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1. Koichi
The first time Koichi saw Rohan-Sensei interact with a kid, it was a small fan. He never really thought about how the older man would act around a kid. Now, Koichi considered Rohan a very dear friend but he would gladly use Echoes Act 3 on him if he harmed a child. Luckily, Rohan hadn’t noticed him yet so he could easily catch him off guard.
“Y-You’re Rohan Kishibe! I’m a big fan of your manga!”
Koichi was starting to sweat. The look of disgust on Rohan’s face gave him a bad vibe. Without thinking, he brought out his stand and sneakily walked over.
“You...are a fan of my work? Thank you for supporting me but aren’t you scared of it?”
“No way! Your manga is so cool and I like reading it! Can I have an autograph?”
“Of course, anything for a fan. Hey, where are your parents?”
The kid excitedly pointed behind him before realizing there was no one there. He scrambled around and came to the horrifying realization that he was lost. He hiccuped and started to slightly shake as he tightly held onto the helm of his shirt.
“T-They were-“ the kid started to say but cut himself off with his own crying. It wasn’t a loud whiny scream, it was a vulnerable quiet cry. Koichi, who was still watching from a distance, felt sorry for the kid. He still wasn’t sure what Rohan would do but he’d probably abandon the kid so it was up to him to help find the kid's parents! He quickly walked over but stopped dead in his tracks when Rohan had crouched down and gently used his thumb to whip away the kids tears.
“Hey, don’t cry. Think, what would the main character in Pink Dark Boy do?”
“He...he would look for clues!”
“Very good!” Rohan offered his hand and the kid gladly latched onto him. “Well then, let’s retrace your steps, okay?”
The pair walked away and left Koichi stunned. He quickly ran away before his friend noticed him. There was something sweet about the way Rohan acted but he knew that the older one would probably rip out his page if he ever found out. With a cold shiver going down his spine, he quickened his pace.
2. Okuyasu
Okuyasu had seen Rohan acting childish with that Janken boy. He came to the conclusion that Rohan must have hated all children. The poor boy couldn’t understand why someone would hate something so innocent? So when he ran into Rohan and the child from before, he was terrified for the kid, Ken.
“Rohan-Sensei!!”
“Huh? Oh Okuyasu, what do you want?”
“I don’t know what you're doing but I will defend that boy!” The high school kid exclaimed and brought out his stand. Okuyasu didn’t care if he considered Rohan a friend, he will totally beat him up if he does something wrong! Instead, the little kid ran in front of Rohan-Sensei and spread his arms out, as if to block any attacks Okuyasu would throw.
“Big Brother Rohan! Run away! I’ll take this guy down with my awesome stand!”
“Ken, I’m not-ugh whatever, you never listen anyways. Okuyasu, I don’t know what’s going through your idiot head but I’m doing anything to the kid!”
Okuyasu was dumbfounded but noticed that Ken was indeed staring at him while fuming. He backed off and called back his stand.
“Oh, sorry Rohan-Sensei! I thought the two of you were still fighting and I didn’t want the little squirt to get hurt”.
“I’M NOT SOME STUPID LITTLE KID! Alright that’s it! Let’s play rock, paper, scissors!”
“Leave Nijimura alone and come along. Don’t you want to learn more about how to be successful and respected in the future?”
“I do! I do!!” The kid said as he followed after the retreating adult. Before disappearing completely, the kid turned to Okuyasu and stuck his tongue out and called him a ‘dumb stupid teenager’.
That day, Okuyasu went home, confused as ever.
3. Joseph Joestar
Joseph Joestar knew the truth of what had happened with that Ken boy. After all, his hermit purple was the one who handed Shizuka to Rohan so he wasn’t mad at the man for losing the baby. He also wasn’t mad at Ken either, he too was young and reckless once before.
Lots of things didn’t surprise him anymore but he was impressed with Rohan’s skills of taking care of babies. Which is why, when the two would go investigate, sometimes Rohan would handle everything and Joseph would simply watch.
“Hmm? Hey, Rohan? It seems that Shizuka is crying and I don’t know how to make her stop”.
“Oh? Hand her over, I’ll see what she wants”.
Joseph smiled after seeing Rohan coo at the little baby. He was in shock when the man started to sing a lullaby and wiped away her tears. Joseph wasn't expecting for Rohan to have such an angelic voice. He looked down and noticed Shizuka had calmed down and had probably fallen asleep.
Rohan finished the last of the song and placed the sleeping baby in her crib.
“Rohan, you have a very nice voice!”
“Ah, thank you Mr. Joestar but it’s really not all that impressive. I just got singing lessons for a chapter in my manga”.
“I see...by the way, what was that song you were singing? It didn’t sound Japanese”.
“Il mare eterno nella mia anima, it’s an Italian song I stumbled upon one day and I rather liked it”.
Joseph smiled and made a note to listen to the song later. Something about the song reminded him of his first love. For now, he and Rohan still had work to do.
4. Jotaro
“Daddy! Daddy! Look! It’s a starfish!”
“Sorry Jolyne but I have work to do. You’ll have to stay with grandpa Joseph-“
“I don’t want to stay with him! He’s so boring and I want to be with you!”
Jotaro sighed at how stubborn his daughter was. He really didn’t want her here with Kira still lurking around but that damn bastard Joseph unexpectedly brought her.
“Daddy! I just wanna-OOF!” Jotaro looked back to see that Jolyne had bumped into Rohan of all people. While the man was intelligent, Jotaro would bet that he’s probably horrible with kids.
“Oh, hey are you alright? You didn’t hurt yourself or anything, did you?”
Well there’s one bet Jotaro would lose.
“Yare Yare...Hey, Rohan?”
“Hmm? Oh, Mr. Jotaro! I uh-I was just telling this b-brat to watch where she’s going!”
Despite the big talk, Jotaro could see the slight look of panic and guilt. He wasn’t sure why Rohan was hiding the fact that he might be nice to kids but he didn’t care to find out.
“That brat is my daughter”.
“Oh...okay well goodbye-“
“Wait”.
Jotaro could see the man slightly jump and he definitely noticed that Rohan’s grip got tighter on his bag. He almost wanted to laugh but he digressed, it wasn’t the time.
“Rohan since you just insulted my daughter, you know what this means right?”
“A-Are you threatening me?”
‘Oh crap’ Rohan thought. He’s practically dead isn’t he? He can’t run or use Heaven's door because of The World. He closed his eyes and awaited the numerous punches.
“You have to take care of her”.
“What?” Both the man and the little girl said in unison. Jotaro left his contact and a couple of toys in Rohan’s hand before Rohan could turn him down.
“I gotta work. I’ll pick you up later Jolyne”.
The pair was flabbergasted as they saw Jotaro suddenly disappear.
“Y-Your name is Rohan right? I’m Jolyne! Nice to meet ya!”
“Y-Yeah, it’s nice to meet you...say, do you like to draw?”
That afternoon, Jotaro was welcomed with Jolyne and Rohan covered in paint. He didn’t mind, Jolyne looked like she had a great time and he was thankful for that. When the two arrived at the hotel, she wouldn’t stop talking about how cool Rohan was.
“When I’m older, I want to marry Rohan!”
Jotaro is going to kill him.
5. Shinobu Kawajiri
Saddened by the news of her husband, Shinobu hadn’t even realized she was neglecting her son once again. All she could think about was how when her husband had finally acted like a good family man, he got taken away from her.
She petted a random stray as she saw that her son had walked right past her without saying goodbye. She felt her heart break knowing that they had gone back to step one. Though, now that she thinks about it, where is her son going? There’s no school today and Hayato never expressed having any friends?
Without thinking, she grabbed her purse and followed her son. He made his way to the grave where her husband was buried. She wanted to cry and run away back to her home. Of course, she did care about her son but she wasn’t ready to face the truth. She wiped away a tear and started to walk home when she heard a voice.
“Hayato Kawajiri? What a surprise to see you here”.
She turned to see an older man approaching her son. She thought he was some weirdo with the odd crop top and the makeup he was wearing. Shinobu was about to step in but upon seeing the man's odd headband, realized that this man was Rohan Kishibe!
If she remembered correctly, he was the Mangaka behind Hayato’s new favorite manga. She was shocked the first time Hayato had asked her for something but now she was stunned that this man was familiar with her son! She tried to listen in but couldn’t really hear anything.
“R-Rohan-Sensei! What are you doing here?”
“Ah well, I was actually visiting Sugimoto's grave. Not sure if you know this but their daughter Reimi used to babysit me when I was a child”.
“Oh, really? What happened to them?”
“...Reimi and her family were the first victims of Kira Yoshikage”.
Hayato let out a gasp as he looked at the grave. He couldn’t believe it when Kira had basically been ruining Morioh since Rohan was a kid. He grimaced at the fact. He turned to face Rohan and bit his lip.
“How did...How did you deal with it? Knowing a loved one of yours was killed?”
“Well...to be perfectly honest, I didn’t. I completely blocked that memory and never looked back. It wasn’t until recently that I remembered everything and I’ve been doing my best to process everything”.
Hayato wasn’t sure how to feel about the answer. He was hoping that Rohan would have some mind-blowing advice for him but he thinks, maybe he should just block out his memory too? Just lie to himself and say his father died of natural diseases and this whole ordeal was a nightmare. Before he could convince himself, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Hayato, I know what you're thinking but please don't do what I did. I thought what I was doing was right but all I did was forget the most important person to me and now I’m dealing with all the aftermath of the situation”. He breathed in and hugged the little kid closer.
“One thing i recently learned was that it’s okay to cry. I usually do it when I’m alone and at home but it always helps me feel better. You and me? We aren’t so different now that I think about it. We both had to deal with Kira at a young age and had to learn to mature quickly. If you ever need someone to talk, my door will always be open for you and you only”.
Shinobu was starting to get restless not knowing what the two were talking about. What reason could this famous guy have to do with her son and her husband? She got lost in her thoughts, not realizing that her son was in agony.
Hayato felt his eyes start to get watery and his breathing was cut short. He felt dizzy and swiftly broke down. He wrapped his arms around Rohan and cried into his shoulder. Hayato rarely cried but the older man had a point when he said it was refreshing.
At last, Shinobu had noticed the despair crying and looked in surprise at her son crying in the Mangaka’s shoulder. She could feel herself tear up too and had enough! She walked over to the top and seemingly pointed at Rohan.
“You! What are you doing with my son!”
“Helping him deal with his burden, unlike you”.
Shinobu was about to scream at him until the words had fully sunken into her brain. She disappointingly looked down and said nothing. She knew he was right and the proof was right in front of her, Hayato had ignored her and continued to cling onto Rohan.
“You know...it’s not too late? You should interact with the kid more. Losing a loved one is tough and I should know, I’ve lost a couple”.
Hayato had finally looked up and faced his mother. He could see her nod her head confidently and stretched out her arm. Hayato let go of Rohan and ran into her arms. The two cried together, in front of Kawajiri’s grave. Shinobu would never know that a serial killer's body was buried there instead and Hayato would live with the burden of knowing his father's body was gone forever.
“...I must be taking my leave but Hayato? You ever need me, you know where to find me”. Rohan slightly bowed and walked away, leaving the mother and son to look at him in awe.
After that, Hayato would go to Rohan’s place after school every Friday to talk. He would always happily go with homemade lunch his mother prepared and share with Rohan.
1. Josuke Higashikata
Josuke was walking to Rohan’s house with Koichi. Apparently the man had called him for help and Josuke decided to tag along. He needed to know what could Rohan possibly need help with?
Upon arriving, they saw that everything looked fine. Koichi walked up the stairs and knocked as Josuke awkwardly stood by the side. Last time he was here, it was when he unintentionally burned down Rohan’s house. He felt guilty and offered to fix it but all that led to was another screaming match between the two. God, that man was hot but trouble.
“Hey, Koichi? What did Rohan even need help with?”
“Oh, he said that a couple of kids were giving him trouble?”
“Ah, he can’t handle some little kids? Yeah, I can’t see him being good with kids”.
“Actually, he’s pretty good at it! Multiple people have seen it but for some weird reason, he tends to hide that side of him”. Koichi explained as he ringed the doorbell.
A scurry of footsteps could be heard coming towards them. The two were surprised when the door was open. Josuke looked around but saw nothing.
“Hey! Down here!”
He looked down to see that Ken had opened the door with a perplexed face. He let the two boys in and grabbed onto Josuke.
“Hey you! You have to save Big Brother Rohan! Please!” He said as he tugged the teen. Josuke followed the little boy in worry. What kind of harm was the older man in? Did the other kids tie him up? Did a stand user turn him into a fish? Is he dying?
“ARGH!” A voice screeched. Josuke recognized that voice! It was Rohan-Sensei! He ran ahead of Ken and went to the door. Out of all of the scenarios in his head, this was the last thing he was expecting!
“Huh? Higashikata Josuke? Quit gaping like a stupid brat and help me!”
Rohan was being pulled furiously by two kids. Jolyne and surprisingly, Hayato.
Rohan was still wearing his crop tops but he at least had the decency to wear a coat.
“Higashikata Josuke, what the hell are you looking at? Make yourself useful and help me!”
“Me! Your wearing crop tops!”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“There’s kids here man!”
“Uncle Josuke, that’s so mean! Big Brother Rohan told us that anyone can wear whatever they want!” Jolyne scolded her uncle.
“Josuke, I really like you but you should mind you manners...” Hayato shyly said.
“What the HECK! MEANIE!” Ken screeched.
Jolyne was wearing a white dress as Hayato was wearing a white shirt with a cute bow tie and black pants. Ken just had his usual outfit on. Josuke hurriedly picked up a screaming Jolyne as Koichi pulled back Hayato with all his might. As soon as Rohan was free, he slumped down.
“Ack, my arms!” He whined as he laid on the floor. Josuke snickered but said nothing. He looked at his niece with an odd look.
“Hey, what were you guys doing?”
“I was trying to marry Rohan! But he-“ Jolyne yelled as she pointed at the other kid, “said that he was going to marry him!” Josuke looked over to see Hayato had stopped fussing in Koichi’s arm and had a deep scarlet face. He stuttered as he hid his face behind his hands.
“N-No! I n-never said I was going to marry him! Y-You have it all wrong!”
“Oh yeah?! Then what’s with your outfit dumbo!”
“I am NOT a dumbo! You’re mean! I hope you trip and fall!“
“I will not! Hayato? More like BYE-ato!”
”Whatever! Go back to Florida and stay away from Rohan!”
“ENOUGH!”
The two kids jumped as they saw Rohan with a furious look. Ken walked over and was holding onto a crying Shizuka. Rohan sighed and scooped up the baby. He gently rocked her as he glared at the kids.
“I don’t know what is going with you two but I am very disappointed with you! I don’t know what you guys are fighting about but my arms are sore as hell and you both woke up Shizuka! Both of you, time out!”
“But-“
“I said, time out”. Hayato grudgingly went to the corner and held his knees to his face. He wasn’t going to cry, but he did feel really bad. Jolyne went on the opposite side and quietly whimpered. She felt awful for making Rohan mad!
Josuke and Koichi watched the kids sit quietly. Ken said nothing and silently watched. Big brother Rohan was very cool and very serious! That’s why he looked up to the man! Josuke however, wasn’t impressed.
“Hey! What hell are you doing! They’re just kids!”
“Kids who need to be disciplined! Are you going to let a brat continue to do whatever they want? That will be their downfall!” Rohan argued. He looked down and realized half his body was invisible. He sang to Shizuka and walked off to his room to place her down on the bed.
Josuke furiously gritted his teeth. Seeing the man walk away, he grabbed both Jolyne and Hayato.
“Don’t listen to him, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about! And why would you want to marry a grouch like him?”
“Josuke doesn't say that! He’s so cute and nice! I really like him!”
“A-And really caring once you get to know him! He’s so understanding”. Josuke thought it was cute that they were crushing. He didn’t like that they both had a crush on Rohan though. Well, he himself might have had a slight interest in the man, but he still didn't like it! At least he could tease these two when they were older.
Rohan walked back inside and saw the two kids in front of Josuke. He sighed but said nothing. Against his better judgement, he grew a soft spot for the kids. He said nothing and plopped down next to Josuke. The two kids yelled and profusely apologized to him. Rohan smiles and gives them both a pat on the head.
“I’m not mad anymore, you just have to be more careful, alright?”
“Yes!” “Of course!” The two sighed in relief and ran into Rohan’s arm, causing him to fall backwards. Koichi gasped as he walked over to the man. He thought Rohan was going to yell some more but then...
“Pfft...Hahaha!”
Rohan’s headband had fallen off and he was left with his natural messy hair. He looked beautiful. Josuke felt his heart race and his cheeks start to burn. Jolyne, Hayato, and Ken looked in awe. Koichi thought the man was possessed.
Rohan continued to laugh as he felt tears about to come out. His stomach started to ache but he didn’t care, he was having fun. He took a deep breath and pulled himself together eventually. He stood up and brushed off any dirt on his clothes.
“Well, that was enough excitement! Shall we go out to eat?”
“Marry me...”
“Huh? What was that Josuke?” Rohan didn’t hear what the boy said but it must have been something embarrassing because his face was very red. He kind of wanted to sketch it but he refused! He didn’t want to ask Josuke to model for him! Perhaps, he could try to draw it from memory later. Rohan really wanted to capture the other's flushed face on a canvas. Something about Josuke's emotions captivated him.
“I-I said let me! Treat you guys, I mean!”
Everyone hurriedly agreed and went to pack their things. Koichi ran up and got the sleeping baby. Together, they left Rohan’s house to go to Tonio’s. It was simply another beautiful day in Morioh.
“Psst! Hey, Uncle Josuke? Are you going to steal Rohan from us?”
“We won’t give him up without a fight!”
“You’re not good enough for big brother Rohan! You have to challenge us for his hand in marriage!”
Josuke silently started to regret ever coming to help out Rohan.