Chapter Text
Friday morning, minutes before he had to go to school, Jotaro could not find his hat.
“Where the hell is it…” he muttered to himself, double checking the box he always made sure to place it in as soon as he came back from an outing.
He had already spent about an hour pacing around the room to inspect every corner for any trace of the hat. Even with sacrificing breakfast for more time to locate it, he’d still come up short.
“Jotaroooo!” he could hear his mother calling him from the other side of the mansion. “You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry!”
Honestly, Jotaro didn’t actually care if he was late for school, but at this rate, he wasn’t going to find what he was looking for. And staying home just because he couldn’t find his hat felt pretty lame.
“Good grief,” he exhaled.
Grabbing the school bag on his desk, he left the room and shut it with irritation. On his way to the front door, he crossed paths with Josuke. He seemed to be making a point not to look at him, but Jotaro could see he still had crumbs on the corners of his mouth from breakfast.
“Hey.”
Josuke flinched. Jotaro raised an eyebrow at this. Sure, they didn’t talk much, but he shouldn’t be that surprised.
Jotaro intended to hint at the leftovers on his face with a hand motion, but Josuke still wouldn’t meet his eyes. Did he do something to piss him off? What could a 5-year-old have to be upset about….
Well, whatever.
He casually threw “clean off your face,” over his shoulder at Josuke as he continued his way towards the front entrance.
Jotaro trudged along, somewhat hoping he would miraculously come across his hat if he stalled long enough. But of course, there was no such luck.
Holly greeted him with a bright smile. “There you are, sleepyhead,” she tutted with affection, “oh, are you trying a new look today?”
Her eyes widened when she realized the top of his head was visible, and her smile somehow deepened more than it already had been.
“It’s so nice to see the handsome face you always hide behind that brim!” She playfully pulled on the curl that naturally hung in front of his face, letting it bounce.
Swatting her hand away, “don’t touch my hair,” he gruffly moved past her but paused before heading out.
“…did you see my hat anywhere?” he was reluctant to ask but couldn’t go without at least checking.
“Eh? ‘Did I see it’…do you mean it’s missing?”
So, that’s a no.
He sighed, “forget it,” and ducked under the doorframe he’d gotten too tall to avoid otherwise.
“Ah, wait, Jotaro, you forgot something!” She grabbed his shoulder, standing on her tiptoes to reach his cheek with her mouth. “Your goodbye kiss!”
“Ugh, fuck off,” he pulled himself away to start the journey towards school. But, before he made it all the way out of the mansion’s front entrance, he heard her calling out to him.
“I’ll do my best to find your hat while you’re at school, okay, sweetie?” She waved in a big arc toward him. Without bothering to answer, he finally left.
The walk to school was the same as usual, except for how wrong it felt when cool autumn wind flowed through Jotaro’s dark locks. The brim of his hat being out of his field of vision triggered his muscle memory, and his hand impulsively reached up to pull it down only to meet empty air multiples times. The fourth time it happened, he clicked his tongue.
He didn’t think he would be so put off going out without hit hat. For some reason, it was often a target whenever he would get into a fight. Jotaro always made sure to leave the assailants with fractured wrists as souvenirs.
“Ah! It’s Jojo!”
Fuck, here it comes.
“Jotaro, good morning!”
“Hi, Jojo!”
The usual onslaught of girls congregated around him. Their high-pitched voices made his irritation more palpable, but he tried to keep a lid on it, ignoring them so they wouldn’t be able to delude themselves into thinking he’s entertaining their nonsense.
“Jojo, where’s your hat?”
“Omg he’s not wearing a hat!”
“Wow, it looks so good!”
They crowded around closer to him, peeking at his hair to get a glimpse at this rare sight. It only pushed Jotaro’s irritation closer to the edge. He’d finally had enough when someone tried to touch the top of his head. Quickly, he grabbed it before she could reach and glared at her with the most menacing look he could muster. Without saying anything, he let her hand go and continued walking, but the girls were stuck where he had left them.
“Oh my gosh… Jojo…touched my hand!!”
The squealing chorus of girls behind him increased in volume as they fought about it being unfair and who would get to touch her hand next, knowing Jotaro wouldn’t allow it a second time.
“Good grief,” Jotaro growled along with another attempt to grab his nonexistent hat.
School was no better. As he walked down the halls, The other students were in a hissing uproar of loud whispers. From every direction he could hear someone’s opinion on his “new look”.
“But he always wears his hat!”
“Who does he think he’s trying to impress?”
“He’s so beautiful…,”
“Who fucking cares, holy shit.” Jotaro thought distastefully to himself.
Even during class, he was not spared from the gaze of his schoolmates trying to sneak one too many glances in his direction despite him being in the very back of the room. He was already barely able to focus without his hat on, and now it’s like everyone was trying to piss him off on purpose.
Halfway into the lesson, he got up from his desk with a loud rumble. Ignoring the flustered warnings from his teacher, he stomped through the empty hallways until he reached the stairs that lead to the roof. Rummaging through his pockets, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes as he made his way up the stairs and opened the door.
“At least I didn’t lose these,” he thought to himself, striking the lighter a couple times.
It was windy, but pleasant. The chilly air once again bringing his mind to his hat.
He shielded the flame from the wind and lit up a cigarette. Closing his eyes, he took a long drag. Exhaling was like an oasis in a desert, and he felt his annoyance slowly fade away. A good cigarette wasn’t going to bring back his hat, but it cleared his thoughts. He looked up into the cloudless sky, slowly pacing up to the railing that ran around the perimeter of the roof, and leaned against it to look out at the schoolyard.
What was he going to do from now on if he couldn’t find his hat? Buy another one…? Hell no. It wouldn’t be the same.
“This is ridiculous,” he muttered, “I definitely set it down in its usual place yesterday.”
Irritation began to cloud his mind again, and he brought the cigarette back to his lips.
“Alright,” he said after another puff, “complaining isn’t gonna get me anywhere.”
Gathering his thoughts, he channeled his inner Columbo to search his memories and track the last time he’d seen that damn hat.
Before coming home from school yesterday, he’d gotten into a scuffle with some random thugs and wiped the floor with them. He definitely still had his hat then, so it wasn’t lost in the fight.
“When I got home, I took off my uniform, put the cap in the box, and took a shower. But I didn’t check on it at all after that.” He put a thumb on his bottom lip as he fell deeper into contemplation.
“There were hours after the shower for it to have gone missing. But I was in my room for the majority of that time. In that case….”
Jotaro was lost in thought long enough for a chunk of cigarette to burn off into a knob of ash. He tapped it on the railing absently and considered his options.
The only possible times for the hat to have gone missing were:
- Sometime when he was in the shower.
- Sometime during dinner.
- Sometime when he was sleeping.
Well, there was one other possibility.
Lately, he’d been experiencing something odd, almost supernatural, that he couldn’t explain…. Miscellaneous items, from snacks to toys, had begun randomly appearing near him without him realizing. The scary part is how they were all his favorite things. But he’d never experienced this phenomenon taking something he liked from him….
Jotaro furrowed his brow deeper than it already sat, then shook the idea from his head. All that stuff was a coincidence anyway. There’s no reason he should seriously consider it.
Anyways, missing hat aside, everything about that day had been the same as usual. The only thing that felt off was…the way Josuke acted that morning. He would usually glare at him or something if they crossed paths or stick his tongue out at him from behind their mother while he waited around for her to be finished with something, just like a duckling.
Speaking of which, Josuke had excused himself from dinner early that night.
“Hm…,” Jotaro took another drag from his cigarette. The smoke quickly disappeared as he blew it into the wind. “It couldn’t be….”
The cigarette burned until it reached his fingers. He had weighed his options, but it was obvious where his clues were leading him.
Suddenly, the school bell rang out its gentle chime, signaling lunch period. Jotaro, in no hurry, allowed his cigarette to burn to the filter before putting it out and tossing it over the edge.
The rest of the day continued with the same fervor wherever Jotaro went. He couldn’t even get lunch without what felt like the whole cafeteria gawking at him. This was business as usual whenever he showed himself there, but being without his hat made him feel exposed rather than nonchalant. Some random bastard from another school even tried coming at him with a knife on his way home. He managed to take the hooligan down without a scratch, striking him in the stomach, but as one can imagine it wasn’t the remedy to the overstimulated state he was in.
Jotaro silently entered his abode, half expecting his mother to be there waiting for him. On his way in, he saw the door to the courtyard open and went to investigate. As he’d expected, Holly was outside. He’d heard her humming before catching sight of her taking down laundry from the clotheslines.
“Hey.”
Holly jumped and whirled around; her surprised expression turned to joy when she saw Jotaro.
“Jotaro〜!” she cooed and skipped over to hug him, “okaeri! How was school?”
Without returning her greeting, he went straight to business, “have you seen my hat?”
She looked troubled as she explained how she looked everywhere without seeing any trace of it all day.
Clicking his tongue, he turned away from her. He’d been hoping he wouldn’t have to follow through on his accusations.
“Aw, I’m sorry, Jotaro…I’ll help you look for it again after dinner, okay?” she pressed her hands together into an apologetic gesture.
With a huff, Jotaro went back in the way he came. While he was out there, he’d taken the time to note that Josuke was once again not by their mother’s side. If he was still acting this suspiciously, Jotaro had no choice.
Weaving through the house, Jotaro marched until the door leading to the garden came into view. He pushed the sliding door aside to survey the greenery, looking for any shape or movement in the brush. If Josuke was going to wander off somewhere, he was pretty sure his favorite place to do so was the garden. Even after walking through it himself, Jotaro found nothing but the bonsai trees.
Next, he tried the bridge, where Josuke liked to look over the edge into the river that flowed through their estate. But all he saw were the Koi that followed him as he walked along the stream, splashing loudly every so often.
After trying the most likely spots, he ventured into the library despite knowing the kid found the space unnerving for some reason and rarely went in it unless Holly needed something from it. Still, there was no one to be found. Jotaro arched his neck upwards to the tall shelves to see if he had somehow climbed them.
With another sigh, he closed the door. He started his search before he’d even taken off his uniform for the day. The little brat was unusually slippery. With another exhale, he fruitlessly reached for his hat and snatched his hand back down into a fist when he realized what was happening. Alright, now it was really starting to get to him.
From the other side of the house, he heard his mom’s call. “Jotaro〜, Josuke〜! Dinner’s ready〜!”
Jotaro has a steady routine that meant he showered before sitting down to eat dinner. He was already irritated enough; he wasn’t going to let some other unexpected deviation take priority. As such, instead of heading to the kitchen table, he stomped to his room to drop off his bag before going to bathe.
When he opened the door and put the bag onto his desk, he was about to turn before he saw something out of the ordinary. His closet door was open, just a crack, but enough to know he hadn’t left it that way.
He strode over to it. His annoyance had reached its peak, and he was in no mood for tricks. Sliding it aside, he looked down and saw his box was not all the way against the wall like usual. Even as he bent down to check it, he had a feeling he already knew what he would find. He lifted the lid to find…
His hat.
There it was. As if it had never left its spot.
The relief he should have felt never came. In its place was bubbling anger. Without a word, he stood and observed every angle of the cap, just staring at it. Until he heard the creak of a floormat behind him.
He whirled around to see none other than Josuke. It looked like he had been hiding somewhere in the room by the time Jotaro had arrived. The boy was in the middle of tiptoeing towards the door, sweating bullets as their gazes met. He was pale and silent as he got to his feet, an uncharacteristically guilty expression plagued his face. Jotaro couldn’t tell if it was that or fear; he was too angry to care.
“What are you doing in here you brat,” but Jotaro already knew the answer.
When Josuke didn’t answer, Jotaro snapped.
“I already told you never to go in my room,” he said with a dangerous edge. “And then it turns out you’re a little thief. And not only that…”
He held up the hat in his hand as evidence. Its once handsome appearance was now tattered. Only the front was left intact while the back was destroyed and rendered barely wearable. By the looks of it, Josuke had used a pair of scissors to shred it. Of all the outcomes Jotaro had been expecting, this was worse than anything he’d come up with.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” His eyes were shadowed over, even without the cap on his head to cover them.
Josuke spoke with a tremble in his voice, his tiny hands squeezed wrinkles into his shirt. “I didn’t mean to…,” was his best excuse.
With just a few steps, Jotaro was in front of Josuke. Bending down to his height, Jotaro tried to look at his face, but his head was still pointed at the floor.
“Why’d you take it.”
Silence.
The older brother’s anger threatened to mount, “do you know how shitty today was because of your stupid prank? And now I can’t even wear the damn thing!” He jabbed a finger into Josuke’s sternum just enough to make him wobble.
Still, he didn’t budge.
After a few moments had passed, Jotaro exhaled deeply and got up to his feet.
“I’m gonna let you go this time, but don’t ever pull this shit again, got it?” he spit out the words as he walked over to place the hat on his desk.
“Why do you like that hat so much.”
What the hell? He’s lucky he’s 5 or else he would’ve decked him by now with how much control it’s taking for him to remain as composed as he is.
“You messed with my stuff and now—"
“Mama told me… it was a present from Papa.”
Jotaro looked down at his little brother who was still averting his eyes.
It had indeed been a gift from his father. It came in by mail when Jotaro had was about to start his first year of high school, and he’d of course kept it ever since. It was supposed to be custom made, so there was no replacement. The rare occasions his dad communicated with him were something he cherished deeply. And now…
“That’s right. He had it sent to me, keep your hands off it, alright?”
“Papa didn’t give it to you himself?”
This kid….
He shrugged off his coat and placed it onto a hook. “He’s a busy guy.”
“What about Mama?!” Josuke’s voice raised half an octave.
“Tch. What about her?”
“Mama is busy all day in the house! And she’s nice, but you’re always so mean to her!” Josuke’s little body was shaking with anger that Jotaro had never seen from him before. When Josuke finally looked up at Jotaro, there were tears streaming down his face.
“Papa isn’t even ever here!!”
“Shut up! You don’t know anything, you sneaky little shit!” Jotaro raised a fist, and Josuke’s eyes widened, but it wasn't his brother he was looking at.
“What is going on in here!?”
The two boys turned towards the door to see Holly. She must have come to get them after neither showed up for dinner.
“Did you know he had my hat?”
“Eh?” Holly looked at Josuke, who quickly looked away.
Guess not. He was tired now. The new feeling of loss and familiar one of anger in his chest was almost overwhelming, but there was nothing he could do about it. At this point, he just wanted to go back to doing his own thing now that the hat, destroyed though it was, had returned to his possession.
“Whatever, I don’t care anymore. Both of you just get the fuck out of my room so I can shower.”
“O-okay, honey, we’ll talk later,” Holly said nervously, still confused as to what had transpired before she showed up. “Come on, Josuke, let’s go eat!”
Josuke remained where he was. His fists were balled up at his sides, still shaking with the weight of his fury. He would not leave before saying one last thing.
“You care about that stupid hat more than you care about us! I HATE YOU!!” The words ripped from his throat. It was as if he used his entire body to say it.
The boy dashed past Holly and out of the room before Jotaro could send anything else. Holly ran after him, calling his name, and their footsteps faded into the distance.
Jotaro roughly ran a hand through his hair and groaned.
“Good fucking grief.”