Side note! I’m not really too knowledgable about Japanese traditions, however I did try and do some research on various traditions to make an amalgamation of them into a festival in Morioh-cho! Hope you enjoy!
"Have you heard? The Morioh-Cho Spring festival is happening again! It's the first time in a decade!" Yukako smiled down at Koichi, holding his hand. "Will you go with me?"
"Hm?" Koichi flinched. "Oh! Of curse, Yukako... isn't it a very... traditional celebration?"
"Well, yeah. But it's amazing! There are going to be performances and food and there's even a kouhaku ceremony!"
"Kouhaku?" Josuke hummed, stopping. Okuyasu looked to him, shocked. "You don't know what kouhaku is?"
"No..." he murmured, puffing out his cheeks and looking away, embarrassed.
"It's a ceremony which allows two people to confess their love for each other." Koichi smiled at Josuke. "It's the perfect time to define your relationship with someone and start a relationship together."
"Really?" Josuke scoffed. "Can't I just... ask a girl on a date?"
"You could if you wanted to upset her parents and make them never want to see you again." Okuyasu laughed. "You gotta be platonic, then confess to 'em. Man, I'm gonna have to find myself someone to go with..."
"But you're not in love with anyone." Yukako huffed.
"Yeah but.. wouldn't be the first time I've lied to a girl." His chuckle faded as the girl's hair began to shift, and he raced towards the school, chased by Yukako, who called him a bastard the whole way. Koichi sighed. "I'm gonna go after them... I'll see you in class." he smiled, before hurrying after his girlfriend.
"Kouhaku..." Josuke murmured before a specific face crossed his mind. He couldn't help but blush. With a sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck and headed off to school.She was there at lunch, sat in one of the empty classrooms, reading. He exhaled, trying to calm himself. He then walked in and cleared his throat. "hey, uh, Y/N... how are you doing?" He asked, nervously. She looked up at him, beaming, before putting her book away. "Oh! Josuke... hi." she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Are you okay? You look red..."
Shit. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright... I just... wanted to ask if you wanted to go with me to the spring festival."
She fought down a smile, looking down into her lap. "Uh... yeah, sure. I'll go with you," she spoke softly, before smiling up at him. "I didn't think you'd ask me."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well... you know. You always hang out with other people... I thought you'd want to go with Yukako or one of her friends."
"Yeah, well... I wanted to ask you... I know we went together as kids to the last one, so... just thought it'd be cool." he murmured. Y/N smiled. "I'd love to go with you."
Josuke grinned, then nodded. "I'll pick you up then... 11am. Be ready, okay?" He realised how quickly he was talking and went to rejoin his friends, glad. Once school was over, Josuke walked out with Okuyasu, talking about the girls they were taking to the festival. After a while of chatting over which one would get kissed first or whose confession would go best, they saw Jotaro standing, waiting for them. "Oi, you two."
"Yeah?" Josuke winced inwardly, knowing there was going to be pressure put on him.
"This... this spring festival thing... I need you both to help me make sure everything is safe."
"Oh, come on, man!" Josuke groaned. "I have a date..."
"You can still keep an eye on things... I'm not saying you have to be skulking around with a camera, I'm just saying to watch out..."
The two sighed, then nodded, and continued on their way home. "Hey, Y/N. I'm here. Shall we go?"
"Oh, hey. I'm here, you ready?"
"Hello Mr and Mrs L/N, is Y/N home?"
Josuke spoke to himself, sighing as he tried to get it right. He decided that he'd have to just be cool once he finally got there.
As he stood outside the door, he rang the doorbell, only to be faced with two adults. "Yes?"
"Oh! Hello!" He grinned, all too aware of how strange he must look. "Is uh... is Y/N ready?" He asked her parents, beaming up at them, hoping to put himself across as a good kid, despite what his appearance might have put across.
"I'm coming!" She called before they even got a chance to speak. The two adults smiled at each other, knowingly, before stepping aside to let their daughter go.
She was dressed very nicely, not in her uniform or even casually. Josuke's cheeks flushed red for a moment, but he didn't turn his gaze away. He felt severely underdressed.
She gulped and tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling at him. her smile was so bright. Josuke fought down a blush, before thanking her parents, promising she'd be home before midnight, before leading her to the festival, completely unaware that he'd taken her hand.
There were stalls set up in the road, with blocks to stop cars from coming through. The lights were twinkling everywhere, and the beautiful sunset only made it appear more magical. Josuke glanced at her face, wanting to see her reaction.
Wow. He thought. She was beaming, her smile brighter than the sun could ever hope to be. He had to fight himself to stop staring at her, as he walked along the booths with her.
"Oh wow! They have all these amazing traditional sweets!" she cooed, squeezing his hand gently. Her face then flared up red, and she looked down. Had they been holding hands this whole time? The thought made her blush, and for a moment, Josuke faltered in his plans, gently releasing her hand, only for her to tighten her grasp and smile up at him. Without another word, they kept walking. Josuke found himself falling for her all the more. Her eyes gleamed with every decoration she saw, every step they took. She smiled up at him so many times he worried he was going to have a heart attack, but he tried his best to remain cool, and just smile back at her. "Is it sundown already?" she whispered, eyes gazing at the horizon. "It's been such a short day... I can't believe it's over..."
"It's not." Josuke cut in, looking down at her. "It's not over until we want it to be."
"We've done everything, Josuke... we ate the food, listened to music... we walked and we talked..." She beamed up at him. "We've done everything and more..."
"Not yet we haven't." He gulped, before taking her hand again and leading her towards the fence. he wasn't sure she'd appreciate him confessing in front of others, especially since they weren't both clear on their feelings already, like most of the others were, so he just stood there, basking in the dimming light as he looked at her. Even confused, she was so beautiful. he smiled, holding both of her hands in his. "Y/N..." he began, gulping. "I... I don't know how to say this... I think I'm going to puke." Her eyes widened, her lips parting as she went to speak, before he shook his head. "No... don't say anything yet. Please... please, I need to..."
God, just say it! I love you. I love you. Say I love you!
"I love you!" He yelled, eyes wide as he held her hands to his chest. "I really, really love you a lot, please be my girlfriend!"Her cheeks went red and she looked up at him, seemingly dumbstruck. "I..." she was shaking. "Josuke."
Shit. "I uh..." he let go of her hands, backing up. "Sorry. I think I came on a bit strong..." he murmured.
She looked away for a moment, before stepping closer to him, getting on her tip-toes and pressing her lips to his. Josuke blushed, looking down at her, before grinning into the kiss, mustering all the passion he could into their embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist as he did so. Her lips tasted like strawberries, and her hair smelt like flowers. He was giddy, the red spreading across his nose, now burrowing down his neck, leaving him as red as her lip-gloss.
When she pulled back, just as red, he took her hand.
"So... will you?"
She nodded. "I will..." she whispered. "JOSUKE!" Came a familiar voice, as the two turned their heads to see Okuyasu, panting and shocked. "MY DATE WAS THE STAND USER! HELP!" He wept, teary, before running to lead his friend there. Y/n, confused, looked up to Josuke, who sighed. "I'll be back later, alright? Wait here!" He smiled, before letting go and running to follow Okuyasu and help, yelling that he'd better be getting paid for this.
Fondly, Y/N watched him run, holding herself. "I'll wait forever..." she whispered.