Chapter Text
It had been ten years since they’d all seen each other. There were moments in passing where, sure, they’d all maybe seen each other, but they hadn’t properly interacted in ten, long years. A lot changes in all that time.
One of them had married and become a father after short 2 years; now working on his thesis for his PhD. The other had been by the first man’s side for the majority of their adult lives, working to track down arrows instead of finishing his formal education. The SPWF provided well enough for him, and he lived a life of travel on their dime. Granted, the traveling lifestyle didn’t come without its fair share of downsides. Dangerous stand users that stood in his way were nothing new, but it was certainly a far more expansive and terrifying world than he’d initially imagined. The final had remained home, learning her new home’s language and teaching her younger siblings as she practiced on her own.
Japanese wasn’t like French or Italian, it took far more effort for her to adjust and speak appropriately, but she had begun to speak well enough to communicate before the other two had gone off for university. It was a head start that landed her a job as a translator, even if unintentionally. Her mother worked with a victim of natural disaster, losing their right lower forearm and hand, quickly saving and restoring its function thanks to new bio-tech from the SPWF.
This poor client spoke no English, and Mrs. Harrison wasn’t exactly fluent in Japanese; nor was her daughter. However, her oldest held conversation and was able to explain what this person needed to do to recover; the whys and hows of the medicines prescribed and the high tech prosthetic - catching the attention of an SPWF recruiter. She was put on their team full time, speaking English, Japanese, and French. She had to be properly trained, and her language classes where finally paid for by someone else, but she was quickly moving with whomever to where ever she was needed.
Her latest assignment was given on a whim, almost. Someone heard from someone who heard from someone else a Mr. Jotaro Kujo was thinking about hiring a translator for his research. Turns out they were right, and a “buddy” of Mr. Kujo’s had wiggled their way into the languages department of the SPWF, planting this seed in her boss’ ear. She was a perfect candidate, after all, “You already have some rapport with him, and your first and second languages mirror each other! It’d be perfect.”
She did as she had done thousands of times before, meeting a client prior to actually traveling and working together. She was amazed Jotaro had agreed to this, he was apparently incredibly picky and had rejected the other translators presented to him, but he was also nowhere to be seen. She seemed to be recorded somehow? Maybe live streamed? It was one of her higher ups asking the questions this time with a camera beside him, stopping midway through after receiving some kind of message, and informing her she got the job. She was starting immediately.
Thus, off she went, returning home to pack and then travel out to the town of Morioh the next morning. Jotaro had been finishing some kind of research there, and it would be a bit of a boat ride before she arrived.
~
“Are you sure you need a translator, Jotaro? Your English has improved so much!” Joseph asked, cradling a sleeping baby.
“It was more of an idea. I mentioned it off hand, but it could be helpful,” Jotaro remarked, “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by my choice.”
“You sure were grueling on the candidates presented to you, and the Foundation only has so many people who are multilingual!” The baby began to stir, her little arms and legs stretching out as she appeared to be blinking awake. It was always hard to tell with her facial features being more than obscured.
“She should be here soon ..” the grad student looked down at his watch, “she’s running late.”
“‘She’?!” Joseph laughed, reaching into the diaper bag for a bottle, “you chose a woman?!” Jotaro raised an eyebrow, “I’m just surprised is all!! You normally aren’t one for women!!”
“You’re right, I’m not,” he sighed, looking at his phone now for any messages or missed calls. Met with a blank screen.
Not too far away were a pair of Morioh’s own heroes, Josuke Higashikata and Okuyasu Nijimura, hidden within greenery a small ways away. The dynamic duo were sharing a set of binoculars, spying on Josuke’s nephew, knowing things were likely to become interesting.
“They’re just sittin’ there, man! It’s been like 45 minutes and I’m boooooored!” Okuyasu whined, handing the binoculars back to his friend.
“Suck it up! I heard Mr. Jotaro talking to a Speedwagon Foundation employee yesterday, and I have no doubt this means something else is up!!”
“We already beat Kira, dude!! What else could possibly be going on?”
“I don’t know, Okuyasu, that’s why we’re here!” He heard a rustling in the leaves, “Get back over to your side, Oku! I’m busy doing surveillance!!”
“What’re you talkin’ about? I haven’t moved from my spot.”
Josuke looked over at his friend, who wasn’t lying, he was still opposite him and hadn’t moved any closer. However, a new set of shoes were between him and his friend. The outfit was familiar, the braces at the ankle practically giving the figure’s identity away, and the new figure’s identity was revealed as he squatted into the bushes, “Whatcha doing, boys?”
Both of the teenagers startled, “MR. KAKYOIN!”
The redheaded man laughed, thoroughly enjoying their reaction, “Relax, you two!! It’s just me! I’m not gonna tell Jojo you’re spying on him.”
“H-how did you- ?!”
“Who ELSE would you two waste time and energy stalking? Especially the way you’ve perched yourselves so far away, keep him from suspecting you two are nearby,” Kakyoin took the binoculars for himself, “I have to admit I’m impressed.”
“Y-you’re really not gonna tell him?!” Josuke asked, his voice almost cracking from the fear of being in some kind of trouble.
“Nah,” Kakyoin smiled, “you should just ask him what’s up next time instead of snooping though, got it?”
“Yeah, I know ... but I felt like asking about a translator wouldn’t be cool, y’know? And I wasn’t exactly involved in the conversation ...”
The binoculars dropped as the older man turned to Josuke, “Excuse me? ‘Translator’?”
“Yeah! Josuke heard Mr. Jotaro on the phone,” Okuyasu recalled, “Some lady from the Foundation is coming to help him with his research or something?”
“Huh. He never mentioned this to me .. and a woman? You’re sure about-” his sentence broke as he looked through the binoculars again, a new figure suddenly in front of Jotaro. Not only shaking hands with him, but having the bravery to hug him?! And he hugged BACK?! “Holy shit.”
“Lemme see! Lemme see!” the duo demanded, both fighting for their turn to get a peak at the goings on.
Mae knew she was behind, but there’s not exactly a way to be dropped off by a cab in the middle of a public park. There were roads nearby, sure, but it was a lot of pedestrian traffic out here instead of vehicular traffic. Plus, finding some random spot in a park with all her luggage wasn’t exactly a cakewalk. Jotaro couldn’t have made this easy, could he? He just had to be all mysterious and cryptic, for some reason.
She caught a glimpse of the Joestar gentlemen waiting, watching the younger impatiently pace about (no doubt her fault), and the older being ... so much older than she remembered. The years must have caught up with him after he stepped down from running the real estate business.
“< Sorry I’m late, >” she opened, Jotaro’s back to her.
The noise caused him to spin around on his heels, both eyebrows up in mild surprise, “< About time you got here. >”
“< Good to see you again, Kujo-san, >” Mae teased, holding out her hand.
Jotaro rolled his eyes, a half smile curling up on his lips as he returned the handshake. He was brought into a hug, something he wasn’t exactly wanting, but he sighed and returned the gesture. It had been an exceedingly long time since they’d been with each other, so, amusing her this once wasn’t going to kill him.
“And Mr. Joestar!!” she smiled, wrapping her arms around the older man from behind the bench he was sat on, “it’s been way too long!! It’s so good to see you again!!”
Joseph chuckled, “Hello to you too, miss Mae. It has been quite some time, huh? How’s your old man doing?”
“Benny-boy is fine,” she replied, taking her spot next to him on the bench, “You must introduce me to this little cutie!! Didn’t know Jojo was a dad!”
“< She’s not mine, >” Jotaro said flatly, looking over to his grandpa with a small nod, “< she’s his. >”
Mae looked from Jotaro to Joseph, “He’s kidding, right?”
The old man sighed with a smile, taking the bottle away and placing the baby on his shoulder, “No, he’s not. This is my adoptive daughter, Shizuka.” His hand began to gently pat and rub the baby’s back, “Though, you’re right, Jotaro does have a daughter of his own.”
Mae’s smile dropped and she immediately whipped around, “< YOU HAVE A KID?! >”
“< Good grief, we are not discussing this now! >”
“< No, no, I think now is a great time to discuss this!! You have a daughter?! >”
Jotaro groaned, “< YES! Why is this so surprising?! I got married, >” he held up his hand, clearly displaying his wedding band, “< and I have a daughter!! Please drop it. >”
Mae couldn’t help but let a small laugh escape her, “< You at least said ‘please,’ that’s a change for the better. >”
He scoffed at Mae’s response, looking to her luggage, “< We should get you and your things to the hotel. >”
“< Objective as ever, huh, Jojo? >” Her attention moved back to the baby before her, having been burped and returned to her bottle, sucking up the formula with gusto.
Joseph smiled, “I know I heard something about the hotel. You’ll be staying with us for a while, right, Mae?”
“As long as Jojo says he needs me, I’m here.”
“I don’t need you,” Jotaro clarified, grabbing one of her bags and throwing it over his shoulder, “my English is fine. You just happen to save me a lot of time and effort.”
Her surprise was superseded by a snarky reply, shooting him a smug grin, “So I’m worth the expense, is what you’re saying?”
“Don’t flatter yourself so much.”
Her expression immediately dropped, “Wow, okay, ouch, that hurts. Glad to see some things haven’t changed.”
“< I’m calling us a cab, whether or not you get in it is your choice. >”
“Is this you when you’re joking?!” No response, Jotaro pulling out his phone and swiping at the glass screen with his thumb to find the number he wanted, “I’m gonna take this as a joke.”
Joseph sighed, shaking his head, not happy with his grandson’s initial interactions with an old friend. Even if that “friendship” was only because of a previous relationship, Jotaro could’ve been a bit kinder. The old man wasn’t paying attention to his daughter, who had formula smudging the sides of her mouth and causing her foundation to begin running. The little one had long since decided she’d had enough milk, fussing to have the bottle taken away and be burped again.
“It’s a woman?! Who is she?! Does Mr. Jotaro have a wife?!” Josuke began to question, Kakyoin looking through the binoculars again.
“He does, but that’s not her,” the redhead replied, not moving his eyes from his view.
“Wait, Mr. Jotaro is really married?!” Okuyasu blurted out, genuine shock in his tone, “Why has no one mentioned this to us until now?!”
“Uh huh ... she looks ... familiar ...”
“Familiar?”
“She survived hugging him, and he even hugged her back!! She has to be something more than just a ‘translator’ ...” Josuke gasped, “You don’t think she’s really his-”
“No, he’s not Joseph ...”
“Hey!”
He readjusted the binoculars and tried his best to zoom and stay focused, “Why does she look so familiar ...?”
Josuke rolled his eyes, knowing he wasn’t going to receive the response he wanted, “Anyway, my ‘darling little nephew’ isn’t exactly one for physical contact unless it’s a fight! How Earth would she be able to get away with showing the man affection?!”
“I promise you he’s not too fond of fighting anymore.”
“Do you think you know her, Mr. Kakyoin?” Okuyasu broke in, “You seem to be really hung up on her looking familiar.”
The redhead sighed and finally brought the binoculars down, “I- ... I might? I can’t be sure. You guys were smart by picking a far off vantage point, but uh, it’s difficult to make out details from this far,” he placed the binoculars back in Okuyasu’s hands, “even with those.”
Okuyasu blinked, holding the lenses back up to his face and trying to focus it, “You said she hugged Mr. Joestar? So, she might know him too, right?”
Kakyoin sat in the grass, thinking through his various encounters while hunting down stand users and the people he’d met, ruling out those that Jotaro hadn’t met to help eliminate as many options as possible. He’d known Jotaro for the last 10 years, and there were only so many of their personal experiences and people they knew that overlapped. Was this someone Jotaro had met that Kakyoin had no idea about? Maybe she really was a mistress ... unlikely, given how little interest Jotaro had in sex, and he definitely would have noticed something out of place if he were actually cheating on his wife ... right? The man was so good at keeping to himself, it was scary. He kept reeling through his memories, thinking further and further back to try and pinpoint the reason why this woman looked so familiar.
There was a buzz in his pocket. The vibration pulled him from his attempts at recalling this mystery woman’s identity and back to reality. A new message from none other than Jotaro himself:
< (Hotel lobby, 15 minutes.)
Kakyoin smiled, standing and brushing the dirt off of himself, “Well boys, I’ll keep you posted. I’m off to go get answers.” Hierophant Green shot a tentacle upward into a nearby tree, dragging his user behind him, allowing Kakyoin to travel quickly back to the grand hotel like a notorious, web-slinging superhero.
Josuke watched, dumbfounded by how quickly the man could move. He shook his head and grabbed Okuyasu by the shoulders, “DUDE!!”
His friend dropped his arms, lowering the binoculars and looking the other boy in the eyes, “What?! Was I supposed t’ do somethin’?!”
“No, man, it’s fine, just ... aren’t you still curious??”
“‘Course I am.”
“So, shouldn’t we, I dunno, FOLLOW him?!”
“Oh yeah, that’d make sense, huh?”
Josuke sighed, his hands sliding off of Okuyasu’s shoulders, “We need to move, dude. Crazy D can’t easily keep up with all those acrobatics and stuff-”
“Josuke, Mr. Kakyoin is partially paralyzed, did you forget? I don’t think he’s doing acrobatics ..”
“He’s not paralyzed yet! Those braces he’s got keep him moving .. and that’s beside the point!!” Josuke wrapped his arm around his friend’s shoulder, “What I’m gettin’ at is we need The Hand! You ripping space moves us so quick, we can meet him at wherever he’s off to!!”
“Oh!” Okuyasu smiled as the two moved out of the bushes, grabbing onto his friend’s waist, “Hold on tight, bro!”
“Atta boy, Okuyasu!!” Josuke cheered, his arm returning around his friend’s shoulders as both of them jumped up. The Hand began swiping the air, pulling the two forward faster and faster with each rip in space. Neither were quite sure where they were going, but they were gonna get there fast, that was for sure. Hopefully answers came along with reaching their destination.