Chapter Text
A loud bang jolted Josuke out of his sleep early on a Thursday morning in December. Grunting, he rolled over to find Hayato having just dropped one of his textbooks onto the floor after trying to shove it into his knapsack and failing.
“Sorry,” Hayato whispered. “Tried to be quiet.”
“That's okay,” Josuke replied groggily. He rubbed a hand over his face. “Time is it?”
“Nearly six. Your alarm's gonna go off in two minutes, want me to just shut it off?”
“Definitely, thanks.” Josuke pushed himself into a seated position. “So how'd you sleep, anyway?”
“I woke up about two hours ago,” Hayato admitted, zipping up his knapsack at last, “so I didn't get a lot of sleep, but I also didn't have any nightmares, so...progress?”
“Sounds like progress,” Josuke agreed, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he dragged himself out of his futon. “I dreamed that me and Okuyasu were late for school but the layout was my old elementary school for some reason, that was weird. So...nightmare-ish, but not one of the bad ones.”
“Cool. Anyway, I already went to the bathroom if you want to fix your hair.”
“Thanks, kid, 'preciate it.” Josuke grabbed his uniform and shuffled over to the bathroom, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
There were now three separate stations for everyone's hair supplies as opposed to the usual two. Josuke figured it was only a matter of time before they had to create some more space for Hayato as well; then again, apart from just combing it out, Hayato didn't really seem to want to do anything special with his hair, which was fine too. Josuke grinned to himself. Just last week, Hataro had finally been able to bathe without Josuke guarding the door and talking through it to him the entire time. They still planned to do that on occasion just because they liked the routine at this point, but the progress the young boy had made was undeniable and Josuke couldn't be prouder of him.
It was strange – the Kawajiris had only been living with the Higashikatas for a couple of months, but now Josuke couldn't imagine his life without them.
Once Kosaku had finally, officially been declared dead in early August, his life insurance policy had been paid out. However, there had been an unexpected complication; there would have been enough to cover a couple of years worth of rent if it hadn't been for a substantial credit card debt they had somehow amassed. While Shinobu had been responsible for all of the shopping, she always assumed that her husband had handled the financial side of things and so didn't really bother to curb her spending. Now, however, it was coming back to bite her, though at least with Kosaku's payout she was able to pay off the debt all at once.
After that was taken care of, they only had about enough food and rent money to cover the rest of the year. Shinobu-san had never worked a day in her life, and Hayato was still in elementary school, so that lack of income put an even larger financial strain on them. Their best course of action would normally be to sell their house, but as they answered to a landlord that wasn't a possibility.
Hayato had told the high schoolers all about this when they walked him home one day, saying he didn't think he was supposed to know about any of this but his mother wasn't exactly subtle in her worry. Josuke, Okyuasu, and Koichi had all gone back to Josuke's place to work on their homework, and were all talking about what they could do to help when his mother came home and overheard them. After asking for more details on the situation, she immediately suggested that the Kawajiris move in with them.
“Hayato saved your life, right?” she'd asked Josuke. “If that's the case, both of us owe him. And it would just be rude to exclude Shinobu, wouldn't it?”
Josuke had had no problem with the idea; he'd already come to see Hayato as a little brother and could easily see sharing his room. But that left the question of where Shinobu would sleep. The answer was obvious, but...
Surprisingly, his mother was the one who offered up the suggestion they were both thinking.
“Your grandfather's room is just sitting there, collecting dust,” she had said solemnly. “I don't think we'd find it so difficult to clean it out if someone else was actually living in it, you know?”
Considering everything that had happened since Jotaro had walked into his life, the process of merging these two families under one roof went almost too smoothly for Josuke's comfort. Not that he was complaining in the slightest; he preferred it when things were easy. It didn't stop him from expecting catastrophic failure at every turn, however.
The biggest hypothetical problem Josuke saw happening was the thought of the two mothers not getting along for whatever reason. Sure they were reportedly amicable at Kosaku's service, but that was just one meeting. Thankfully, Shinobu and Mom had hit it off almost instantly once Shinobu realized how much they had in common: even if the circumstances had been vastly different, both had unexpectedly become single mothers and they bonded quickly over that shared experience. Shinobu had been reticent about accepting charity at first, but she really didn't see another way to keep her and her son's standard of living without outside help. Plus, their sons were already friends, so from there the choice became very easy indeed.
The one condition that Mom had laid on Shinobu for them moving in was for her to find a part time job by the end of the year. It wasn't as though the Kawajiris would be starting from scratch, after all; whatever they owned before would be brought in along with them. Mom didn't even care about any kind of rent, necessarily, since her father had long since bought their house outright and had never charged her or Josuke anything once they had moved in with him. No, her main concern was food money, as they both had two growing boys who inhaled whatever was in front of them. In addition, Hayato's camera hobby was definitely going to cost them far more than Josuke's hair maintenance, so extra income was always helpful. While nervous about starting working so late in her life, Shinobu agreed to Mom's terms, and had miraculously secured a cashier job at St. Gentleman's, which paid quite handsomely.
Of course, Mom had immediately started hounding Josuke on when he was going to get a part-time job. The joke immediately became that his permanent job was babysitting Hayato, for which he didn't get paid but continued to receive room and board. Hayato was in complete support of this, and Mom had (very thankfully) let it slide for how.
Yes, there had been so many significant changes to his life in this year alone: his grandfather had died, he'd fought against like three serial killers and even more stand users, his mother finally learned about the power he'd been hiding from her since he was a child, he'd gained a wonderful extended family and some even better friends, and now he had a little brother and what may as well be another mother. But no matter what would happen next in this crazy, noisy, bizarre town, there were some things that Josuke was determined to have remain the same. With that in mind, he wet his comb under the sink and started dragging it through his hair.
He could faintly hear the voices of the two women all the way downstairs over the hiss of his hairspray, as well as the familiar jingle of the Morioh-cho Radio program; Shinobu liked the volume turned up high. Kai Harada's voice was just barely audible over the sound of his comb parting through his hair as Josuke began finalizing his usual hairstyle. A few annoying strands weren't quite in place yet, and he was attempting to smooth them out when he very audibly heard his mother's voice.
“Snow!?”
...Oh no.
He rushed out of the bathroom and down the stairs, leaping down the last few and bursting into the kitchen with his comb and hairspray still in his hands. His mother was staring at the radio, her cup of coffee held to her side and spilling onto the floor.
“Snow?” he asked in a panicked voice. “Did he just say it's gonna snow soon?”
“Yeah,” said Shinobu slowly; she was eyeing Mom oddly. “Couple centimeters expected Monday. Why? What is going on?”
“Okay,” Mom was muttering under her breath. “Okay, okay...” Her breath was quickening fast and she was visibly holding herself up by the counter.
“Hey. Mom, hey.” Josuke walked over to her, dropping his things on the counter and cupping her face in his hands. “Hey, look at me, Mom, look at me.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Josuke could see Shinobu staring at them, at Mom struggling to focus on her son. She must be wondering what was happening, but Josuke couldn't focus on that right now.
“How old am I?” he asked his mother,
“...Sixteen,” Mom whispered.
“That's right!” said Josuke with a bright grin. “And where are we right now?”
“Home,” said Mom in a slightly stronger voice. “We're here, we're at home, we're in the kitchen...”
“And who just moved in with us and is staring at you like you're a crazy person 'cause she doesn't know our tragic backstory?”
Mom let out a wet chuckle, saying, “Shinobu.”
“Three for three, perfect.” Josuke pulled her in for a hug.
“Josuke...” Mom buried her face in her son's shoulder, trembling fiercely.
“You did it, Mom,” Josuke whispered soothingly. “You got me to the hospital in time. You saved me. I'm right here.”
He heard hurried footsteps and saw Hayato standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking at Mom with concern.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked in a soft voice.
Mom sniffed and pulled away from Josuke at last.
“I wouldn't mind a hug if you were up for it,” she admitted.
“Sure,” he said, jogging forward and letting her envelop him in her arms.
“Thanks, kid,” she said. “I think I'm okay now.” She let go of him, a wobbly smile on her face.
“You sure?”
“Well, better, at least. I'll get there.”
“I'm here if you need me,” said Hayato.
“Same,” said Josuke. “Always.”
His mother looked to be seconds away from pulling him into another hug, but both of them got the feeling that she would break down again if she did so, so she held back, fiddling with the coffee maker again to make a fresh cup.
“I'll get this for you,” said Hayato helpfully, grabbing the sponge from the sink and cleaning up what she'd spilled earlier. Mom nodded in thanks.
“I'm glad you're feeling better,” said Shinobu hesitantly. “Now would someone please tell me why you freaked that much out over a few centimeters of snow?”
“I got it,” said Josuke. “I've had to repeat it often enough recently anyway so people don't say the wrong thing about my hair, you know?” At Mom's answering smile, Josuke turned to Shinobu. “When I was little, I got so sick I almost died. When Mom was driving me to the hospital, we got stuck in a snowstorm. Obviously I survived, but now both of us are just a little extremely paranoid whenever it gets snowy out. 'Cause what if the worst happens and we're trapped again, you know?”
“And the one who dug you out was the one you based your hairstyle on, right?” Hayato piped up.
“Good memory,” said Josuke, sending him a thumbs up. “Speaking of, I should go finish. You good, Mom?”
“I'll be all right,” said Mom, patting Josuke on the shoulder as he grabbed his comb and hairspray off the counter and went back to the bathroom to finish up. When he finally got his hair in its usual perfect condition, he came back down to see his mother sitting in one of the chairs, Shinobu-san handing her the new cup of coffee. She was looking better already and was talking freely with a much more confident smile on her face, despite the subject matter.
“Whenever it even snows just a little bit...I just remember feeling trapped and helpless with this small child who was going to die if I didn't start moving immediately.”
“I can imagine,” said Shinobu sympathetically.
“It hasn't been really bad in a while, but a few years ago I was in a taxi when it started to snow and I somehow became convinced that Josuke was in the car next to me, still dying of that fever. I was in complete hysterics; the driver ended up taking me to the hospital and they started seeing to me as if I was having a heart attack. I wasn't, but...” Mom shrugged.
“Damn,” whispered Shinobu, before speaking up. “Hey, I haven't hugged you yet, have I? C'mere.” It was a bit awkward as Mom was still in the chair, but they managed.
“Guess it's time for the yearly supply run, huh?” said Josuke.
“Good point,” said Mom. She got up and went back in the kitchen to one of the drawers, opened it, and fished around until she pulled out an old piece of paper that had been marked with many different pens over the years. “Shinobu, you have today off, right? Would you mind making a run to a few stores?”
“Sure.”
“Actually – sorry, kid – would you mind picking up Hayato today as well?” Josuke saw Hayato nod in understanding out of the corner of his vision. “I'm gonna talk to everyone at school and try and get them as paranoid as we are. Okuyasu could do with some more food and blankets anyway; as much as we've done with his place it's still a little drafty for my taste.”
“Talk him into getting a kotatsu,” Mom suggested. “I'm sure he and his father would both appreciate it.”
“That's a great idea, thanks, Mom — Oh, shit!”
He reached for his mother's notepad on the counter and flipped over to a fresh page, tearing it out and writing Toyohiro's name at the top before jotting a few more things down.
“There's this hermit we know, he lives under a radio tower on the edge of town – don't ask, we've learned not to question it – but the thing about a radio tower is there isn't really a proper roof. Maybe we could get him a couple of tarps and some blankets if nothing else.”
“Is he homeless, or...?” asked Shinobu tentatively.
“He's been living there for over three years now, so probably. He says he's happier living alone as he's not much of a people person, but he doesn't mind our company, so...” He shrugged. “Whatever makes a person happy, you know?”
“Huh...”
“Is there anything I can do?” Hayato piped up.
Mom handed him the list.
“Look over this and see if we missed anything. Also feel free to add anything you might like. You too, Shinobu.” She looked at her watch. “Shit, I'm gonna be late. You three got it from here?”
After assuring her that they did, indeed, have it from here, Mom kissed her two boys goodbye before heading off to work. While it wasn't going to snow for several more days, Josuke still couldn't help but be worried about her.
“Shinobu-san,” he said once Mom had left, “there's a small chance that you'll get a call saying Mom needs to be picked up some time today. Would you mind sticking by the phone when you're not out, just in case?”
“...Sure, I guess.” Shinobu was still clearly weirded out by all of this, but she appeared determined to be supportive, which was the best that Josuke could hope for. He went back upstairs to grab his bag and prepared to leave for the day.
Okuyasu met up with Josuke right outside as usual, saying hi to the Kawajiris in the process. They didn't always walk Hayato to school but Josuke decided to go out of his way to do so as he wouldn't be walking him home later that day, and of course Okuyasu was welcome to join as always. Shinobu broke off of them to go shopping before the stores got too crowded and the two highschoolers walked him the rest of the way. Hayato waved good-bye to them before jogging off to join his classmates (and he was finally starting to make friends his own age, which was nice), and the stand users hurried off to Budogaoka before they could be marked late.
By some miracle – meaning that Okuyasu used The Hand to teleport them when no one was looking – they made it to school with five minutes to spare, and while they ran into a few of the other stand users in the halls, Josuke didn't really have time to talk to many of them before classes began. He decided to wait until their lunch break so he could talk to as many of them at once as possible. Yuya and Hazamada were in different years than them so he focused on his fellow freshmen for now, the five of them gathered in a corner of his and Koichi's classroom by the window. It wasn't exactly that he needed to keep this conversation private by any means, but the town's stand users had become so accustomed to being secretive that was just second nature by now. Once they'd all dug into their bentos (with Mikitaka pulling an entire freshly-cooked rotisserie chicken out of his bag somehow), he cleared his throat.
“Hey, is it cool if I talk about something?”
“Sure thing, bud,” said Okuyasu with his mouth full of rice. “What's up?”
Josuke took a deep breath.
“Okay, so obviously you all know the story of why my hair looks like this, right?”
“Yeah,” said Koichi and Okuyasu at the same time that Yukako said, “No, actually.” Josuke waited for Koichi to give her the rundown before taking over again.
“So basically, my mom tends to kind of freak out whenever it starts to get snowy. Sometimes it's like her mind is taken back to that night that she couldn't move the car and I'm dying in the seat next to her.”
“Jeez, give her a hug for me, will ya?” said Okuyasu. “That sounds rough.”
“I think we can all relate to our minds being taken back to...less happy times,” muttered Koichi.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” asked Yukako.
“We're handling it the same way we've done every year since,” Josuke explained. “We stock up on enough supplies and warm clothing and things to last us the entire winter and stay home as much as possible so we always know where we are. So I probably won't be around to hang out after school for a while,” he added apologetically.
“No worries, dude,” said Okuyasu. “I live practically right next to you and can use The Hand to get rid of snow, so I can visit you anyway.”
“That's true!”
“And besides, you'll still be coming to school every day, right?”
“'Course, shit like that and Mom's job is unavoidable; we're talking unnecessary trips.” He groaned. “I just realized no Tonio's for months unless it doesn't snow for a while...”
“Oh no!” cried Okuyasu in English, clapping his hands to his face and doing a near-perfect impression of Mr. Joestar.
“Isn't this all a bit much?” said Yukako. “Especially for not even that much snow?”
“Look, I know I sound paranoid,” said Josuke. “We both know it, but stocking up on supplies and making sure we know where everyone is makes us feel better. And if the worst does happen, we'll at least have prepared for it.”
“And if it doesn't, better safe than sorry, right?” said Koichi encouragingly.
“Exactly.” Josuke looked over at Okuyasu. “Plus, let's face it, your house could still be warmer.”
“This is true,” said Okuyasu. “I wouldn't mind picking up a few extra blankets.”
“My mom also suggested you invest in a kotatsu,” Josuke went on. “You'll probably have to create a spot for the base but with The Hand it shouldn't be a problem. It will be expensive, and we all know that you are one stingy bastard, but trust me, it's worth it.”
“You know, I've never actually used one before,” said Okuyasu. “Or if I did I was too small to remember. Yeah...Yeah, I'd love one of those!”
Josuke looked at Mikitaka next.
“Also, Toyohiro's completely exposed under that radio tower. I was thinking maybe we get a couple of tarps for him or something, keep at least some of the snow out.”
“I've been meaning to ask,” said Mikitaka, crunching steadily on a chicken bone and swallowing it before continuing. “Is this 'snow' really as deadly as you say it is?”
Josuke and Okuyasu exchanged glances.
“...It can be deadly,” said Josuke. “If enough of it piles up then it can be hard to get to somewhere like a hospital in an emergency.”
“I see. Just what exactly is snow, anyway?”
Yukako let out a heavy sigh and buried her face in her hands in exasperation. Yukako especially had very little patience for what she deemed Mikitaka's “delusions”, but Koichi was a little more tolerant.
“Okay, um, have you noticed that it's gotten a lot colder recently?”
“I have noticed the need for additional coverings, yes.”
“Well, a lot of things can change when the weather gets this cold. When the temperature gets low enough, the rain can freeze, and that's what we call snow.”
“Tiny flecks of ice fall from the sky?” Mikitaka cried out in shock. “That sounds horrible, no wonder you're so concerned for your safety, this sounds quite dangerous.”
“No,” said Josuke, “no, snow is frozen rain basically, but it's soft and kind of gentle. It just tends to pile up and be really cold, and we don't want Toyohiro to freeze to death.”
“Sometimes actual flecks of ice do fall from the sky,” added Koichi, “but that's called hail and isn't nearly as common.”
“Also freezing rain can turn to ice on contact with the ground and make everything even more dangerous,” said Okuyasu. “My bro wouldn't go out for a couple of days if there was freezing rain. So I guess he was kind of like your mom, Josuke.”
“Don't blame him,” said Josuke.
“Hmm,” said Mikitaka ponderously. “I'm not sure I quite understand, but I suppose I will find out for myself on Monday, yes?”
“That is when it's supposed to happen, yes.”
“We also don't want him to starve to death,” said Okuyasu. “Does he have enough food?”
“He's got a decent supply of food from this year's little harvest, but he did say it becomes harder in winter,” said Mikitaka. “Apparently certain flora doesn't grow all year round on this planet?”
Josuke and Okuyasu glanced at each other again, grimacing.
“Sometimes, when it's cold out, it's hard for things to grow,” said Koichi patiently. “Most edible plants especially.”
“I see,” said Mikitaka, clearly fascinated.
“Anyone else need anything specific?” asked Josuke quickly, very ready to move on with the conversation.
“I wanted to knit you a pair of mittens to go with your scarf,” said Yukako, “but that's not very practical, so how about a new pair of gloves?”
“I'd appreciate that,” said Koichi. “Is there anything I could get you?”
“Oh, that's quite all right,” said Yukako, blushing. “I've actually been eyeing a new winter coat for a while, and that's not exactly equal to gloves.”
Josuke bit back a sigh of relief. Yukako was always more agreeable when it came to buying things for Koichi.
They ran into the other two school-aged stand users on their way back from their lunch break and Josuke invited them to join the group as well. Yuya didn't think much of the matter at first – he informed Josuke of part of the morning report he'd missed while he was in the bathroom, that Kai had pointed out that the snow might not accumulate at all – but getting a supply run out of the way before winter had truly set in did sound like a good idea so he agreed to tag along. Sadly, his three girlfriends had other plans, but promised to do their own separate supply runs over the weekend, which made Josuke feel a little better. Hazamada loudly voiced his opinion on how nonsensical Josuke was being, but was still willing to come along regardless, grumbling the entire time.
Once they all met up at the entrance after school let out, their first stop was Kameyu Department Store, where, in addition to several bright blue tarps, they were lucky enough to find one of the last charcoal kotatsu setups that the store had in stock.
“You want a charcoal one in case the power goes out,” Josuke explained.
“The power never stays off for very long in this town, though,” Yuya pointed out. “Or S City, for that matter.”
“Really?” said Okuyasu.
“Yeah, we've been really lucky.”
“That's because for the past eight or so years I wait until after it stops snowing and then go track down the source of the damage so I can fix it with Crazy Diamond,” said Josuke.
“...That would explain it, then,” said Yuya sheepishly.
“I think the longest you ever took was like a day and a half or something,” said Koichi.
“It wouldn't stop snowing,” Josuke explained. “I wasn't gonna go out in a snowstorm again and leave my mom and grandpa behind to worry about me, especially since they didn't know what I could do. The kotatsu was the only thing saving us from freezing our asses off.”
Okuyasu didn't have enough money on-hand to pay for it right then, so Yukako offered to pay it for him if he payed her back later.
“I'll have to dip into my lottery winnings, but yeah, I'll get that back to you right away,” he promised her. “Maybe we could stop at the bank before we go for food?”
Their next stop was the clothing section so that Yukako could get a pair of gloves for Koichi and so that Hazamada could grab a Pink Dark Boy T-shirt for himself.
“I know!” cried Koichi suddenly. “You don't like hats because you want to freely use Love Delux, but what if I got you a pair of earmuffs?”
“Koichi-kun, that's perfect!” squealed Yukako, grabbing him in a hug and smothering his face in her chest. Josuke rolled his eyes as Yuya nodded approvingly and both Okuyasu and Hazamada began weeping with jealousy.
They also picked out a large red sweater for Okuyasu's father; Mansaku didn't seem bothered by temperature one way or the other, though Okuyasu reported seeing his dad curl up wherever it was warm. After grabbing a couple of fluffy blankets each – both Koichi and Hazamada managed to find some Pink Dark Boy-themed ones – Yuya dragged them over to the toy section to look at some board games.
“In case Josuke takes forever to fix the power again,” he explained. “Also Reiko's been wanting to learn shogi, so I thought it'd make a cute Christmas gift.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Josuke thought he saw Koichi and Yukako stare at the earmuffs and gloves respectfully, blushing. He sighed, but picked up a go board for Hayato; the boy had been reading Hikaru no Go in Shounen Jump for a while now and he figured he'd appreciate it. Maybe Josuke could take a stab at learning how to play, too.
After paying for all their items (and after coaching Mikitaka on how to pay for his purchases again), Mikitaka departed to give Toyohiro the supplies they got him, saying he already had some more ice cream in his bag.
“Who wants ice cream when it's this cold out,” muttered Okuyasu as they watched the alien dash off.
“Dessert's desert,” argued Hazamada. “Who cares what or when you're eating something as long as it tastes good and isn't poison.” Koichi hummed in agreement.
“I guess...”
The topic of food brought them next to Owson after a quick stop at the bank so Okuyasu could pay back Yukako. Most of them planned on doing an actual serious food shop over the weekend with their parents (Okuyasu was already decently stocked up), so the focus today was on snacks. A lot of their respective food budgets went to potato chips and pocky, with some senbei and melon pan thrown in for Okyuasu's dad; Yuya also picked up some dango for Yoshie, since it was her favorite.
“Now all I need is something for Akemi and I'm set for Christmas,” he announced happily.
“Does Stray Cat have enough food?” said Josuke suddenly.
“I always have at least two extra bags of cat food,” said Okuyasu reassuringly. “As soon as one runs out, I get a new one.”
“Okay, good.”
Once done, they parted ways at last, Koichi saying he was going to call Kobayashi and Rohan and tell them Josuke's plans and to keep in touch as much as possible so that everyone could know where everyone else was at all times. Yuya planned on telling his girlfriends the same thing, and Okuyasu was going to visit Tonio's after school tomorrow for the same reason. Today, however, he wanted to put the kotatsu together and get everything ready. Josuke stayed with Okuyasu to help, marveling at how much the old, run-down house had improved in just a few short months.
Okuyasu, partly with his lottery winnings and partly with Crazy Diamond's help, had fixed the basic foundation of his house and was slowly making it more functional. The kitchen and the bathroom were both working perfectly, he'd decorated his bedroom, and the biggest room in the house had been turned into a playroom for his father and Stray Cat. There was even a laundry room now so he wouldn't have to wash his clothes by hand anymore; the washer and dryer set was a collective birthday present from most of the stand users in town (with Rohan, surprisingly, footing most of the bill), Josuke and Koichi had taken him out to Tonio's while Kobayashi got some men who owed him a favor to install them. Okuyasu couldn't say no after that, and had been in tears the whole time as he thanked everyone.
Today, together with both of their stands, he and Josuke were able to set up the kotatsu in the middle of the playroom. Mansaku had to gently be led away multiple times during the process so that he didn't get in their way or hurt himself, but he still managed to be an effective cheerleader while the boys figured out what they were doing. Once it was successfully set up, Mansaku was the first to try it, and he gurgled in delight as he snuggled in under the warm blanket. Stray Cat had been brought down as well, and had been initially perched on the table once the setup was completed, but as soon as it warmed up they immediately dragged their pot by their leaves under the blanket and had fallen asleep.
Okuyasu was so elated by how well it had turned out that he was wiping away tears.
“This couldn't be more perfect,” he sniffed. “Thanks, bro.”
“Any time, man,” said Josuke cheerfully, accepting his best friend's hug and clapping him on the back. He let Okuyasu stay there for a moment to get some of the tears out.
“Hey, you and Hayato should come over for a sleepover this weekend or something!” said Okuyasu excitedly once he'd finally pulled away.
“That sounds like a great idea! I'll see if I can get Shinobu to let us take the TV with us – we'll still bring Smash, obviously, but I know you wanted to play the new F-Mega game!”
“Oh hell yes!”
They parted ways at long last and Josuke headed back down the street to his own home. Hayato and Shinobu were already there by the time Josuke got back, along with Mom who looked like she'd just walked in.
“I'm home!” Josuke announced as he dragged in his purchases and set them on the floor.
“Welcome back!” said the other three immediately, rushing over.
“What'd you bring me?” Mom asked immediately. Josuke responded by handing her a new fluffy blue blanket. He then pulled out a magenta one for Shinobu and a dark green one for Hayato.
“Oh these are lovely!” cried Shinobu, petting hers. “There's nothing like the feel of a new blanket.”
“Thanks, Josuke,” said Hayato softly.
“I got you something else,” said Josuke, pulling out his final Kameyu purchase. “Pretend this has a big ribbon on it.”
Hayato stared at the go board, taking it cautiously in his hands and glancing up at Josuke, as if for permission.
“Since you've been reading Hikaru no Go, I thought you might like it,” Josuke explained. “You can even teach me if you want.”
“I – I can't—” Hayato was staring at the board again.
“Sure you can,” said Josuke, bending down and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. If you really feel that bad about it, pretend it's an early Christmas present.”
“But isn't Christmas, like, a...a couples thing?” Hayato's face was very red as he asked this, but Josuke just shrugged.
“Big Sis Seiko told me that in America you give presents to everyone, even coworkers you don't like. And I'm half-American, so why not give presents to the people I care about?” He blinked. “...Huh. Never actually said that out loud before.” It felt...strange. Not...not exactly right, not yet. But he knew it was true. It was...It was nice to know, after sixteen years of not knowing.
“But I didn't get you anything!” Hayato protested; he seemed determined to not accept something he so clearly wanted.
“Okay,” Josuke conceded. “Pay me back in lessons. That manga's got to have a few tips in it, right?”
Hayato considered this, and slowly nodded.
“I think I've got the basics down by now,” he admitted. “Can the lessons wait, though? I have homework....”
“No sweat,” said Josuke cheerfully. “So do I! School sucks, doesn't it?”
“I kind of like school, actually...”
“You're so weird, dude,” said Josuke affectionately, reaching out to ruffle his hair, but Hayato swatted it playfully away.
As it was getting late (had the shopping trip really taken that long?), both Mom and Shinobu were heading over to the kitchen to get dinner ready. Shinobu was getting far better after weeks of the Higashikatas' gentle coaching. Josuke had just tied an apron around his own waist to help out when Hatato spoke up one more time.
“Tomoko-san? Remember when you asked me to think of something to add to the list?” When she nodded at him to continue, he cleared his throat nervously. “I, uh, I thought of something in school today. I wanted to wait for all of us to be here so I only had to say it once, you know?”
“Smart,” said Josuke. “That's the same thing I did today when I told my friends.”
“What was your big idea?” asked Shinobu-san. “Come on, don't leave us hanging!”
“Um...” Hayato visibly gulped before pressing on: “What if we all got mobile phones, so we could know how everyone was doing at all times?”
The other three stared at him. The poor boy was visibly growing more and more uncomfortable under their prolonged gazes. Josuke decided to cut him some slack.
“That...is a really good idea and I don't know how no one else thought of that earlier.”
He saw Mom and Shinobu looked at each other. Something seemed to pass between them, as though they were having an entire conversation just by looking at each other, and only chose to voice their final thoughts at the end of it.
“Both our boys tend to get into trouble,” said Shinobu.
“And I am out of town quite often,” muttered Mom.
“...But can we afford it?” said Shinobu softly.
“I can afford it,” said Josuke immediately. “Mom, I can dip into my savings for something like this, right?”
“I'll handle the actual purchase,” said his mother immediately. “But we will be using your lottery winnings for this, yes. You already volunteered, there's no going back now.”
“I said I'd pay for them, didn't I!?”
“So would all four of us get one?” asked Shinobu-san. “That seems a little too extravagant, even for this. I personally would not feel comfortable owning one.”
“I probably don't need one, either,” said Hayato. “I am kind of surprised that no one in Josuke's weird friend group has one, though, with everything all of you get up to all the time. You were chasing down Kira before anyone else even knew about him, I mean, how did you not have mobile phones by that point just to make sure no one else was dead yet...”
“Because we weren't a bunch of super geniuses like you and didn't think of it,” said Josuke. “Also I honestly don't know how financially stable everyone is right now, and if they can keep a phone plan going, you know? Rohan in particular has been up and down a lot lately...” He mentally shook himself. “But that just confirms that you definitely need one.”
“Huh?” Hayato looked up at him, dumbstruck. Josuke smiled at him.
“You're part of our weird friend group, too, you know,” he reminded him gently. “We'd all be dead without you and you know it.”
Hayato stared at him, then looked down, his face red again. Kid really needed to learn how to take a compliment. Josuke turned to the two women.
“We'll get three for the family right now,” said Josuke, “one for me, one for my mom, and one for Hayato, since you don't want one.” He nodded at Shinobu-san.
“Yeah, I'd just lose it,” she replied easily, “I know me.”
“And we only use them for emergencies,” Mom said sternly, her finger raised. “Only when we don't know where each other are. I'm not paying for minutes because you were talking to Okuyasu until two in the morning; I'm already paying out the ass so you can talk to your sister every Sunday.”
“Hey, Seiko and I like to chat, what do you want?”
He felt a tug at his uniform jacket and looked down to see Hayato looking up at him.
“Can I talk to you privately for a second?” he asked.
“Sure.” Their mothers seemed all right with letting them go off on their own, so Josuke followed Hayato back up to their room. He seemed nervous about whatever it was he was going to say, but clearly wanted to get it over with as it all came tumbling out of his mouth in a rush.
“If I'm really part of your group, I want a stand, too.”
Josuke gaped at him. If he were honest with himself, he wasn't all that surprised at this request, but it was the timing that took him aback. Wasn't it a little too soon?
“I've thought about it for months,” Hayato went on when Josuke didn't answer right away. “Since it happened, really. And...I think I'm ready.”
“For a stand?”
“Yeah.” Hayato clenched his fists nervously. “If you want me to sit on it for a full year, though, that works too.”
“...You know how wrong it can go, right?” said Josuke slowly. “Koichi's told you how he got his?”
“Okuyasu told me, but yeah, I'm definitely gonna want you in the room with me,” said Hayato quickly. “I'd like to think I'm strong enough on my own, but if I'm not...” He shrugged, clearly trying to act as nonchalant as possible. He wasn't really pulling it off, but Josuke appreciated the effort.
Josuke let out a sigh, considering the boy in front of him. He'd been through so much in so short a time, yet here he was, willing to get stabbed in the neck with a magical arrow on the off-chance that he might be given a weirdly specific super power.
...Fuck were their lives weird.
“I trust your judgment,” he said at last. “I trust you. You know yourself better than anyone else, and if you say you're ready then I believe you. But I have to talk to Jotaro about it, and if he says no, that's gonna have to be it. As insane as we all are, we're not gonna break into a Speedwagon Foundation building, especially if Star Platinum's user told us not to, you know?”
“Yeah, that makes sense” said Hayato, looking oddly relieved. “Honestly, I was prepared for you to say no.”
“I thought about it,” Josuke admitted. “But you're the smartest, toughest kid I ever met. I have no doubt you could handle a stand easily.”
“Thanks,” said Hayato, his cheeks red once more. “I don't think it'll make my life easier or better or anything – I've hung out with the rest of you too much to believe that – so I won't be heartbroken if Jotaro-san says no. But even with mobile phones, you can't be there for me all the time, you know? And I wanna protect myself and my mom if I have to.”
Josuke smiled warmly at him and placed his hand on his head.
“You're a really good person, you know?” he said softly.
Hayato's smiles were rare, but when one appeared, it was as though it lit up the whole town.