? That's great!" Koichi said.

"Yea. We both like the Perman and Pink Dark Boy manga series. He seems like a cool guy."

"Well, I guess people with similar interests attract," I said. Part of me is surprised that Kuro tried to make peace with this weirdo pervert, but the other part of me isn't. She's too kind to let someone like him waste away in his house.

"Have you seen her?" Genji asked as he glanced around. "Kuroko I mean. I've been looking for her but I haven't been able to find her.

"Oh, we usually walk her home," Koichi answered. "We're just waiting for her to get out of class."

"Oh. In that case," The black haired boy dug through his school bag and took out a letter with a heart stamp on it and a small white box. "Can you give these to her?"

I took the box from him while Koichi took the letter. I opened it up and inside were two sparkling silver earrings in the shape of hearts. The inside of the hearts were pink and shined.

Oh no.

Genji sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. "Ever since yesterday, she's all I've been thinking about. How she held me close while I was crying, the way she comforted me, no one has ever been that way to me. I think… I like her."

Oh god no

"I was going to confess to her today, but I'm too scared to. I was wondering if you guys could help me out?"

A dangerous thought crossed my mind. The idea of another guy making her smile, the idea of that guy making her laugh, the two of them kissing. Does Genji even know how to treat a girl? Let alone Kuro? His house had a room covered with pictures of girls in their underwear, including one of Kuro's. What if he does something terrible to her?

"Wait wait wait wait," I shook my head. "Slow down, you JUST met her yesterday! You're not even friends with her! You can't confess to her!"

Genji tilted his head. "Why not?"

"Well," I scratched my head.

"You're not her brother, right?" Genji asked.

"No?"

"Boyfriend then?"

"Boyfriend?! No! She's my best friend! We've been friends for a long time!" I could feel my cheeks heating up.

"Then, telling her that I like her shouldn't be a problem, right? Unless, you don't want me to date her." Genji's shoulders slumped as his hair covered his eyes while looking at the ground. "I know I'm a creep, and I know a lot of girls in my class think that too, but if Kuro was willing to give me a chance, I want to ask her if she could give me a different kind of chance. Maybe we could go on a few dates. Of course we won't do anything weird! Unless" Genji's cheeks turned pink as he smiled slightly." Unless she wants to."

No. This guy CANNOT date Kuro.

"Can you guys…well…cheer me on?"

"Um," I struggle to compose my thoughts. Come on Josuke. Think of a good excuse. You've outsmarted multiple stand users, you got this. I can't just say that I planned confessing to her too. An idea popped into my head. I wrapped my arm around Genji's neck and smiled cheekily. "Listen, if you confess to her today, you're bringing your chances down to get her to be your girlfriend."

Genji looked at me. "How?"

"When you confess too early to a girl, your chances of getting rejected are way too high. If you confess today, you WILL get rejected. She barely even knows you."

Genji lost eye contact with me and looked back at the ground "But,"

"Maybe wait awhile. Maybe a few weeks? A month or two? Talk to her more and try to get closer to her."

"Josuke! Koichi!" The three of us turn around to see our red-haired friend waving and walking towards us.

Genji sighed and moved my arm off his shoulder. "Fine. But at least give her this. I'll just admire her from a distance." He then dashed off in the opposite direction of Kuro and disappeared into the crowd.

"Hey guys," Kuro greeted. Her eyes went towards Koichi's hands. "Whatcha got there?"

"Here," Koichi then passed Kuro the letter. She opened it up and began to read it out loud.

"Dear Kuroko, I met with Hamazada today. He seems like a cool guy. I think I might be able to make my first friend. I just want to thank you for encouraging me to come to school. It would've been easy to just have left me there and rot away, but you didn't. So, thank you. (PS: don't worry, I paid for this gift.)"

"What gift?" Kuro asks. I sigh and reluctantly pass her the box. She opens it, holds up the earrings and smiles. "Aww! They're so cute!" She then puts the box into her school bag. "They look nice. Too bad that I don't have my ears pierced."

I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't know I could get jealous so easily.

"Oh I have an idea," she then handed the earrings to me "Josuke, can you use Crazy Diamond to fix the earrings into a pin I can put on my school bag"

"Really? Kuro, my stand isn't here just to do trivial things like that."

"Oh come on Josuke! Don't make me remind you about the time you used Crazy Diamond to steal money from your dad. Or the time you used Crazy Diamond to change the numbers on the lottery card, or the time you,"

"Ok I get it." I genuinely regret telling her about all the adventures I've gone on without her at this very moment. I reluctantly take the earrings and used crazy Diamond to turn the two earrings into a pin. I gave the newly made pin back to Kuro. She then attached the pin to her school bag.

"Now we can finally get going."

"Koichi!" The three of us turned around to see Yukako skipping towards us. Kuro rolled her eyes. The two of them never really had the best relationship, mainly because Kuro hangs out with Koichi. Yukako grabbed Koichi's hand and gave Kuro a scowl. Immediately, she looked at her boyfriend and smiled. "Why don't we walk together? We haven't walked home together in a while."

Koichi looked at both Kuro and I. "But,"

She then wrapped her arm around Koichi's waist. "Come on, I am your girlfriend, right?"

Koichi sighed. "Alright, woah!" She then pulled Koichi in the opposite direction and walked away as if Koichi was a toy. "Bye Kuro! Bye Josuke!"

"Bye!" We both wave to our friend being dragged away from us by his overly attached girlfriend, leaving the two of us alone.

"Thank god that was quick," Kuro sighed. "I wish Koichi learns to say "no" more often"

"I mean, he's been getting better at that recently."

"Yea, but he's too soft! I worry about him. He's the type of person that people will easily take advantage of, and I feel like that's what aggressive people like Yukako does."

I thought about all the times I fought people who insulted my hair. If she thinks Yukako is aggressive, what does she think about me? "Am…I aggressive?"

"Well," Kuro scratched the back of her neck. "Sometimes, but you are when you need to be. You don't let people take advantage of you or the people around you, yet you have a kind heart." She smiled at me. "You're not overly aggressive, yet you're not too passive, you're just right. Besides," her cheeks started to blush. "I like it when you're a little aggressive."

The way she compliments me, yet unknowingly flirts with me at the same time is so cute.

A dangerous thought crossed my mind.

"Josuke, why are you smiling like tha," before she could finish, I took her shoulder and pinned her against the oak we were under with her wrist. Her face turned beet red "Josuke! W-what are you doing?"

"So you like it when I'm aggressive like this?"

Our eyes locked onto one another. I could hear her breathing getting heavier.

"Josuke," her bottom lip started to tremble as she clenched her eyes, as if she was about to get hit. "Please stop. You're scaring me,"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" I immediately removed my hand off her wrist. She then moved her arm back to her waist and her eyes averted mine. I messed up. "I didn't mean to scare you! I was just joking. I completely forgot about,"

"It's fine," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't get the joke. Let's just get going." She then walked off towards the direction of her house, holding the wrist I just grabbed.

I REALLY messed up.

Kuro's house is probably the furthest from all of our houses. We walked down the streets of Morioh quietly while I tried to recover from the stupid mistake I just made. I then just recalled the conversation I just had with Koichi. "By the way, when's your birthday?"

Kuro then finally made eye contact with me after the incident that happened by the oak tree. "Oh, it's in a few weeks, why?"

"Just wondering."

"Josuke, do you plan on getting me something? You really don't have to."

"Yes I do. Well, you're always helping me with my homework, and you're always giving me your food when we eat lunch together, it's the least I can do."

Kuro giggled. "I guess I should give you my lunch more often!" Her eyes moved towards the sky. "You know, it's nice when it's just the two of us. I mean, it's not like I dislike Okuyasu or Koichi, but times like me remind me of when it was just the two of us walking to and back from school." She gave me a smile. I feel like she finally recovered from my mistake that happened earlier.

Once we got there, I walked her to the porch of her house. "Thanks for walking me home Josuke," she said.

"No problem."

She opened the door and entered her house, but before she closed the door, I put my hand through the opening, stopping it. "Kuro,"

She turned around. "Yes Josuke?"

"I…" I clenched my fists. Genji, a kid who knew Kuro for barely 24 hours, was going to confess today so why can't I?

A rock of doubt hit my stomach. What if she rejects me? What if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore after this? What if our relationship dies after this very moment?

What if?

"Josuke, you're biting your lip. I can tell when something is bothering you. What's wrong?"

"I… I'm sorry. I can't put my thoughts together right now. I have too much doubt in my mind."

"Josuke." She then grabbed both of my hands and held them in front of her. "It's ok. I won't pressure you to tell me. Just tell me when you think the time is right."

"…ok."

She then waved to me. "Bye Josuke!"

"…Bye."

She closed the door, leaving me alone with the desperate thoughts.

I want to tell her soon.

No, I will tell her soon.

As I walked down the quiet streets of Morioh heading home alone, something felt off. The autumn breeze felt slightly colder than usual. Each step I took felt louder than the first one, as if I was leaving a trail.

Am I being followed?

"Who's there?!" I shout out into the streets.

No response but the echo of my own voice.

Maybe it's just my imagination.