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Chapter Text

Josuke walked into his house, slipping his shoes off as he tossed his bag onto the sofa. He stretched, hearing his shoulder pop before strolling into the hallway. He had one more exam to study for, and then he was done with high school for good. As he passed by his mother’s room, he could hear her gently sobbing, which made him freeze in place; The last time he’d heard her cry was two years before, when they’d lost his grandfather to Angelo. He took a deep breath, before opening the door, peering in on her. Tomoko was curled up in a ball, an old blanket draped over her as she sobbed into the pillow; it broke his heart to see her like that, so he quickly marched over to the bed, and sat down on the edge.

“Mum? What’s wrong?” He asked, as he pulled her into a sitting position. She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy.

“Josuke, oh Josuke… I’ve made such a mistake.” He choked out, before she started to cry again, draping herself over him. He held her close, lightly stroking her back in a small sign of comfort. He stayed there, holding her as she drifted off to sleep after a long crying session. He eased her under the blankets, tucking her in before turning out the light, and leaving the room. He looked up at his ruined pomp, and let out a small whine of disappointment. He shook his head, wondering how much time he’d lose trying to fix it. He walked into the bathroom and opened the cupboard to grab his comb, but something caught his eye. There was an open box carelessly thrown in there, which he quickly picked up. He turned the box round, until the title stared up at him. He dropped it, and quickly turned around, looking for it’s contents. He threw things aside, desperately searching, even dropping down to his knees to search under the fixtures. He found it down the side of the toilet, and he threw himself over, scrambling to pick up the pregnancy test. He quickly stood up, grabbing the box again, turning it over to find the instructions. He compared the two, before dropping them both in the sink.

“Oh fuck.”

-----

Josuke flicked through the last few pages of his textbook, idoly chewing on the end of his pencil. He was glad that he’d taken English seriously after meeting his father, as it was making his revision a lot easier. He stopped, slumping back in his chair to stare up at his ceiling, crossing his arms as he thought about the situation he was in. He was going to be a big brother at the grand age of eighteen, and his mum was going to be raising a child all on her own once again, he could help out where he could, but he would be focussing on his own future education at the police academy, so he wouldn’t be able to spend much time helping out.

“Damn it… Why are you like this mum.” Josuke mused to himself, before getting up and stretching. He needed a drink before he continued revising, so he started to head down towards the kitchen. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could hear the gentle rumble of people talking in the living room, and with his curiosity winning out, he wandered over. Josuke could make out two different voices, the lighter tone of his mother, and a deeper, more masculine voice; he guessed that his mum was telling her boyfriend about the baby, and he felt every fibre of his being suddenly ready itself for a fight. His wandering steps turned into a march, leading him to the closed door, which he slammed open with purpose.

“Josuke! What do you think you’re doing!” Tomoko shouted out, glaring at him in anger. Josuke barely gave her a small nod, before turning to the man sat on the sofa, a steaming cup of tea just in front of him. A familiar broad figure dressed in white made him pause, as he blinked in confusion a few times; Jotaro was sat there, legs crossed, looking ticked off.

“Oh Jotaro, I didn’t know you were in town.” Josuke said politely, his anger cooling quickly. Jotaro had been visiting Morioh a lot since the incident with Kira, and he always came round to check on Josuke while he studied starfish. Usually Jotaro would hang around for a few weeks, his mum usually letting him stay over rather than running up a massive hotel bill.

“I flew in specially, I have… urgent business to deal with.” Jotaro said with his usual deadpan tone, but Josuke could tell something was wrong; Jotaro was tense, his fists were clenched, his leg was bouncing ever so slightly, and there was a tightness to his jaw.

“Stand business?” Josuke asked, his attention back to full.

“No, other business.” Jotaro replied shortly, fixing his hat. Josuke was confused, and turned to his mum to ask her if she had an idea, but the look on her face made him freeze; she was just as tense, while her face screamed guilt. He looked between the two of them quickly, his confusion mounting until the penny dropped.

“No… No no no no no. Jotaro no… you… Mum how could… No, I’m out.” Josuke stuttered as he quickly marched out of the room.

“Josuke come back here! We need to talk!” Tomoko cried after him, but Josuke refused to listen, as he slipped his shoes on. He stormed out the door, forgetting his coat, and out into the pouring rain. He started to just walk, ignoring the shouts of his mum as he tried to work everything out in his head. He let the rain soak him, as he kept walking, no destination in mind, while the thoughts swam in his head;

His nephew had fucked his mum, and now she was pregnant with his child.

Chapter Text

Josuke walked through the rain, letting it soak into his clothes as his mind swirled in anger and confusion; He was going to be a big brother to his own great Niece or Nephew, his mother had had sex with two different generations of of the same family, and how was he going to be able to look in the eyes any of his father’s family again. How was he going to be able to talk to his rather again, or the sister he was meant to be meeting in the summer before the academy.

“Why is my family like this!” Josuke shouted to the heavens, letting the rain wash down his face.

“What the hell are you shouting about Higashikata?” Someone asked bitingly behind him. Josuke turned around, confused until he saw the large brown cotton Gucci umbrella and matching brown hunter wellington boots. Rohan lifted his umbrella, his perfectly made up face glaring in annoyance at him until Josuke nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sorry… it’s complicated.” He replied nervously, suddenly realising how utterly ridiculous the situation he was in was; how could he even start to explain to someone the mess of his family tree.

“Right, and you’re having this complication right in front of my house?” Rohan snarked shaking his head before heading off towards the porch of his house.

“Oh no.. I didn’t even realise I’d walked here if I’m honest.” Josuke replied, letting his shoulders drop in disappointment. He could hear Rohan unlocking the door to his house, but the slamming of the door didn’t follow.

“Are you coming in or not?” Rohan shouted at him in annoyance.

“Wait. You’re inviting me in?” Josuke stared at him in shock, his sopping wet hair plastered to his face.

“You’re already here, and the storm is just going to get worse… And as much as I hate you, it would be bad for the town if you got ill.” Rohan shook his head and stepped into the house. Josuke bounded up the pavement, stopping at doorway as he looked down at his soaked clothes. Before he could ask what to do about his clothes, a towel slapped him in the face.

“Strip down, I’ll get you an old dressing gown to wear while I dry your clothes.” Rohan said as he made his way upstairs. Josuke looked up and down the street nervously, before stepping into the house. He closed the door before starting to take off his clothes; once he reached his underwear, he wrapped the towel around himself before dropping his underwear. As he finished, he felt a silk dressing gown hit against his side, along with an extra towel, while he watched Rohan’s hands scoop up his clothes, and take them away to the kitchen. Josuke held the dressing gown up, frowning at the short length and satin material, but he wasn’t left with much choice. He dried off the best he could before dressing in the gown, blushing as he felt the bottom of the satin brush against his upper thigh. He placed the towel down on the chair, before sitting down carefully, making sure to close his legs carefully. Rohan returned, two cans of cold coffee in his hand.

“You can have a can when you tell me why the hell you’re at my house.” Rohan said sharply, sitting opposite Josuke.

“I’m not here to talk, I’m just going to wait out the rain.” Josuke said quickly, trying to steer the conversation away from his problems; Rohan gave him a look that simply said he didn’t buy it. Josuke nervously sighed, rubbing his head before finally speaking up. “I want you to promise to not tell anyone.”

“Fine.” He said shortly. Josuke didn’t know why he trusted Rohan, maybe because no-one would believe him, but he decided to keep it short.

“My mum’s pregnant again.”

“Really? SHe should be careful, having a child at her age is risky.” Rohan said with serious concern in his voice. Josuke felt something stir in his gut when he heard the tone of his voice, but he buried it down as he continued.

“Well, that’s not the worse bit. To begin with, I didn’t know who she’d been with, as she doesn’t go out on dates or anything, and she was so upset by it, I was mad… well… god why is this so hard to say?” He asked Rohan’s ceiling, before covering his face with his hands. He raked them down his face, before looking back at Rohan. “Well, it turns out that my mum… she’s been fucking my nephew.”

“Your nephew?” Rohan looked confused. “I didn’t think you had a ne-” Josuke watched as if I light bulb went off in his head. Rohan started to shake, a wide smirk growing on his face; Josuke had to sit there as Rohan broke out into a full hearty laugh. He sat there, listening for a solid five minutes, before Rohan finally threw the can of coffee at him, Josuke catching it easily.

“So let me get this straight, your mother has had sex with a man and his grandson eighteen years apart, and has had a child with both of them.”

“Yeah.” Josuke replied defeatedly.

“No wonder you made your way over here. What exactly do you want me to do about it?” Rohan crossed his legs, watching Josuke in annoyance as he cracked open his can of coffee.

“Nothing... I... I just wanted to get out the house. Get away from them.”

“You have to go back you know, you can’t fix this by punching it, and it won’t go away if you run. You’ve got to face up to it and deal with it.” Rohan rose up, taking his can of coffee with him. “Your clothes will be dry soon enough, I recommend going home and talking with your mother about all this.”

Josuke watched as Rohan headed back up towards his study. He was right, they needed to talk.

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Josuke slowly entered his home, knocking the water off the borrowed Gucci umbrella. He listened carefully, and couldn't hear anyone within the darkened house. He quickly put the umbrella down, slipping off his shoes before heading into the kitchen. He filled the kettle with water, before setting it to boil. He pulled two mugs out of the cupboard, and went for the tea bags, before stopping himself; instead he pulled out teapot and tea leaves, quickly getting it ready for the water. There was a shuffling noise behind him, and Josuke turned around to see his mother walking in the room, her face red and blotchy. Josuke took a deep breath, turning around to face her as the kettle boiled behind him.

“Why Jotaro?” He asked, deciding to just bite the bullet, and get to the bottom of this. Tomoko looked at him, before sitting down at the kitchen table.

“It’s complicated Josuke, I can’t just explain it.” Tomoko mumbled, turning him around quickly.

“No it’s not mum, I just want the truth about this entire affair.” Josuke almost shouted, the anger starting to bubble under the surface.

“Where do you want me to start?” She asked, crossing her arms as Josuke poured the boiled water into the teapot, moving the mugs and teapot to the table while it stewed.

“From the beginning, I want to know how and why you had sex with my nephew.” Tomoko shook her head at the demand, sitting back in the chair.

“You don’t make it easy do you. It all started when all the business with inheritance started, Jotaro had come over here to talk to you and, well… I may have thought he was your father.”

“That’s really gross mum.” Josuke balked, grimacing as his mind started to wander.

“Well, he rejected me that day, but it didn’t stop us running into each other during his initial stay. The first time we really spoke was after you started hanging out with that Mikitaka boy. It was down by the beach, on a saturday…”

Tomoko was walking along the beach front, taking the longer route home after going to the farmer’s market. It was getting a little late, but she still had plenty of time to get home before dark; something had Josuke spooked, so she agreed to be home before sunset every night. She walked along the disused portion of rocky beach, humming to herself until she saw a familiar black and white figure. She moved closer to the man, and watched him, as he crouched down to make notes about something in the rockpools.

She had to admit to herself that Jotaro looked good without his coat on, his boots and socks places next to the folded coat. He’s also taken off his waist coat, leaving him in just the black turtle neck, with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She finally noticed that he wasn’t wearing his trousers, and instead the bottom of a short wetsuit clung to his soft, but meaty thighs. Tomoko blushed at the sight, taking a moment to simply enjoy the sight, until he looked up, and straight at her. She gave him a small wave, and Jotaro slowly made his way over, much to her surprise.

“Miss Higashikata.” Jotaro said, his voice gruff, but soft.

“I’ve told you to call me Tomoko, Jotaro,” she replied with a huff, “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Working on my PhD.” He replied shortly, and Tomoko was confused; was this man really that anti-social, or did he just like being to the point?

“It was in Marine Biology right? What creatures are you looking for?”

“Starfish.” Tomoko smiled at his answer. She’d seen plenty of starfish in her life here in Morioh, but she knew he was in the wrong spot.

“If you want to find a lot, follow me. There’s a much better spot down the beach.”

Jotaro took a moment to think, before walking back and grabbing his things, heading back to her with his clothes in his bag, and his shoes in his hand. He silently began to follow her, and Tomoko started to walk towards the stretch of beach that she knew would be perfect for him.

“How do you know this part of the beach is untouched?” He asked her, sounding slightly skeptical.

“The area is actually owned by the Higashikata family. So I guess the beach is actually mine now. So I give you official permission to go onto the beach.” She smirked at him playfully, while he simply looked at her with a serious but neutral face.

“Thank you. What is the diving like there?” He asked politely as they neared the beach.

“Good, just be careful of the octopi in the water, they like to eat the abalone that cling to the rocks.” Tomoko came to a stop, turning to face Jotaro, who looked out across the beach.

“Thank you for leading me here. I sho-” Before he could finish, Tomoko leaned up and planted a kiss to his lips. She held it there for a moment, before pulling back to observe Jotaro’s slightly shocked face.

“You’re welcome Jotaro. I’ve got to be off now, but don’t be a stranger.” Tomoko turned away from him, a wide smile plastered on her face as she remembered the soft salty taste of his lips. She could tell he was watching her leave. It would only be a matter of time before they had a chance to talk again.

-----

Josuke stared at Tomoko, his mouth open in shock as she took a sip of her tea. He couldn’t believe that she’d just kissed him like that, and that his own nephew had let it happen; but something else was bugging him.

“How did that turn into you two having sex?” Josuke asked, and Tomoko simply smiled.

“Well, there’s more to it then that.” Tomoko smiled, before readying herself to continue. “Everything really kicked off shortly after you were hospitalised after the explosion.”

Chapter Text

Tomoko sat in the corridor next to the operating theatre, her hands shaking as she tried to think positively. She’d gotten a call at work, and she’d sped the entire way to the hospital. Josuke was already having emergency surgery when she arrived, so she was stuck waiting outside, with no-one able to tell her what was going on. She felt a sob rising up her throat, and she held it back, her body shaking with the effort. Suddenly, a coat was draped around her shoulders roughly, and a tall figure sat next to her. She glanced over at the figure, smiling slightly once she realised it was Jotaro; but her smile dropped when she saw the blood stains on his coat, waist coat, and trousers. He didn’t look injured, which meant the blood had to be Josuke’s. Before she say anything, Jotaro spoke up.

“The wood missed his artery, so he won’t bleed out. They only took him into surgery as they have to remove the wood and clean the wound, which they can’t do when he’s awake.”

Tomoko felt relieved to be receiving some update about her son, even if it wasn’t coming from the source she thought it would. She watched as he would rub his lower face, before dropping his hand, as if he was trying to do something. She decided to not ask him, as instead decided to ask why.

“Why do you know what they’re doing in there?”

“I’ve been stabbed before...a lot.” Jotaro was deadpan, thought he was rubbing his face once again.

“Really? How did it happen?” She asked shocked, considering she hadn’t seen any marks on him when he’d been in the wetsuit at the beach.

“It’s… complicated, but that was a long time ago.” Jotaro said dismissively. Tomoko frowned, she was so used to being kept in the dark, and now her son was in the hospital, in surgery, and she knew nothing.

“I want to know what happened. I don’t care what you may have said to Josuke, or if he made you promise; I have lost my father, I had someone break into my house and kidnap me, I’ve almost lost my son, so I will not be lied to anymore.” Tomoko almost shouted, her fiery temper flaring up once again. Jotaro looked at her in shock, looking impressed.

“Josuke was fighting a serial killer that killed his friend. We were there to assist him.” Jotaro leaned back in his chair, watching her carefully.

“A serial… Why was Josuke fighting a serial killer? He’s only sixteen!” Tomoko tried to keep her voice down, as a nurse walked past them, absorbed in her own work.

“He’s a Joestar. We end up having to deal with a lot at a very young age.” Jotaro mumbled, and Tomoko could see a dark sadness in his eyes, despite his neutral face. She focused on them, enjoying the seagreen colour of his eyes. “My mother got pretty seriously ill when I was seventeen, my grandfather, Josuke’s father, died for the second time shortly aft-”

“Wait,” Tomoko interrupted, looking utterly confused at Jotaro, “He died? For the second time?!”

“Yes, the first was only legally, it was when he lost his arm. He was laid up in a hospital in Italy, so he was declared dead in the US. Apparently he ended up attending his own funeral.”

Tomoko could see the amusement in Jotaro’s eyes, so she let out a small laugh, the weight of fear starting to lift off her shoulders; but it didn’t last long, as he mind drifted back to thoughts of Josuke fighting a serial killer. How and why had her son gotten involved? In fact, why had Jotaro even come here in the first place? Was it really to do with Joseph giving Josuke a portion of his inheritance, or had Jotaro come to recruit him into this dangerous fight? A sudden thought hit her mind hard, and she glanced over at the stoic man next to her, as he watched her carefully, his eyes guarded once again. She took a deep breathing before speaking

“Did you come here because of Josuke’s ability to fix things?” She asked cooly, maintaining her eye contact with him; Jotaro’s eyes filled with surprise before he replied carefully.

“While I had my suspicions about Josuke having abilities, I did not know what they would be when I arrived, and if he even had any at all. We only discovered the serial killer after I’d been in town a few weeks, Josuke couldn’t stay out of it… How did you know about his ability?” Tomoko let out a laugh before smiling at Jotaro.

“I’m his mother, you think I didn’t notice when broken things in the house would just fix themselves? He wasn’t subtle about it when he was five.” Tomoko watched as Jotaro’s eyes took on an uncharacteristic darkness for a few seconds, which made her swallow nervously.

“He started fixing things right after getting a mysterious terrible fever, correct?” Jotaro’s voice was flat, but she could hear a slight harshness to it that wasn’t there before. She nodded, before Jotaro got up. She looked up at him confused, until she saw the nurse walking up to them, as a team of doctors pushed Josuke out of the operating theatre. He carefully took his coat off Tomoko’s shoulders, stepping back to let the nurse explain to her what had happened and what state Josuke was in. Tomoko was thankful that Jotaro had been there for her, to give her the distraction she needed while having to wait to find out if the only member of her family, her own baby boy, was going to survive. She watched as Jotaro went to go and check on Josuke and she smiled, there was something about that man that relaxed her, and she could see herself spending a lot more time with him. There was a mystery to him, and she wanted to crack it.

Chapter Text

Josuke walked along the boardwalk, scanning the shore for the familiar white coat; he knew it was time to talk to Jotaro, after having heard far, far too many details from his mother. He tried to wrack his brain about where he could be, until he remembered the first story his mother had told him. He started to jog down to the private beach, holding onto his backpack tightly as he tried to find his nephew. After a good amount of searching, he finally found Jotaro, tucked up against a few stones along the shore line. Josuke slowed down, feeling the twinge of pain shoot through his scarred thigh, before he came to a stop next to him. Jotaro grunted slightly, acknowledging Josuke’s presence as he continued to make notes on the living starfish in his hand. Josuke dropped his bag, as he waited for his nephew to finish his work.

“I may be a while Josuke, what do you want?” Jotaro asked as he returned the starfish to the open water carefully, finally turning to face him. Josuke reached into his bag, pulling out two cans of beer, casually tossing one to Jotaro, before then climbing up to sit atop the rock. Jotaro easily caught the drink, and looked over to Josuke with a single raised eyebrow as the teen opened the can. Jotaro stood next to Josuke, popping the tab and taking a sip of the lukewarm beer.

“So, what are you going to do now you’ve gotten my mum pregnant?” Josuke asked, staring off at the horizon. Jotaro’s jaw tightened before he replied.

“I don’t know. This wasn’t planned.” Jotaro said as Josuke looks down at his frown.

“You don’t… Jotaro, what are you, thirty? Why the hell weren’t you using a condom?!” Josuke shouted, disbelief painting his face.

“Accidents happen Josuke. And as for what I will do… I have to go home either way, I doubt anything will happen from this, you’ll have a sibling you’ll have to help with, and I’ll have a bastard child here that I come to visit every so often.”

Josuke felt his empty fist clenching, the stone scraping against his fingers before he glared down at Jotaro.

“In my bag, there’s an envelope, read the letter inside.” Josuke commanded sharply, earning himself a subtle confused look from Jotaro. He followed his instructions, finding the envelope and removing the letter, scanning over it.

“Oh.” was all Jotaro could say, as he finished reading.

“Yeah, I’m moving to Tokyo in September. I didn’t tell mum that I applied to the academy, and I was gonna tell her I got in as soon as I found out, but it came this morning, so you can see why this is now a problem. What am I meant to do Jotaro?!” He threw his hands up dramatically, as his voice started to crack. “I got into the best police academy in Tokyo, and now I might have to give it all up, because you couldn’t keep it in your pants!”

The two of them remained silent, as Josuke shook in anger, tears starting to roll down his face. He stared at the waves, the heaviness of being stuck in this town starting to weight on his shoulders. He couldn’t leave his mother to raise the child alone, so to him, there was no choice but to give up on the academy. Jotaro moved over to the small tank he had, and started to free the starfish back into the ocean.

“You should get heading to Okuyasu’s,” Jotaro said, refusing to turn back to him. Josuke went to ask how he knew his plans, but Jotaro beat him to the punch. “Yes, I know you’re going, that’s too much alcohol for you to be drinking on your own. We’ll talk later.”

Jotaro focused back on his work, completely ignoring Josuke. Josuke huffed and grabbed all his things, mad that Jotaro was just ignoring him now. He was going to drink himself stupid, and try and forget all of this tonight.

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Josuke shuffled into the kitchen, ignoring the thumping in his head as he poured himself out a bowl of cereal. He may have drunk a little bit too much last night, and stumbled in the door at 3am. He’d fallen asleep face first on the sofa, his shirt half off. All he wanted to do this morning though, was get some food, get some painkillers, and got to bed. He sat down with his cereal, slowly eating it in an attempt to not upset his stomach further.

There was a giggle before his mum walked in the room, wearing only her dressing gown and her hair wildly out of place. Josuke looked at her confused until she turned to face him, the smile on her face dropped once she realised he was in the kitchen, and she quickly turned to the doorway; Josuke glanced over, and saw Jotaro stood there, his hair wild and a sheet wrapped around his waist. Josuke stared at the pair of them, spoon half way to his mouth.

“I thought you were spending the night at Okuyasu’s.” Tomoko spoke tactifully, as she adjusted her dressing gown. Josuke shook his head, trying to ignore what they had clearly just been doing.

“I’m going to go to my room, put some headphones on, and try to pretend I saw none of this.” He said calmly, as he felt his mind screaming at him.

“Josuke wait.” Jotaro said, as he moved next to Tomoko. “We have news to tell you.” Tomoko grinned widely, and proudly held her left hand up to him. Sat on the third finger, was a right gold ring, decorated with a bright clear diamond, surrounded by sapphires. Josuke felt his stomach drop, he didn’t think his words would have gotten a response, and certainly not this.

“Jotaro and I are getting married!” Tomoko gleefully said, and Josuke stared at it, before dropping his spoon. This isn’t what he wanted.

Chapter Text

Josuke quickly picked up his bowl of cereal, and disappeared upstairs to his room. He had to get someone to come and sort this out, as it HAD to be the work of a stand. He sat there at his desk, staring at his phone as he tried to ignore the thumping in his head. He could summon the rest of the gang, but their respect for Jotaro, and their inexperience wouldn't help in this situation. He looked up at the phone on his desk, and he knew he had to take desperate measures; he opened his drawer, and started to route around for the scrap of paper he’d been given all those years ago. He pulled it out, and punched the number into the phone, holding it nervously to his ear as he listened to it ring. One… Two… Three… And then the click of connection.

“Joestar residence, this is Suzie speaking, how may I help you?” An old and shaky voice asked him confidently on the other side. He didn’t know for sure, but he was almost certain that this was his stepmother.

“Is Joseph there?” He asked in return, trying to keep his voice level, and his accent minimal.

“Who is this? What do you want with my husband?” Her voice suddenly got colder and sharper, and Josuke felt a small twinge of fear. He now kind of got why Joseph hadn’t said anything to her about his mother until it was far too late.

“It’s Josuke. I need to speak to him about Jotaro.” He said quietly, hoping that he could simply get this phone call over with quickly; but luck was not on Josuke’s side right now.

“About Jotaro? Is it the same thing that he called about earlier?” She asked, the mentioning of her grandson lightening her voice.

“What did he call about?” Josuke was really hoping that he wouldn’t have to explain it everyone himself.

“I don’t know he di- Oh, here he is.” The sudden light turn of her voice had Josuke confused. How could one person sound so light and airy, yet so dark at another moment. There was some static on the other line, before the shaky voice of his own father answered.

“Josuke? You want to talk about Jotaro? Did something happen? He called me earlier about all of us going to see you in Morioh.” Josuke started shaking his head to himself. “We’re all coming to see him, since it sounded big; Mind you that was odd for jotaro, he doesn't get excited about anything really…”

Josuke began to tune him out, the pounding in his head growing in strength. He held the cordless phone to his ear, as he slipped out his room, and went hunting in the bathroom for medicine. He routed through the colourful blister packs, until he found the painkillers. As he went to remove the pills, he saw his hair in the mirror, and lightly whined at the state it was in; he would have to fix this before he did anything else today. Josuke shook his head, and looked back down at the packet, but before he could take them, a question from his father drew his attention back. “Do you know anything about it Josuke?”

“Errr yeah, I wanted to talk to you about it actually.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to find the right way to explain about everything that had happened the last few days.

“Oh good, we can talk about it when we get there. I’m sure Cara will let Jolyne come along too. See you in a few days Josuke, bye!”

“No wait!” The other end of the phone went silent, and Josuke stared down at it, shocked that he’d been hung up on by his own father, and who were Cara and Jolyne. He didn’t want to go downstairs and ask Jotaro, not knowing what he would be doing with his mother right now. He popped two headache tablets out the pack, swallowing them before putting the medicine back, and grabbing a glass of water. He meandered back to his room while sipping the water, dialing in a number in the phone from memory before sitting back down at his desk. The phone rang out once, so Josuke quickly punched the number in again, moving his head to hang off the back of the chair; Crazy Diamond appeared, and started to gently massage Josuke’s scalp. THe phone connected, and a very rough voice spoke to him.

“‘Ello?” A deep, tired voice answered.

“Yo Okuyasu, it’s me Josuke. How’s the head?” Josuke tried to sound light, but he knew his voice was a little rough.

“Bad, how the hell do you sound so good?” Okuyasu groaned as he asked. Josuke smiled lightly to himself, maybe he shouldn’t have taken so much alcohol over to his usual game night at Okuyasu’s, and maybe he shouldn’t have let Oku bait him into getting nearly blackout drunk, but he’d needed his best friend.

“I had a rude awakening. Listen, can you call about and ask everyone to meet over at Rohan’s? I need to hop in the shower before I head out. It’s important.” Josuke asked carefully, not wanting to worry him.

“Is everything alright?” Okuyasu was clearly awake now, and his voice was filled with concern. Josuke swore under his breath.

“I don’t know… weird stuff is happening, and I want to see if anyone else has noticed anything.” Josuke lied, not wanting to reveal the actual reason just yet.

“Alright, you think we need to call Jotaro in for this? In case it’s a stand user?”

“No!” Josuke coughed to cover his shout. “No, I think we can sort it out ourselves. No need to concern Jotaro.”

“Ok. I’ll see you soon!” Oku said happily, before hanging up. Josuke sighed once again, dismissing Crazy Diamond before standing up and grabbing a towel; he really needed to wash and style his hair before anyone saw him.

Chapter Text

Josuke quickly knocked on Rohan’s door, waiting as he shifted from foot to foot. The door opened, and Okuyasu smiled at him, as the very loud chatter from inside died down. Josuke stepped inside, instantly spotting everyone, and after a quick headcount, he realised it really was everyone.

“Okuyasu, who did you invite?” Josuke asked in mild panic.

“Everyone, just like you asked!” Okuyasu said, beaming with pride in himself. Josuke didn’t have the heart to tell him that everyone had meant their close friends, like Koichi, Yukako, and Mikitaka. JOsuke simply shook his head, turning to face Okuyasu.

“How did you even ask everyone in time? There’s so many people here.”

“That was me.” A voice called out from Josuke’s right. His head quickly whipped over to face the voice, and he was surprised to see Hayato sat there, a juice box in his hand. It made sense, as his stand Call Me was a perfect stand for intelligence gathering and sharing’ he’d even joked with Okuyasu that he should have called it Oracle in their weekly check ups with Hayato.

“Why exactly did you call everyone to my house Josuke.” Rohan asked sharply from the back of the room, his arms folded as he reseted against the wall.

“Right, well, there’s been some weird things going on around town recently, and I wanted to see if anyone else had noticed anything strange going on.” Josuke avoided the point for now, hoping that this was all just a stand attack that was in poor tastes. There was a gentle murmur throughout the room.

“I’ve not seen anyone odd in the restaurant.” Tonio spoke up first, his hair wetly clinging to his forehead as he sat in the armchair, slowly followed by Yuuy, who was surrounded by his three girls.

“This is the first odd thing that me and the girls have been involved with in months.”

“My stand’s not picked anything up recently” Hayato said, before taking a sip of his juice box.

“Koichi and I haven't noticed anything on our dates.” Yukako said, as she lightly held her boyfriend’s hand.

Josuke looked around them pensively, hating that his single hope for this to not be real was now gone. Okuyasu placed his hand on Josuke’s shoulder, looking at him worryingly.

“Bro, what’s wrong?” He asked quietly, trying to keep their conversation private from the large party. Josuke bit his lips before taking a deep breath and turning to the group, catching Hazamada and Tamami’s eyes; great, now he was going to have to tell enemies turned distant allies about his mum’s little fun time.

“Alright so… some personal things have happened and I wanted to check if it was a stand attack first.. And clearly it’s not. Sorry for calling you all here, you can leave if you want.”

There was a few annoyed mumbles as people started to grab their coats, before ROhan’s manic cackle cut across the room. Everyone froze, and turned to face him, waiting until he caught his breath.

"You called a meeting at my house because you thought Jotaro fucking your mum was a stand attack?!" Rohan cried out in shock. The room went silent, everyone looking between Rohan and Josuke.

“Rohan! I thought you were going to keep it a secret!” Josuke cried back, anger starting to build a little.

“You never asked me to keep it a secret.”

“You told him first?” Okuyasu jumped in, pain clear on his face. Josuke felt his anger dissipating straight away, as he turned to his best friend.

“Oku, I… I should have told you first, I’m sorry.” Josuke smiled at his best friend, which slowly started to shift Okuyasu’s frown.

“It’s ok, but you’ll tell me about the Academy first, right?” Okuyasu asked, his smiling returning. Josuke smirked at him, and pulled the acceptance letter out of his pocket, handing it to him to read. Oku scanned over the letter, before beaming at Josuke, and pulling him into a tight hug; he lifted him off the floor, spinning around with a happy laugh as Josuke started to shout for him to stop. “Bro! You did it! You’re going to be a cop!”

“You got into the Tokyo academy?” Koichi asled, his smile growing as well as he stood to join his friends.

“Yeah, it should be pretty cool.” Josuke said dismissively, before turning back to the others in the room. “Yeah so… er… Yeah Jotaro and my mum are a thing, and I was really gonna keep this quiet but… yeah everyone now knows.”

“Do let me know when they decide tie the knot, they are very cute together on their dates.” Tonio noted, before getting up and starting to leave.

“Yeah well… about that.” Josuke caught everyone’s attention with that, the room going completely silent. “They got engaged last night. ”
Everyone stared at him awkwardly unsure of what to say, so Josuke felt like he needed to fill the room with something, so he quickly began to ramble.

“Which you know, is really messed up because he's my Nephew, and now my family tree is this weird, circular thing, and now it means my nephew is my stepdad, and my sister is my grandmother. God that means my dad is my great grandfather.” Josuke felt a sudden stinging in his cheek, which shocked him. He looked at Koichi, who was being held up by Yukako.

“Josuke, clam down. Everyone who doesn’t want to know the details, leave, everyone that wants to know, stay.” Josuke was surprised, but calmed down, as most of the people gathered shuffled out of the room, leaving just Koichi, Yukako, Okuyasu, Rohan and himself in the living room, though Josuke couldn’t be sure if the lamp on the coffee table was Mikitaka or not. Josuke turned to face his friends, finally taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

“Alright, I suppose I need to explain this all to you guys then. Let’s start all this from the beginning.”

Chapter Text

Josuke stared out the window as Jotaro drove them both towards the S-city airport, biting on his lip the entire time. The plane from America had landed, and Joseph should be coming out in the next few minutes, but from the stories he’d heard, it would be a miracle if it landed alright. Josuke turned to his Nephew, shifting awkwardly in his seat as he saw the tension in Jotaro’s body. He took a deep breath, before finally plucking up the courage to ask the question that had been plaguing him for the last two days.

“Who’s Cara and Jolyne?”

Jotaro tensed up even more, before letting his head fall back for only a second. He kept his eyes on the road, while replying to Josuke in his usual monotone voice.

“Cara is someone I used to know when I was in University. Things happened while we were drunk, and next thing I knew, we were getting married so that our child could have two parents there for them… that didn’t work out.” Josuke stared at Jotaro as he spoke. Jotaro was married? Jotaro had a child? Jotaro was repeating the exact same mistake again.

“You do know what a condom is right?”

Jotaro let out a small amused huff, before carefully pulling into the pickup area of the airport. He took a deep breath, before turning to Josuke.

“Cara is not going to be here, and it’s likely that as soon as she hears about my current situation-”

“You mean the bit where you fucked my mum?” Josuke interrupted him, giving Jotaro a serious look. Jotaro simply stared at him with a frown on his face.

“Yes, this situation. Once she hears, she’ll likely send Jolyne to live with us.”

Josuke just stared at him, shock slowly etching itself on his face; this was all news to him.

“Hold up, who said you would be coming to live with us, and bringing your daughter. When was this decided?”

“Tomoko and I spoke about it last night, we’re in agreement about it all.” Jotaro was remaining surprisingly calm, as Josuke felt himself getting wound up by the entire situation once again. He held his tongue, instead turning to face entrance, waiting for his father. “Wait, Josuke, how did you know about Cara and Jolyne?”

Before Josuke could answer, a familiar figure hobbled out of the airport, flagged by two other people. Josuke stepped out the car, followed by Jotaro, watching the unknown carefully; The first was an older woman, wrinkled skin, white hair, a pair of glasses perched on her nose, and a wedding ring snuggly on her finger. Josuke guessed she must have been Suzie, which meant the second one was Jolyne. She was there, her hair up in two buns with a braid down the back, and a heavy frown on her face, as she slung her bag over her shoulder. Josuke walked over to the group, Joseph starting to beam up at him, despite the frown forming on Suzie’s face.

“Josuke, I didn’t know you would be joining us.” Joseph happily shouted in English, holding his arms out for a hug. Josuke took one of his hands in an awkward hand shake, and Jotaro simply shook his head. Jolyne stormed past them both, and started to head over to the car, as Joseph turned to Jotaro, talking to him in a low whisper.

“So, you’re Josuke.” Suzie stated, her disdain barely held back, which surprised him; he quickly turned to her, bowing low in respect.

“Yes I am, it is a pleasure to finally meet you Suzie-sama. I hope we can get along in the next few days.” Josuke rushed out, remaining low. He peeked up, and saw the stunned look on her face.

“Err… Thank you Josuke. Why don’t you go and help Jolyne, she looks to be struggling with her bag.” He could hear the apprehension in her voice, so he mentally kicked himself; Of course he came on too strong, he was just trying to make things less awkward, not more. He shook his head and headed off towards Jolyne, who was struggling to open the boot of the car, as Suzie went to see Jotaro. He jogged over, and quickly popped the boot for her, going to grab her bag for her, but Joylen pulled it closer.

“Here, let me help you.”

“I can do it myself.” She spat out, pulling her bag away from him, but Josuke ignored her and tried again to take the bag for her.

“No please. Let me help you out here.” Josuke smiled down at her, holding out his hand for the bag, rather then taking it.

“I said I can do it myself!” Jolyne lashed out, and before Josuke could even react, pain shot up his good leg, causing him to let out a small cry. The others looked over in confusion, as Jolyne angrily threw her bag into the boot of the car, and stormed off to the back seats. Josuke pulled his trouser leg up, and glanced down at the growing red mark; That was going to bruise in the next few days, so shorts were now out of the question. Josuke dropped the cloth, and focussed on helping everyone else out. Josuke hobbled over to the others, grabbing their bags and carrying them over to the car, as they meandered over to the car. Jolyne had already jumped into the centre seat, and had her headphones on, and her head buried into the latest copy of Pink Dark Boy; Josuke smiled to himself, figuring out a way to try and talk to her in the future. He glanced over at Jotaro, who was pinching his nose in annoyance, as Joseph and Suzie got in the car.

“What’s up?” Josuke asked him curiously.

“We’ve got one more person to pick up back in Morioh.” Jotaro grumbled in exasperation.

“Who’s that?” He asked, confused by Jotaro’s attitude.

“It’s my mum, Joseph invited her along too.”

Chapter Text

Josuke sat on a bench just outside the train station, watching as another wave of people filed out. He should have asked Jotaro to let him run home and grab a textbook first, but he couldn't get a word in edgeways past the excited chatter of his father and Suzie. It had been an awkward ride next to Jolyne, so being out in the open was actually a relief. He watched as a western woman walked out and started to look around intently; at a glance she looked like a simple housewife, but the more Josuke watched her, the more of his own father he saw in her, and then he knew this had to be the sister he'd only ever heard about. He wandered over, and she quickly spotted him, giving him a once over before grinning all too familiarly.

“Josuke! I can't believe it took us this long to meet!” She said excitedly in perfect Japanese, and she bounced over to him. She pulled him into a tight squeeze, before bending down to grab her bag. “I suppose Jotaro isn't waiting for me if Papa is in the car, so we'll just grab a taxi.”

“I don't mean to sound rude Miss Holly-”

“Josuke please, just Holly or sister is fine by me.”

“Sorry Holly, but your Japanese… It’s surprisingly good.” He said, as he rubbed the back of his head head. Holly simply smiled at him as she flagged down a taxi. Josuke helped her get her bag into the boot, before joining her in the back. The taxi pulled away, leaving the point hanging between them. Josuke didn’t want to let the air be awkward, but before he could speak up again, Holly answered his lingering point.

“I moved here in the late sixties Josuke, I’ve been here over 30 years… you’d think I’d know how to speak the language by this point.” She grinned at him, and with one hard punch, Josuke felt like he was looking in a mirror; that was his grin, the same one he’d give his mum and friends when he was feeling a bit cheeky. He couldn’t help but stare, and she laughed. “We’re siblings, it’s not that odd that we look the same.”

“I’m just not used to it… only child of an only child of an only child… it was weird enough to suddenly have a nephew-”

“And now a sister sat right in front of you?” Holly said, before smiling warmly at him. “I wanted a sibling so much growing up, I guess I got it, just a bit late.”

Josuke simply smiled at her, and relaxed back into the seat. Something about his sister was relaxing, as if she had an aura of soothing energy around her. They remained in a comfortable silence until they neared the hotel, then she took a deep breath, and turned to face Josuke.

“How much trouble is Jotaro in?” She asked, her face falling into a worried frown. He blinked a few times, trying to figure out what she meant. “Jotaro hardly ever phones anymore. He wouldn’t have invited us all here if something hadn’t happened to him.”

“Nothing’s wrong Holly. Things are just… complicated?” Josuke didn’t know how much he should tell her. She was family after all, but this really was Jotaro’s information to tell.

“Is it a stand?” She asked, her eyes quickly locking with his. He bit his lip nervously before shaking his head; he had to tell her the truth.

“No, it’s not, I checked that. I even cal-” Wait, stands? His sister knew about stands? Why hadn’t Jotaro mentioned this before?

“Ah yes, stands. I suppose Jotaro told you about what happened fourteen years ago. You likely got the fever and discovered your stand too.” She waited for him to nod at her. “Well, I never gained one, but I can still see them. It worries Jotaro, after everything that happened, so he doesn't talk about it.”

Josuke looked down, trying to take the new bombardment of information in. Jotaro was gunna be pissed if he ever tried to push him about any of this, but he wanted to know his sister better. He felt a hand gently touch his shoulder, and glanced up to see the warm smile on his sisters face.

“Can I see him? Your stand?”

Josuke summoned crazy diamond, the stand having to crouch down in the confined space. Holly stared up at him in awe, and his stand gave her a small wave.

“What does he do?” She asked, turning towards Josuke. He smirked slightly, glad to get a chance to show off.

“Can I have your watch.”

She nodded, and took the rather expensive looking watch off, handing it to him. He handed it to his stand, who took only a moment to crush it into pieces. She gasped in shock, and watched as the golden glow surrounded it. The stand held out the intact watch back, and she took it back, marvelling at it’s perfect condition.

“You still haven't told me what my son is doing here.” Holly said with a small smirk. Josuke let out a small amused noise, before turning to face his sister.

“The truth is, Jotaro has been sleeping with my mum, she's now pregnant, and they're getting married.” Josuke said quickly, before glancing over at his sister; her jaw was dropped, as she stared at him in utter disbelief. He was going to come up with an excuse for Jotaro, but Holly’s laughter stopped him.

“That sound just like him. The same thing happened with Cara all those years ago. Your mum must be strong to be dealing with you, so it’ll work out.”

“You’re ok with this?” He asked in confusion.

“Jotaro’s a smart man, he knows the consequences and he’s been through all this before. Just don’t let my papa know. It might just kill him.” Holly gave Josuke an amused smile, as the taxi pulled up at the hotel.

Chapter Text

Josuke grunted in pain as he jogged down the beachfront in the early morning light; His leg was throbbing, and a sharp stabbing feeling radiating from his scar. He thought that the wound had healed enough for him to go jogging normally once again, but he was wrong. He hobbled over to the nearest bench, slumping down onto the beaten planks as he tried to catch his breath. Josuke flopped his head back, focusing on trying to even his breath to the strange rhythm his father had taught him while he was in hospital. Josuke felt the pain in his leg quickly beginning to fade.

“What the hell are you doing here Higashikata? “ The familiar voice of Rohan asked him from behind him. Josuke looked back, staring up at Rohan’s sunlight bathed face, before grinning up at him. He couldn’t quite tell the mangaka’s mood, thanks to the large sunglasses on his face, but he guessed that was an annoyed scowl on his lips.

“Jogging.” He replied simply, and continued to focus on his breathing. “What about you?”

“Was the camera not clear enough? I’m taking reference pictures, and I need the empty bench in the sunrise. So can you move?”

Josuke frowned at his snippy attitude, and rather than arguing, he simply stood up and hobbled away, trying to not show Rohan his weakness. A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, and Josuke glanced over at Rohan, who was frowning.

“Where is the stand user?”

“What?” Josuke stared at him confused for a second, until he realised. “Oh, no! No this is... old.”

Rohan took off his sunglasses, so he could eye Josuke suspiciously; the boy couldn’t help but notice the heavy bags under his eyes. Josuke wanted to ask him about it, but he decided to just leave it. He hobbled away, and Rohan kept his eyes on him.

“Is that from...him?” He asked, sounding surprisingly vulnerable; that took Josuke by surprise, since he was so used to Rohan being standoffish, and angry. He waited, glancing back over at the man, and that’s when he noticed the pained expression that Rohan was trying to hide.

“Yeah, I got hit by some Balusters when Kira was trying to kill me, hit my side and leg. My side healed up pretty quickly and wasn’t that bad, but my leg…” Josuke hesitated; did he really need to tell Rohan everything once again. It wasn’t his job to be Josuke’s psychiatrist, he already ignored his own Speedwagon Foundation assigned one as it was. Rohan sat down at the bench, looking up at him expectantly, and he simply blinked back before limping back over and sitting down. Rohan didn’t ask before beginning to run his hand along his thigh, feeling the dip from the missing muscle, the smooth scarring compared to skin around it, and the overall muscularness of his leg. The moment was surprisingly intimate, and Josuke felt the last few barriers between them melting away.

“I couldn’t walk for a few months, as the muscles were destroyed by the wood. I’ve been on a constant stream of painkillers, therapy, and hospital visits since then, but I can walk, the city is safe… We stopped Kira.”

Josuke finished, and glanced over at Rohan, who had a strange look on his face. He wasn't sure if it was his place to ask, so he remained silent; it was surprisingly comfortable, with the pair of them sat there quietly, watching the sunrise at the beach. A meek whisper filled the air around them.

“I sometimes remember back to the night he killed Reimi, after all these years burying it.” Rohan sat back, glancing over at Josuke quickly. “I remember the fear as I woke up next to her, confused and groggy. Arthur was howling in pain, and Reimi didn’t even stop to hide herself. I remember falling, staring up at her as she was dragged back into the house. I go back there whenever I sleep, I watch her face turn to one of horror as I fall, unable to reach up and save her.”

“You did save her in the end. You were able to help us stop him with your determination. If you hadn’t spent so much of your free time going out there and photographing people, we would have never found Hayato.”

“I know Josuke, but it doesn’t stop the dreams… it doesn’t stop me constantly seeing myself blowing up as I try to find the truth from Hayato… it’s...I…”

Josuke grabbed Rohan’s hand, giving it a small squeeze of support. They remained there, silent as the seagulls flew above them, squawking to each other. Josuke understood without him explaining, that’s why he saw his therapist every Monday.

“Who the hell do I even talk to about this? You’re hardly a train professional, even if you understand… in fact why am I telling you this Higashikata?!”

Josuke blinked in shock, before blankly staring at Rohan’s annoyed face. Why did he sit down with him and just open up about his injuries; they weren't friends, they weren't close, hell did they even count as acquaintances? They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before Josuke finally reached over, and took the pen Rohan always stored in his pocket out. He took the Artist's hand, and quickly scribbled his therapist's name and number down.

“They work for the foundation, so they know about the incident, and stands. They’ll be better help than me.” Josuke said with a light smile. He stared down at their joined hands, marvelling at how surprisingly smooth Rohan’s hand was, before realising how inappropriate this was.

“I… er… I got to go but er… Rohan, call them. It will help out, I promise.” Josuke quickly pulled his hand back, and stood up. The pain in his leg was still pretty bad, but he ignored it as he started to jog away from Rohan, hoping that he hadn’t seen the warm blush on his cheeks.

Chapter Text

Josuke quickly slipped his shoes on, and grabbed an umbrella before darting out the house. The rain was coming down heavily this morning, and it almost had him soaked from the short run between the house and the garage. He took a moment to grab the small box his mum kept stored next to the door, before quickly popping open the umbrella. The grey clouds blocked the sunlight, but the glare of the streetlights told him he was up early enough to make it in time. He rushed out, and took off in a light jog, heading towards the centre of town. He passed his school, and ended up outside the iron gates of the cemetery, stopping next to a small florist. The old woman smiled at him, and without asking, handed him a small bouquet, as he handed over some money and thanked her..

He slowly pushed inside, walking the familiar yet rarely walked path to his grandfather’s grave; he’d come here a lot when he'd lost him, but he had been failing him over the last year. Josuke approached the stone marker slowly, frowning at the weeds that had started to grow around it; his mother had been busy recently after all. He placed the box down carefully, his school bag carefully leaning against it as he took the bucket and dipper out of the box. He filled the bucket at the nearby tap, and quickly began to carefully clean away the grime. He remained silent as he cleaned, a small smile starting to etch up his face as he put the bucket away, and took out a pair of gardening gloves. He hurried to pull away all the weeds, straightening the grass borders and ensuring the grave was perfectly neat. He removed the old flowers from the vase, and replaced the water before carefully placing his own back in the vase. He carefully took the incense sticks out, and placed them in the small covered shrine, lighting them with an lighter engraved with C.A.Z, that he'd borrowed from Joseph. Josuke checked up and down the street, before pulling out a glass and a small bottle of whiskey, pouring a glass out and placing it in the shrine. He clasped his hands together, and said a small prayer. He smiled, and carefully packed everything away before standing in front of the grave again.

“I'm sorry mum hasn't been able to visit recently, she's been pretty busy… I… I should have come over more often. “ Being so honest and open in a public place like this felt strange and intrusive, but Josuke could feel a sense of fulfilment rising underneath that. “I would let mum explain when she visits but, I doubt you'll get to see her much over the next few months. Mum found someone that makes her happy, they're getting married, and they're expecting another grandchild for you. You'll have to let mum know that you want to see them, I won't be here much longer.”

Josuke reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small folded piece of paper. He unfurled it under the umbrella, before placing it on the shrine. He knew that his grandfather couldn’t read it, but it gave him a small amount of closure to know that he had given him the chance to see the acceptance letter.

“I had to make a photocopy, since I want to keep the original, but I did it; I got into the Police Academy in Tokyo you excitedly told me about a couple of years ago. I get to be a policeman, just like you. I start at the end of the summer, though I have to move to Tokyo for it, so I won’t be around for a while. I’ll let mum know I came by. I got to run, got my final high school exam this morning, then I have to go get ready for a family dinner. Mum is officially meeting his family… and I just know it’s going to be awkward. Enjoy your whiskey, you deserve it.”

Josuke stood up, but noticed a small shard of stone on the floor. He picked it up, quickly realising that it was a part of the headstone. Without even thinking about it, he summoned Crazy Diamond, who flicked the piece without being asked. It glowed with a faint gold light, before shooting out of Josuke’s hand, and seamlessly fusing back into position. Josuke placed his hand on the stone, hovering slightly as he listened to the rain hammer against the material of the umbrella. He should have asked Reimi to send him a message, he should have paid more attention that day, he should have done more.

“Josuke? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be heading to school?”

He turned around quickly, staring down at his mother as he let out a shaky breath.

“Yeah, I just had to see him first.” He replied melancholically. She slowly walked over to him, glancing over the grave in silence. They both stood there, waiting for the other to speak, but neither of them did. Josuke leaned into her, resting his cheek on her hair. He could tell she was smiling, as she slipped an arm around his side.

“He would be proud of you, so very proud.” Tomoko said calmly, turning slightly to look up at him with a warm smile.

“I’m not sure he would feel the same about you, because who fucks their son’s nephew? Really?”

Josuke grinned down at her as she gave him a playful hit to the stomach, a smile hidden under her frown. He let out a small laugh as she freed herself from the hug.

“Go on, get going.” Tomoko said as she bent down to pick up the grave box. Josuke saw her brows furrowed in confusion as she saw the whiskey bottle, her eyes darting to the glass on the shrine. Josuke quickly took off in a jog, deciding to deal with that later.

Chapter Text

Josuke sat in the car, his fingers nervously drumming against his thigh, his lower lip lodged under his teeth as his mum pulled up outside Tonio’s restaurant. A small family party to announce the engagement, it sounded lovely, but Josuke knew it all go wrong at any moment. He straightened his dress shirt while wishing the earth would just swallow him whole.

“Bite your lip anymore and it’ll bleed Josuke.” Tomoko said as she checked her makeup in overhead mirror. He glanced up at her, releasing his lip as he tried to find the right words.

“I’m meeting my entire extended family properly all together for the first time, and you’re going to turn around and tell them how you slept with another one of them. So yeah, I’m just a little nervous.” He knew he sounded too sarcastic, but it was just too hard to not snark at his mother.

“It’ll be fine, you’re you and very hard to not love.” She got out the car and straightened her modest dress, and Josuke followed her out quickly, his panic starting to rise.

“We’re talking about my sister, and your new mother in law, my great niece, who will be my step sister, and Joseph’s wife, who I think is my stepmom, but she is definitely the woman Joseph cheated on. So no, mum, I don’t feel like the love will be going around so easily.”

Tomoko stopped, rounding on him with a stern finger, and that’s when he knew the teacher in his mother was out.

“Josuke Higashikata, I have faced far, far many more angry parents and partners in my time. This situation is under control, and nothing bad will happen.”

Josuke held his tongue, knowing full damn well that that many stand users in one building was a magnet for trouble, but he couldn’t admit it to his mum, not without getting a lecture in the car park. He checked his watch, noticing that they were slightly early, but Tomoko didn’t wait around, and started to walk inside, Josuke having to quickly catch up.

“I heard the chef here is actually Italian, and is one of the finest in the world. I’m surprised we’ve never been here before. Well, I guess we’ll finally get to meet him for the fir-”

“Ah, Miss Higashikata, so lovely to see you again, but I’m afraid the whole restaurant is booked out today for a party.” Tomoko flushed slightly, knowing she’d been caught out in her lie. Josuke frowned at her, glancing between the pair of them. Tonio saw Josuke stood behind her, and smiled brightly at him. “Ah Josuke, while I won’t comment on your choice of women, the same extends to you, unless…”

“Me and my mother are here for the Joestar party.” Josuke was forcing a smile, now knowing one of the reasons that he had no clue about the romance. Tonio showed them to the table, and Josuke was surprised to see Holly there already, smiling brightly at the pair of them and waving them over. Josuke went and sat next to her, knowing his mum would want to sit next to Jotaro. Holly gave him a small hug once he was sat down, whispering to him while Tomoko found a seat close to him.

“So how much of a disaster do you think this is going to be?” She asked, amusement clear in her voice as she moved back. Josuke felt himself relaxing by just being around Holly, like a soothing sphere was around her. His smile was much easier now.

“It will be a disaster, I’m expecting your mother to storm out or cause a big fuss.” He said with a small laugh. Holly let out a small hum, before giggling herself.

“Oh she’s Italian and loud, it will be explosive, and entertaining from the outside.” Josuke couldn’t help but smile at Holly, feeling perfectly relaxed next to her; would this sort of relationship had been built if he’d known his father since birth? Would he have been so readily accepted as part of the family? He didn’t know, but he liked to dream that it would have been like that, a dysfunctional, but happy family. Maybe that way his own nephew wouldn’t have been his new step-dad. He went to ask Holly what she thought about it all, but that’s when Jotaro walked in, already frowning and carrying a frowning Jolyne under his arm..

“Oh Jotaro, she could have walked in on her own.” Holly said, quickly swapping to English with a practiced skill that Josuke hadn’t seen before. His own english had gotten better since meeting Jotaro, but he was still a little off.

“Grandma, I wanna go home.” Jolyne said stubbornly, folding her arms as Jotaro put her down, but he ignored her, and started to address Holly.

“You take Grandma next to you, I’ll take the old man. Jolyne might be better off next to you than between them.”

“I wanted to get to know my new brother, she can sit between Josuke and Tomoko.” Holly repled, and Jolyne only frowned.

“No.”

“Jolyne, I know you wanted to spend your summer at home, but grandma knows that something big and exciting is going to happen, so please.” Holly said sweetly, but Jolyne only frowned deeper.

“Why should I sit next to him? He’s just as stupid as his hair.”

Jotaro and Tomoko whipped their heads around to look at Josuke, but he could only see red; he couldn’t go and hit her, or shout at her, he had to calm down, but he was a simmering ball of rage. Before he made any move towards her, Joseph and Suzie entered the restaurant together, and Josuke could feel the tension rise in the room as his parents locked eyes for the first time in over eighteen years. Everyone was silent, waiting for something to happen, and Josuke slowly started to slip down in his chair, wishing for this to just end already.

Chapter Text

Josuke sat there awkwardly as the entire family was at the table in dead silence, no-one having spoken a word since Joseph and Suzie’s arrival. He wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence, but he felt that he’d only make it worse. Soon enough Tonio entered the room with a little fanfare and a warm smile, speaking perfect English. Josuke was relieved for the distraction, the tense ebbing out the room with his arrival.

“Benvenuto, my name is Tonio and I will be your chef and waiter for this evening. It is so lovely to have such a large group here today. Now as you can see there is no menu, I prepare every meal to your ex-” Before he could even finish his sentence, both Jotaro and Josuke were out of the seats slightly, hands raised to stop him.

“No, thank you.” They both said in unison, glancing over at each other before quickly sitting back down, not saying a single word about the incident. Tonio didn’t seem phased, and only smiled. Everyone else stared at the pair of them in confusion and began to murmur between themselves at their odd behaviour, so Jotaro quickly sat back down, while Josuke stayed there like a deer in headlights, trying to find an explanation to his behaviour. Tonio took pity on him, and stepped in.

“I usually serve a rather messy dish, I can see that they wish for me to not do so. Instead I will prepare a simple three course meal.” He left with a bow, and Josuke quickly sat back down, hoping he hadn’t embarrassed himself too much with that stunt. Holly leaned over, and whispered in his ear, trying to make it look as discreet as possible.

“Stand user?” She asked, and Josuke gave her a small nod. She sat back straight, just in time for Suzie to speak up, and Josuke already felt the pit opening in his stomach.

“While it was lovely to see all my family here in one place, I do wonder why-” Josuke saw her clench her jaw slightly, fighting with herself, “Josuke and Tomoko are here as well?”

A small puff from Tomoko was enough to know that she was pissed, but his mother didn’t say anything, a small blessing to Josuke, but Jotaro seemed to sense this too.

“They’re a part of the family since Jiji decided to make the choice for himself behind everyone’s backs, so they get a say in family matters.” Josuke looked at him and felt a small ball of emotions forming in his chest; he’d never told anyone growing up that he was scared of being rejected by his father, cast away like a dirty rag. After all that worry and heartache, here was Jotaro, his nephew and soon to be step-father, calling him a part of the family. He wanted to cry, but doing so would only make the dinner more awkward. Suzie huffed slightly and sat back in her chair, returning the room to an uncomfortable silence.

Soon enough, Tonio returned with all the plates of food carefully balanced on a large serving tray, each one spaced and layered with the clever use of ramekins. A plate of some sort of octopus covered in a red sauce was placed in front of him, and he stared at it hard, trying to identify Pearl Jam’s influence, but he found none.

“Please enjoy the polpo alla luciana” Tonio said with a small flourish, smiling brightly at the food he had offered. He was always so proud of the food he served, and this was no different. Everyone tucked in calmly, a warm smile spreading on Joseph’s face, and Josuke wondered why it had such a nostalgic look to it; Suzie’s, on the other hand, was fixed in a heavy scowl, as she leaned over to her daughter, whispering something that he could only think was Italian.

“Questo polpo non ha il sapore giusto, non penso che sia veramente italiano.” She said, and before Holly could say anything in return, Tonio stepped up next to her, strained smile decorating his face.

“Posso assicurarti che il polipo, i pomodori e il peperoncino stesso provengono direttamente da Napoli. Ti assicuro che tutti gli ingredienti che utilizzo vengono spediti appositamente dalla loro fonte originale e utilizzo solo ingredienti provenienti dalla regione di provenienza del cibo che cucino, quindi posso garantire che non solo questi ingredienti provengono dall'Italia, ma proveniva dalla stessa Napoli.”

Josuke blinked, while Holly struggled to not laugh as her mother stared up at Tonio in complete shock, unable to say anything as she turned back to her food. Joseph was the next to speak up, his voice full of amusement and joy.

“Where in Italy are you from?” He asked, taking a careful bite of the octopus. Tonio turned his polite death glare away from Suzie.

“Amalfi, in Campania.”

“Amalfi, unfortunately we’ve never had a chance to go there, we mostly go to Naples to visit Suzie’s family, and I’ve only ever been to Rome as well.” Joseph smile widened, and he became far more animated. “They had this lovely but strange pasta dish, I remember it was black, so very black and lovely, Even after I tried to hit him with it.” He chuckled, and Tonio’s eyes seemed to sparkle before he dismissed himself, returning to the kitchen to let them all finish. Josuke let out a sigh of relief, glad that the room seemed to not only be calming down, but also livening up. Jolyne let out a small huff next to him.

“Do you actually like this?” She asked dismissively, and Josuke nodded, which only made her frown more, pushing the bowl away.

“I don’t want to eat anything you like, might be poisoned somehow.” She glared at him, before going back to sulking, and Tomoko threw him a confused look, almost asking what had happened, and all Josuke could do was shrug. This was going to be a long dinner.

Chapter Text

Josuke smiled as the plates from the main course were carried away, everyone in a much better mood and actually relaxed around each other. Joseph had cried when the squid ink pasta had been brought out to him, Suzie turning to comfort him with a sad look on her face. Holly had been quizzing him on his school life, his friends, what he wanted to do with his life, anything and everything she could think of asking her little brother, and Josuke had asked just as many things in return, gladly conversing with her. Jolyne had started out hostile, refusing to eat her main course until Tomoko leaned over and revealed Josuke’s deepest fear to her, reptiles; she drank up the news, even more so when Tomoko lied to her and made up the story of how he didn’t like long spaghetti pasta because it reminded him of snakes, and that he was only eating the food to be polite. Once Jolyne knew that, she happily ate away, lifting forks of food up to tease him with, much to Jotaro’s annoyance, but Josuke simply played along, giving Jolyne a little power rush, but also placing a big smile on her face at her new secret weapon.

Dinner settled the atmosphere, and there was a small exchange between Jotaro and Tomoko, before Jotaro began to rise. That’s when Josuke knew that the world was about to crumble down around him.

“Thank you for coming this evening, it was nice to have us all here together as a family to eat.” He sounded too clear, too rehearsed to Josuke, which meant Jotaro had practiced these lines for a while. “As everyone knows, things have been rough the last few years, with the divorce, the custody battle, the revealing of past infidelities, but we have made it through, and come together as a family. I want to make an announcement today.”

Jotaro’s hands curled, and Josuke could see the veins starting to pop along the surface, he also noticed the tight grinding of Jotaro’s jaw; he was stressed, but he was just about handling it. Tomoko took his hand and gave it a small squeeze, and his jaw relaxed.

“Well, I guess I just want to say that I have found someone I deeply care for and love, someone that I want to try and spend the rest of my life with, make it work this time. Tomoko, darling.”

The table went deadly quiet as Tomoko got to her feet, and Josuke slowly started to slide under the table, ready to hide himself away.

“The mother of Joseph’s bastard? What are you thinking?!” Suzie practically shouted, and Tomoko’s eyes flared in anger. Jotaro took the lead, speaking before Tomoko could say anything nasty.

“Yes. In fact it is thanks to Jiji’s ways that we even met in the first place, so I suppose I have to thank you Jiji.”

Joseph sat there, staring at them in complete shock, unable to form a single word, and Josuke felt a little bit sorry for him, just the smallest amount. Jolyne turned to Josuke in confusion, taking a moment before finally speaking to him without a hint of anger.

“What does that mean about us? I thought I was meant to just be moving in with dad here in Japan but-”

Jolyne seemed so lost and small, so vulnerable to the big changes she was now confronted with and Josuke didn’t know how to really calm her down about it all. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and gave her the warmest and most reassuring smile he could, making Jolyne smile back at him. This could have been the break he was looking for, the bridge between the two of them.

“You’ll still be living with him, but he’ll just be living with us now most likely. You’ll just have to deal with a few more people than expected.” He said, keeping his voice soft and even, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see the conflicted look on Suzie’s face; That was something he wasn’t expecting, didn’t Suzie hate him? Before he could really think about it, Jotaro spoke up again.

“We also have some other news. Tomoko and I will not only be getting married, but we’re also expecting.”

The pair of them were beaming, but the horrified looks of Joseph and Suzie spoke volumes; the worst bit was Jolyne as she turned around to face, and she saw how unphased he was by the news, so an angry scowl formed on her face, all directed at him. She got up from the table and ran around Josuke to Holly, burying her face into her sleeve. So much for building a bridge between the pair of them.

“This can not be happening again. I will not let this harlot ruin this family any more than she has already.” Suzie shouted at the pair, and Tomoko couldn’t hold herself back this time.

“Me?! I wasn’t the one chasing after young women in the bar. If anything this is your oh so precious husbands fault.” She retorted cruelly, and both women whipped their heads around to stare at the offending man, but he didn’t answer their shouts.

Joseph’s head suddenly dropped down to the table, his entire body going limp as he crashed down towards the floor, pulling the tablecloth and plates down with him; after the horrendous crashing noise had cleared, the room was deadly silent, as everyone watched and waited for Joseph to get back up, but he didn’t.

“Papa?” Holly asked tentatively, but nothing could be heard in return. Josuke leaped into action, vaulting over the table to crouch down next to his completely still father, a hand shooting out to rest on his neck. Nothing. No heartbeat at all. There was a momentary flicker of Crazy Diamond against his chest, as Josuke shouted out to everyone else.

“Someone call him an ambulance now, he’s had a heart attack.”

Chapter Text

Josuke stared at the all too familiar off white walls, wondering when they would get some kind of news about his father. He’d been here in the hospital too much as a kid, and most of the nurses here knew his name, and his hair, at a glance. He leaned back in the small chair, listening to it groan as he glanced over at the rest of his family, Tomoko looking a mess from the entire situation, Jotaro’s face covered in shadows from his hat, and Suzie sat opposite
them, her hands clenched tightly around her purse. The tension was too thick, drowning him in waves as the gentle buzz of noise surrounded him. He’d had the good fortune to spend most of his time here in a drugged daze, so he’d never noticed how much the blank white walls and smell of disinfectant got to him. He could feel his breathing starting to become shallow as the mounting pressure around him truly weighed on his heart; He wanted to run, wanted to get out, wanted freedom. He was ready to jump out of his seat before an all too familiar voice ran out.

“Josuke, what a surprise to see you here and not in a bed for once.” The voice said cheerfully, and Josuke smiled back up at Dr Yamamoto. She’d been here at Morioh hospital for as long as he could remember, and as he’d found out during a visit for a broken arm, he was actually her first ever patient at the hospital. They’d developed a strange friendship after she was sure there wasn’t anything else suspect going on with his frequent visits, and he was always happy to see her.

“ Yeah, it’s not me that needs some help right now. For once.” he let out a nervous laugh, going up to rub the back of his head. Dr Yamamoto took a seat next to him, causing Jotaro and Suzie to throw her a strange look.

“Who is it? I don’t remember seeing any students coming through here today.”

“Yeah well… it’s actually my father.” Josuke admitted. She looked at him in confusion, and Josuke knew what would be coming. He was used to people asking him too many questions about the situation, and was gearing himself up for another round. She threw a look at each member of his strange family in tow before nodding her head slightly. She silently rose, before turning back to Josuke with a grin on her face.

“I got it. The only person that makes sense to be your father is my heart attack patient, and given his age,” she pointed back at Suzie, who looked confused and a little offended, “that would be his wife. I’m also guessing from your similar appearance to Mr. Silent next to you, that’s his grandson, and therefore, your nephew.”

Josuke blinked at her twice, before nodding his head once, shocked by how easily she’d managed to figure it all out. She let out a small grin as she crossed her arms.

“It wasn’t too hard to figure out. I already knew about your father being American, I've only been treating your broken bones and cuts for the last fourteen years, I pretty much know everything about you.”

There was a beat of silence between them all, before Tomoko began to laugh slightly, and Josuke felt his shoulders dropping as the tension eased up between them. Things were going to be fine if Dr Yamamoto was working on his father. She quickly gave them an update of his condition, letting them all know that he would be fine in the long term, and that he seemed to have no serious signs of a heart attack bar the collapse and witnessed irregular heartbeat, but he wasn't to receive many visitors at once. Tomoko decided to leave, knowing this wasn’t her place, and the others quickly agreed to let Suzie go first, leaving Josuke with Jotaro once again. Josuke could tell from his silence that he was deep in thought, and it wasn’t until they could see Suzie returning to them that Jotaro spoke up.

“Dr Yamamoto said she had been treating you for fourteen years. What was the first thing she treated you for?” He asked, his gaze unwavering from the blank expanse in front of him.

“This weird fever I got when I was four, lasted about fifty days and then just disappeared. Doctors never did figure it out.”

Jotaro remained silent as he rose up and walked past Suzie, leaving Josuke alone with her. He sat up straight in his chair, not daring to say a single thing to her, less he risked her contempt again. She let out a small sigh, staring at Josuke with her bright green eyes, a frown on her face. She turned away for a moment.

“I don’t know what you did, but I know you did something to my husband. I suppose I should thank you.” She let out a sigh and slumped back into her chair, and all at once Josuke realised just how old she was. He always thought Joseph had found somebody younger than him, a cute little side piece that eventually found her way into his heart, but she had to at least be his age. “I tried to hold my anger against Joseph for you, but I shouldn’t… You’re just an innocent child in all this, it’s not your fault my husband has a wandering eye. I’m sorry Josuke, and thank you for saving him.”

He was speechless as he stared at the woman in front of him, the woman he’d spent so many nights worrying over, the woman he believed would completely reject him. She didn’t hate him. She didn’t wish him ill. She was alright with him. He gave her a warm smile, something she seemed surprised by, but returned after a few minutes. They sat in silence, still smiling together, until Jotaro returned, and he rose, walking towards Joseph’s room.

Chapter Text

Josuke slowly entered the room, the gentle sounds of the ECG beeping and Joseph's breathing creating an uneasy air. He had debated becoming a doctor for a year, but it was times like this he couldn’t stand, so he’d decided against it. Josuke moved around the curtain dividing the room, and blinked at the sight of his father; he was a lot smaller than he remembered, the thick coat making his frail frame appear healthy. His hair was almost ghostly white now, but it was still thick and full, with the same cow lick that he had to fight every morning, and heavy bags under his eyes. The one oddity that surprised Josuke was Joseph sitting up perfectly healthy and reading the newspaper with his left hand only.

“Where the hell is your other hand?!” Josuke screamed, and Joseph looked up at him, blinking once before glancing down at his bare arm. There was a look of confusion on his face for a minute, before Josuke could see the light come on in his head. A cheeky grin spread on his lips before he brought the shortened limb up for Josuke to inspect closer. He felt his stomach flip until he really looked at it; the scarring around the base of his arm was old and faded, with only a few deeper ones still remaining, and the base of the arm itself was some sort of metal plug.

“I was a little over your age when I lost it, it was worth it though, launching a god into space. I have a robotic prosthetic so you’d never know ” Joseph said with a small chuckle, a warm smile spreading over his lips and Josuke couldn’t help but wonder what that actually meant. He placed the newspaper down and leaned back, and let out a small sigh, and Josuke finally clocked what he said.

“Wait, launched a god into space?!” He shouted again, and Joseph just chuckled. His father had to be joking, had to be trying to fool him into listening to another crazy story.

“Yes, if you want to be sure, you can always ask that nice Kishibe boy to check my memories… though certain moments might be a bad idea after the most recent family news.” He let out a small raspy laugh, and Josuke just let out a groan.

“Can we not mention my mum’s sex life right now.” he asked, and it only caused a grin to spread on joseph’s lips, but Josuke jumped in front of him. “And we can especially not mention your sex life with her, in regards to my excistance. I do not need to be thinking about that for the next few weeks.”

“Alright, alright, we won’t talk about it. Although I do want to know how this happened? I would have never had thought that your mother was Jotaro’s type.”

“I don’t know, I didn’t even know they were together until mum told me who the father was. Now my nephew is going to be my step dad, and my half sibling is my great niece or nephew. Its way too messed up.”

“You’re telling me. I thought it was bad enough when my teacher turned out to be my mother.” Joseph chuckled, and Josuke knew he was going to fall into another spiderweb of his father’s stories, but it was a web he was glad to be caught up in.

“Alright, I’ll bite. Who was this teacher mum?” Josuke asked, getting comfortable in a seat next to Joseph as the old man’s eyes lit up brightly. Joseph happily started to tell him a wild story about Nazi’s, rocks, and an Italian man he had forgotten the name of. He eventually moved onto his journey withJotaro, and he was hooked on his every word, finally learning as close to the full truth about the fight against DIO. Soon enough Josuke was telling Joseph the entirety of his own fight against Kira, and he realised this was probably the longest the two had spoken for without an argument.

“Why don’t you tell me a little more about Rohan? I would like to see what I’ve managed to forget over all these years.” Joseph suddenly said out of nowhere, taking him by surprise.

Josuke sat there and thought about introducing the two of them, and instantly regretted it. Even if he was now getting on with Rohan, and he was opening up to him, the pair of them could not meet. Rohan was too eccentric for Joseph, and he would somehow overwhelm and hurt him, even if his enthusiasm was well placed. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that his cheeks were starting to grow warm; sure Rohan was beautiful, like a living roman statue, but he didn’t feel that way about him.

“Thinking about someone special?” Joseph asked coyly, trying hard to hide the wide grin on his lips. Josuke quickly felt his face heating up, and he tried to stammer out a reply, but a knock at the door cut him short. Holly stuck her face in, and gently smiled at the pair of them.

“Papa, I’m sure this is a lovely conversation, but the nurses would like to come in check on you sometime soon.” she said sweetly, and Josuke knew his time was up. He rose up carefully, stepping up and patting Joseph on the shoulder as he went to leave, but a gentle hold on his wrist stopped him. He turned back, and met the teary eyes of his father.

“I’ve never really told you this Josuke,” Joseph choked out in Japanese, clearly struggling to find the right words, “but I’m proud of you. You really do have the Joestar spirit.”

Josuke blinked, tears beginning to form in his eyes as he finally turned away. He had to hold it together.

“Yeah, whatever you say old man.” Josuke said, quickly leaving the room, unable to see the warm smile that decorated his father’s face.

Chapter Text

Josuke slowly started to make his way out of the hospital, having said goodbye to everyone already. He just wanted to get out into the fresh air, as the smell was getting under his skin, reminding him of too many nights spent unable to sleep and listening to the dying wails of others on the wards. He stepped out into the sunlight, closing his eyes while remaining on the spot so he could bask in it’s warmth. He loved being outside over inside, which had been one of the main reasons he’d picked to work outside, after wanting to keep people safe, and wanting to honour his grandfather; he’d debated becoming a doctor or nurse, but his grades were too low, and he had a deep seated fear of hospitals after staying far too long inside their blank walls. He leveled his breathing, beginning to open his eyes before someone suddenly ran into him headon. He stumbled backwards, but quickly managed to reach out and grab ahold of whoever he’d managed to run into. The head of green hair and glint of his gold earrings let him know immediately.

"Why don't you watch where you're going you o- oh, it's you Josuke." Rohan said, his anger fading quickly, but the frown still hung on his face. "You should still be following my… Advice."

“Rohan, I was literally standing there, still. You ran straight into me.” Josuke let out a small sigh pinching the bright of his nose before glancing back down at Rohan. He was dressed casually yet stylish as usual, and he was enjoying the sun with his cropped top, which Josuke was not totally staring at right now. His father’s question played in his head, and it only made the blush return to his face. He coughed and looked away, trying to seem casual, but Rohan didn’t seem fooled.

“What were you sta-”

“What are you doing here anyway?” Josuke interrupted him, hoping that Rohan would drop the subject. He narrowed his eyes at him, clicking his tongue before crossing his arms.

“I’m here for research. The next chapter takes place in an abandoned hospital, so I wanted to get a few shots of interiors and equipment for reference.” Josuke finally noticed the camera on his hip, and it all made sense now. “What are you doing here?”

“We took Mr Joestar to dinner to tell him about Jotaro and my mum… the revelation gave him a heart attack.” Josuke admitted, and Rohan started to laugh; it was an ugly laugh, all snorts and wheezes, but he could see the joy in his smile, and the happiness in the tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

“If I wrote a comedy manga, I would be copying this entire situation. This is too good.” He reached up and wiped the tears out of his eyes, and Josuke just rolled his own in return.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” He paused, wondering if he should relay his father’s message to him or not, “by the way, my father actually said he wanted to meet with you again. It seems like he actually wants you to read his memories.”

“Really? I’ve never had someone actually ask me to read them before.” His eyes were sparkling, and Josuke took that as his moment to leave the older man behind. He went to flag a cab, and then remembered that he hadn’t brought his wallet with him; he sighed and started to walk, not seeing that his mother’s car was still parked up in front of the hospital. He headed down towards the beach, deciding to walk along the sea wall to capitalise on the sunshine while it lasted. The spring weather was temperamental at best, and Josuke really hoped it would hold for a few more weeks at least.

“Hey Josuke,” a familiar feminine voice called out to him. He whipped his head around, quickly spotting yukako in her beaten up old car. She was on her own, and had a pair of sunglasses down over her eyes. “I thought you were out at dinner today.”

“Yeah about that… Give me a lift back and I’ll tell you?” She opened the door for him, and he quickly climbed in, buckling up, and giving her the story as she drove him home. She listened quietly until he was all done, and then she finally replied.

“That’s fucked up. Are you sure you’re dealing with this alright?” She asked, sounding concerned.

“Yeah, It’s just a lot, I’ve been trying to be honest with everyone but it’s just so… so-”

“So beyond anything you’ve ever really had to deal with before?” She offered, and he just nodded his head. She was good with her words, good with sussing everyone else out and getting them to open up to her. “You’ll get through it, you’re the main reason our friendship group is even together in the first place.”

“What do you mean by that?” He asked, his curiosity peaked.

“I mean that Koichi would have never gained his confidence without you, Okuyasu would have never grown to be independent from his brother, the others would have been loners and creeps… and I would have been a weirdly obsessed bitch still. You’re our emotional core Josuke, and we’re all here for you.” She said, a warm smile on her face, and Josuke knew she was telling the truth.

“I know, things just haven't been this weird since Kira, and I’m stuck in the middle of it again.” he admitted, realising that he probably needed to go and see someone professional about all this.

“You know, we could have a party tomorrow, down at the beach. The weather is nice enough and it might help you out to take your mind off it all.”

“You know what, yeah. I’ll call everyone, we’ll meet about three tomorrow.”

They pulled up to his house, and he slipped out of the car, waving back to her.

“See you tomorrow Josuke.”

Chapter Text

Josuke grabbed the cooler and hurried to the door, slipping his sandals on before rushing out the door. He only had five minutes to meet up with Okuyasu before they would head down to the beach together. With school out for the spring, the whole group was going to get together for one last celebration before everyone eventually went to university or into work. He was going to be the only one of them waiting around for a few months before he could actually move to Tokyo.

“Oi Josuke.” Okuyasu called out to him, a wide and infectious smile on his face that easily spread to his own face.

“Hey Okuyasu, did you manage to get the drinks?” he asked, and Okuyasu nodded his head in excitement. This party was going to be great, as long as the others got everything together. They started to walk the familiar path towards the private beach owned by his family, chatting lightly most of the way. The pair of them quickly met up with Yukako and Koichi, giving them a small hello before they easily settled into an easy conversation. They were initially cautious when Koichi got back together with her, but she managed to come to like them. She had taken a while to drop her overly dominating personality, but she wouldn’t get jealous if Koichi studied with other girls now, and the pair of them were actually pretty good together now.

“Yeah, the cute girl down the shop thinks I was in her year at school, so she keeps letting me get beer without any ID. I feel bad doing it, but I’m too nervous about telling her the truth now.” There was a light blush on his cheeks as he held up his own cooler and Josuke just grinned at him.

“Awww, does someone have a crush?” He teased, and Okuyasu started to sputter in embarrassment. Josuke laughed and slung an arm around his shoulders. “I won’t tell anyone, promise.”

“Thanks Josuke.” Okuyasu said as they arrived at the beach, a few others had already arrived ahead of them. Yukako was helping Hazamada set up chairs while Koichi got the small fire prepared for later. Yuuya was just parking up his bike alongside his three companions, and they were expecting a few others, Mikitaka at the minimum, but a few other people from school had said maybe too.

“Hey you two, did you bring everything?” Koichi asked, smiling up from his place next to the fire. Josuke and okuyasu held up their coolboxes, and Koichi quickly came over and took them from them.

“Nice, we’re just getting everything set up for later, and then we can start relaxing and getting this party really going.”

“Come on Josuke. We’ll have a drink and you can tell me about the school you’re going to.” Okuyasu said, leading him towards the set out chairs. They sat down together, Okuyasu grabbed them both a beer and they started to chat about the school, before moving onto the job Okuyasu had managed to secure with Tonio. Soon enough everyone joined them, they got the open fire going, and Josuke and Okuyasu soon set about cooking a few burgers and sausages for everyone. After a little while Josuke left Okuyasu to cook on his own, and went to sit with Koichi on one of the deck chairs.

“I’m surprised by how much Yukako was able to throw together so quickly.” Josuke said, taking a sip of his beer as Koichi drew his eyes away from her; she was playing beach volleyball with Yuya’s groupies, and winning against them.

“Yeah, she’s amazing… Hey Josuke, weird question, but do you think Yukako would do well as a wife?” Koichi asked, clearly deep in thought. Josuke stared at him for a moment, the events of the last few weeks playing over in his head on repeat. No, they couldn’t have. He leaned forward and harshly whispered back.

“Do not tell me that she’s pregnant.” Koichi blinked at him in confusion to begin with, before blushing heavily.

“God no, we’re safe, why would you even think that?” he stared at him, and Josuke only let out and annoyed huff before Koichi got it, “Oh yeah right. No no, I’m just… I think I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and we;re going to different universities. I want to make it more official while she’s away, to prove to her that I really am serious about her.”

Josuke took another sip of his drink before sitting forward. He’d never really thought about engagements, hell he’d never met anyone he felt like seriously dating, so what did he know. He glanced at Koichi, looking at his hopeful face before glancing over at Yukako as she smiled brightly.

“Koichi,” he said, trying to find the right words, “this choice is your own and only yours to make, but if it was me, I think I would talk to her first, see if that’s what she wants to do. There are two of you in this relationship, and it’s a choice the two of you have to make together.”

“Wow, when did you get so smart?” Koichi asked, mulling over his words carefully. “You know, you’re right, and once I get back from Italy I’ll ask her.” Koichi said triumphantly, rising out of his chair with a wide grin on his face. The three groupies suddenly cried out.

“Wait, why are you going to Ita-” Josuke started to ask, but a volleyball to his face suddenly cut him short. The beach went deadly silent as the ball rolled away, and hair fell down in front of his face. Josuke took a breath to cool his anger, before leaping out of his chair towards the girls, a cheeky grin on his face.

“You’re all going into the water for that one!” He shouted, causing the girls to scream out and scatter, laughter, happiness, and playfulness quickly returning to the group.