Chapter Text
Kishibe Residence, 11:00 pm, September 11th, 2001 – Twist and Shout
'Finally, the renovations are finished and now things are back to normal with my house, so long as Josuke doesn't come over to play cee-lo again...' Rohan Kishibe thought as he stepped out of the upstairs room that he had renovated due to the fire that he accidentally caused while trying to figure out if Josuke was cheating at cee-lo two years ago. As he headed back to his studio, he heard the phone ring and answered it. “Hello? Oh, Josuke, hi. What's wrong? Wait a minute, what happened? Okay, look, come over here and we'll talk it out, okay, bye.” Rohan said to the panicked teen before he hung up and headed downstairs to make some herbal tea for them, thinking that it would help Josuke calm down. Moments later, the eighteen-year-old arrived and collapsed onto a nearby couch in the living room just as he walked in the door.
“Josuke, what's wrong? You're sweating bullets, is everything okay at home?” Rohan asked as he came in with the tea and set it down on the coffee table before sitting next to Josuke.
“It's my dad...Suzy Q just called and said that this morning in New York City, two planes were hijacked and hit the World Trade Center – the first one at 9:46 our time and then the second at 10:03 our time, basically, 8:46 am and 9:03 am. She hasn't heard from my dad yet and he had a meeting with his lawyer this morning in the second tower to decide the fate of his company when he dies. She's worried that he may have been killed...” Josuke said as he broke down into a sob and put his head in his hands. “She's called my sister Seiko in Tokyo and also Jotaro in Florida, but neither of them have heard from him.” He added as he looked up to see Rohan handing him a cup of tea and as he drank it, he began to relax.
“I'm sure that your dad's okay, why don't you text your mom and let her know that you're staying with a friend tonight and then come upstairs with me. I made some changes to the house since our little game last summer and I want you to see them.” Rohan replied as Josuke finished his drink and followed the mangaka upstairs.
“She knows I'm staying here tonight, I told her that I was coming to see you since it’s a school night. So what changes did you make?” Josuke said as they reached the room and as they went in, he noticed that it was set up to have a calming atmosphere. As he began to relax, he collapsed on a pile of pillows and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and set it next to him. “So what is this? A meditation room?” He asked as Rohan sat down across from him on another pile of pillows.
“Something like that, it's more of an all-purpose room, right now I have it set up to help you with your PTSD, but depending on my mood, I may change it eventually.” Rohan replied as he began searching for a sketchbook. “Besides, I figured you'd need a break from the drugs.” He added as he found what he was looking for and began working on a sketch of Josuke.
“Thanks, I could really use a break from them, my therapist has me on Zoloft, but I hate it. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat because of the nausea and then I keep falling asleep in class. The other day, I stripped naked and walked into the living room complaining that there were bugs crawling on me. That was the last straw, my mom called the therapist and she’s gonna try and find something else for me.” Josuke explained as he tried to relax, but kept rubbing at his arms like there was something crawling on them. Just then, his phone went off and he headed outside to take the call. Afterwards, he came back in and collapsed on the pile of pillows, breathing a sigh of relief as he did.
“Good news?” Rohan asked as he took note of the teen’s features as Josuke put his phone back in his pocket.
“Yeah, the police found my dad wandering in Central Park and talking to himself, he said that he was talking to his friend Caesar, but Suzy had to remind him that Caesar died in early 1939. Still, he’s home now and everyone can relax, turns out he never made his meeting and in a way, his dementia saved his life.” Josuke replied as he began to relax, his fidgeting from earlier ceasing. Eventually, he began to fall asleep on the pillows and as he did, Rohan got up and got him a blanket and as he covered him with it, he decided to stay next to him in case he had a nightmare. The next morning, Josuke woke up to find that Rohan had stayed by him all night, eventually curling up under the blanket with him.
The next day - When She Comes
'Wow, I can’t believe that he stayed next to me all night...maybe this is a sign that he wants to help me recover from what happened with Kira.' Josuke thought as he pulled the still-sleeping mangaka close to him before checking his phone and finding a text from Koichi letting him know that the school was allowing him to be absent for the day due to the emergency with his family. As he texted his friend back, he decided to leave out the fact that he and Rohan were cuddling together and then he closed his phone and went back to sleep for a little bit. Just then, Rohan began to stir as he realized that he was being cuddled. “Hi. Listen, thanks for letting me stay here and staying beside me, I really needed it.” Josuke said as they both sat up and Rohan picked up the blanket and put it back in the closet.
“It’s okay, besides, I know what you’re going through, but for me, it was back in elementary school. I was not the type of student that would sit still and listen to the teachers and if I wasn’t interested in the subject, I went off to draw. Naturally, the teachers insisted that I be put on Ritalin or placed with the students who had developmental disabilities. My parents went with the first option, even taking me to psychiatrists, one of whom put me on an antidepressant that did the same thing as yours did. By the time I got into junior high, I insisted on stopping all medications and I’ve been fine since.” Rohan explained as he and Josuke left the room and headed downstairs to have some breakfast. “So what did Koichi want?” He then asked as they walked into the kitchen.
“To tell me that I have the day off from school due to my family emergency, since it occurred late last night. Wait, how did you know that it was Koichi?” Josuke replied, curious about how Rohan knew that their mutual friend texted him.
“The ring tone...you have different ones for each of us...Koichi’s is Echoes by Pink Floyd, Okuyasu’s is The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band, Yukako’s is Mermaid from Sade’s album Love Deluxe, and Tonio’s is Even Flow by Pearl Jam. Thing is, what’s mine?” Rohan replied, showing that he knew the songs that Josuke used on his phone.
“Easy, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door by Guns n’ Roses, Jotaro’s is Koi no Ame by Toshinobu Kubota, Seiko’s is Sugar Magnolia by the Grateful Dead, my dad’s is Get Back by the Beatles, and Suzy Q’s is Stumblin’ In by Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman.” Josuke replied as Rohan made them breakfast and as they ate, they talked more before cleaning up and heading to the living room to watch some TV before Josuke headed back home and as he left, Rohan decided to ignore the feeling in his heart that was trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t shake it and decided to wait for the teen’s next visit to tell him.
To be continued...