Work Text:
“Yo-chan! Jo-chan! I'm home! Daddy, daddy, look!”
Yoshikage Kira raised his eyes from the pot of green tea he was steeping and shifted them towards the unlatched front door cracking open, fully expecting his energetic son to burst right in. “Welcome back, Josuke. How was school?” he softly asked as the boy’s hatted head poked in.
Ever since young Josuke had reached the metre milestone earlier in the year, he'd been eager to try his modest height and strength on every door available. Their apartment door was easy-peasy, just pushing it open worked like a charm. Ah, but the big wooden door over at Grandma Holly’s however, now that one weighed a ton! Only daddy Jo-chan was strong enough to open it with ease, poor skinny Yo-chan always struggled with it, even as a big adult. That’s how Josuke knew he had to wait and get bigger, because some doors were just too heavy.
“It was good! We had chicken curry for lunch today, with clam miso soup, and for dessert we had fruity salad from Jo-chan’s work! The little cup had the pear logo, and— Oh, but here! Daddy look at me!” Josuke rambled happily as his father took his orange randoseru bag and left it on the kitchen counter. At Josuke’s persistent request, the doctor knelt to his eye level and got an eyeful of his son’s childish smile… except, where there used to be a small front tooth, now his pink tongue peeked.
“What’s the— Ah! Josuke, your tooth! What happened, when did it fall? Or— no wait, let me get your Dad in here too, this is huge news!” Yoshikage reacted, making Josuke giggle into his own little hands. Smiling gently for him, Yoshikage kissed his forehead and took the boy in his arms. He also made sure to lift with his knees, to avoid another bad back incident. ‘Oh dear, he's getting a bit too big for me to carry. I have to cherish these last couple of days, or… bulk up? Ha, as if,’ he chortled to himself as he made his way to Josefumi Kujo’s home office.
“Yes, Mr. Urima. The Higashikata Fruit Company would gladly front the shipping costs for the Maui Gold shipment, as long as we can choose the port of origin. Our vessels may be too big for Kahului harbour, but Honolulu harbour would do nicely. We’re aware that it's on a completely different island, but is it possible to move the shipment within the islands? Excellent, then let's resume talks tomorrow, since I do believe it's getting rather late over there. Oh likewise, thank you for your time and cooperation.”
Josuke and Yoshikage watched quietly as Josefumi confidently wrapped up his final meeting of the day. Ever since he'd been promoted to Imports Manager by Norisuke the fourth himself, he'd been able to work afternoons from home due to most meetings with international clients demanding some rather unorthodox time commitments. This week’s ones had been light and uneventful, with most ending before 5pm, but he’d certainly had some that locked him in that very home office of his as late as 11pm.
“Daddy’s still working, so let's be very quiet and wait, okay?” the doctor cautiously whispered into his son’s ear, in the process tickling it and getting another sweet giggle out of Josuke’s lips.
“Indeed, I’ll have the paperwork sketched out as soon as we hammer down the last details, but rest assured, language won't be an issue. All documentation will be available to your side fully in English, even if we deal internally in Japanese exclusively,” Josefumi replied in his best English, the result of countless hours of personal studying plus some help from his husband, the well-travelled, multilingual Yoshikage Kira, and his extended family— their extended family.
The doctor truly enjoyed seeing his beloved hard at work. It made his own decision to leave his sailing days behind, and drastically cutting down on his own working hours, in favour of a life as a househusband so much easier. When they'd decided to spend their lives together and adopt Josuke, Josefumi was still a college student, full of exams, reports, assignments, and heaviest of all, the guilt of leaving all the labouring to Yoshikage. He’d been so serious when he, once graduated and gainfully employed, had sworn to his dearest he'd never have to work again. The memory made his heart flutter, and almost distracted him enough to not notice his son starting to squirm in his arms. “Hey, don’t! Ah, okay, you can say hi very quietly, and— uh, wave. But no more laughing, Jo-chan is busy,” he shushed.
“Okay daddy,” Josuke whispered into Yo-chan’s ear like it was a secret. He then turned his attention to Jo-chan and waved his little hands whilst smiling wide. “Hi daddy, hi!” he mumbled, not really loud enough for Jo-chan to hear him. Yet, the movement on the corner of his eye did catch his attention, and made him glance over.
“Once again, thank you for— HA! Josuke, your tooth!” the still working man exclaimed, slipping back into Japanese for an instant. “G-goodness, I'm deeply sorry for that. I’m— my son here, he— my deepest apologies,” he hastily fumbled to say, returning to work mode. The man on the other side of the video call didn't seem to mind at all, as he waved the whole thing off with an endeared smile, thanked Josefumi back for his trouble, and terminated the call. “My god, what happened? Yoshikage, did you see this?” The younger of the couple exclaimed, jumping from his seat to reach his family right after he quickly closed all work-related documents and programs on the screen before him.
“Of course I did see it, but I haven't heard the story just yet,” Yoshikage chuckled as he handed Josuke to the taller man. “Let's hear it over some snacks, shall we? I’ll brew you some coffee, good work today,” he suggested, briefly pecking Josefumi on the mouth before walking back into the kitchen with a mission.
“Sounds like a plan. Thanks, darling,” Josefumi sighed, leaning on the doorframe. Yoshikage’s kisses, no matter how short, never failed to make him swoon. You’d think their delicious mystique might have worn off after years and years of being together, but still, the spellbinding effects remained potent. It took a playful pinch on the cheek courtesy of Josuke to snap him out of his torrid daze. “Hey you, little man, you tell me about your day. How was school before the tooth thing?” he followed up, turning to his smiling child as he walked out of the office and into the living room. Yoshikage had already set his boys' respective snacks, some fresh zunda mochi for Josuke and sliced LaFrance pear for Josefumi.
“Good! We started learning kanji today! We learnt one, two, and three,” little Josuke replied, oozing excitement. Once his father sat him on the sofa by his side, he further explained by tracing the symbols on the palm of his hand. “Like this, one… two… and three. Two and three look kinda like ni and mi in katakana, I just noticed. Is that on purpose, Daddy?” he wondered out aloud, swinging his little feet, shoes still on.
“Hmph, I’m not sure. Let’s ask Yo-chan, I bet he’ll know,” Josefumi laughed off, quickly taking his son’s shoes off and gingerly taking them to the entrance. “Hey, need some help?” he quietly asked his husband, peeking over the kitchen counter.
“Not really— Oh actually yes, can you carry this tray to the table? I don't want Josuke’s milk tea to get too cold. I'm almost done with the coffee here, and fair warning, it's half decaf. Otherwise, you won’t get a wink of sleep tonight,” Yoshikage instructed, looking at his watch and waiting for the water he’d poured moments ago on the coffee decanter to filter down. When the bubbling stopped, he steeped the ground beans once again, letting their rich fragrance waft through the entire apartment.
“Sure thing, but first—” Josefumi obediently acknowledged, only to hop onto the kitchen space to steal a kiss from the coffee-focused Yoshikage before following his request. The doctor, slightly startled by the unexpected contact, gave him a miffed grin and shook his head. Satisfied, Josefumi walked back to where his son patiently awaited his parents to join in, almost drooling at the sight of his incoming beverage. “Here you go, one warm green milk tea for the big boy.”
“Yay, big boy!” Josuke celebrated, throwing his arms in the air. He then wordlessly requested permission to dig into his afternoon snack by giving Jo-chan a flash of his classic baby eyes. And who could ever resist such a cute sight? Josefumi just chuckled and gave his son a gentle nod. “Thanks for the meal!”
“And here's your drink, big boy number 2,” the older man said, presenting Josefumi with a lovely cup of rich, aromatic coffee. For someone who didn't really drink coffee at all, Yoshikage sure was good at brewing it. Everything he did had, no matter how mundane or insignificant, held infinite magic to the eternally lovestruck Josefumi. “Okay, so let's have it. What happened to your front tooth, baby?”
“No! I'm not baby anymore, I'm a big boy! Right, Jo-chan?” Josuke complained, giving his parents a comical frown. Both Jo-chan and Yo-chan had to agree, and with their easy smiles and persistent nodding as his reassurance, Josuke felt confident enough to continue his tale. Except… “Okay, so— so… I’m hungry. I wanna eat first, okay?”
“Haha, sure. Eat up,” Josefumi sighed as he watched his son stuffing his face with greenish zunda mochi, only to stop and offer Yoshikage a bite. The oldest of the bunch gracefully accepted and took a nibble. “Oh, here. Have one of my pear slices too, Yoshikage. C’mon, please?” he pipped up, shoving the entire plate of LaFrance slices the doctor had cut for him, not but some minutes ago right at his face. Yoshikage just rolled his eyes and moved the plate aside, then leaned over to take his bite out of the half-eaten slice in his husband’s hand.
“How was work?” Yoshikage inquired in between nibbles of pear, unamused by its flatness; the stuff just tasted like sugar water to him. Josefumi, on the other hand, was blushing all the way to his ears. Even a completely run-of-the-mill action like this one had infinite charm for him, and some deep repercussions for his heart.
“Uh— f-fine. We’re gonna get some extremely high-class pineapples straight from Hawaii in a month's time, if all goes well. And to think Norisuke-san has been pushing for this deal for years now, I’m… actually kinda stunned that all has worked out so well for me, it’s all… fallen right into place. G-guess I'm lucky?” Josefumi shakily replied, gulping down spit in an attempt to calm himself. Just thinking about how it could all fall apart could easily keep him awake at night, half-decaf be damn.
“It’s not luck, you're just good at your job,” Yoshikage promptly shot down, giving his beloved cheeky bump on the shoulder, followed by a warm smile. Josefumi often tried to play down how meteoric his rise within the Higashikata Fruit Company had been in the past couple of years, so Yoshikage knew damn well it was on him to hype him up whenever his self-sabotaging meekness came a-knocking. “Right, big boy? Isn’t Daddy amazing at his job?” he added, keying their little one in. It looked like he was almost done drinking his milky green tea by then.
“Mm! Jo-chan is super good with all fruits! And, and we had fruity salad from your work today, daddy! Did you make it?” Josuke energetically agreed after taking his last bite of mochi. He was now set for the evening, energy fully reloaded (not that he needed any more energy).
“Uh, probably?” Josefumi cautiously replied, intent on keeping his son’s fantasy intact. The boy was adamant in his belief that whenever he spotted that familiar pear logo on a fruit-related product, it meant his Daddy Jo-chan had a hand in it. And who was he to crush his son’s dreams? “But hey, big boy. What happened to that front tooth of yours? Did it fall during lunchtime, perhaps?” he effectively redirected, pointing at Josuke's incomplete smile.
The boy’s first reaction was to giggle and cover his mouth. “No! It was loose during lunch, but Yasuho-chan said it was gonna fall during the lunch break… And it did! Yasuho-chan is so smart. She’s a big girl too, she lost her first tooth last year. She’s so big!”
“Ah yes, Yasuho-chan. She’s so sweet,” the oldest in the group interjected, sporting a soft smile. He was quite fond of that little girl, his boy’s first friend; part of him was already cautiously planning their wedding. “And what happened? Was it easy or, you know. Ah, I remember Kei’s first tooth loss. She got kicked on the kisser by some brat during P.E., and she bled so much that the P.E. teacher nearly had a fit,” the doctor reminisced in between hearty chuckles.
“What? A kick t-to the face? N-no way, that so— Josuke, that’s not how you— Um, I mean. How did your little tooth fall?” Josefumi desperately pressed on, his eyes switching from his son to his husband, then back to Josuke. “You didn't get kicked or hit, right? And you didn’t pull it out, now did you?”
“Um… n-no?” the boy lied, his eyes shifting Jo-chan to Yo-chan nervously. Oh no, he wasn't supposed to— Eek, they were not buying it. “Kato-sensei said I shouldn't touch it, so I didn't… but it was so uncomfortable! And it was moving so much, I felt weird, so— uh, err,” he continued, trying his hardest not to tell on himself. Sadly for little Josuke, his parents were not so easily fooled. “For real, Jo-chan, Yo-chan! It just fell out all on its own, I went pop! And out!”
“Sure, whatever you say, angel,” Yoshikage sceptically replied, pinching his boy’s chubby cheeks as he squinted at him. The boy lightly laughed in relief, blissfully unaware of his father’s dubious tone. “But I agree with your homeroom teacher, it is always best to let loose teeth fall all on their own. Pulling too early can hurt your gums, you see. And we don't need to be dentists to know that, right love?”
“Absolutely. You have to listen to your teachers, sweetie. They want what's best for you, and so do we,” Josefumi backed up as he took off his sailor hat to ruffle his curly hair, sending Josuke into another giggle fit. “Wish I’d had some of that back on my day, when this canine dropped,” he reminisced, briefly touching one of his pointier teeth. “I didn't even realise it was loose until I saw it stuck to an apple I’d just bitten into. For a hot minute, I thought all my teeth were going to fall off in quick succession and then I’d— um, fall asleep… forever. But that's not what happens, don’t worry about it, darling,” he concluded, kissing his son’s forehead. The boy just nodded quietly, not really getting the point of the tale he'd just half-heard. But Yoshikage did.
“Gee, I wonder why you thought that? Maybe some terrible woman lied to you when you were little,” the doctor vaguely said, unconsciously cracking his knuckles at the mere thought of Kiyomi Kujo. She truly was the bane of his existence.
“Not really, she… didn't say much when it came to my, um, bodily changes during childhood. But she didn't comfort me either, nor did she shoot down my more outlandish beliefs, so… Yeah, she wasn't much help. Perhaps she thought it was funny, seeing me panic,” Josefumi shrugged off, barely able to picture his mother’s mocking face as he spoke of her. He seldom thought of her nowadays, to the point that he was truly starting to forget what she looked like. And maybe, that was for the best.
“That damn Kiyomi, ugh,” was all Yoshikage added in a low growl before he buried his face in his own cup of lukewarm green tea. He needed to wash down the bitterness her name left in his mouth.
Josuke, even more confused now, gave his fathers a pouty look. All of this conversation was flying over his head, but he could still feel the palpable awkward vibe shift. Were they… angry at him?
“Oh— so, Josuke! What’s the deal with the tooth? Where is it now, in your school bag?” the younger in the couple piped up, desperate to break the tension he'd inadvertently created. Even Josuke jolted when he spoke up, so caught up had he been in his parents’ dense feelings.
“No, Yasuho-chan has it,” the boy simply stated, head-bumping onto Jo-chan’s side and showing off his charmingly patchy smile once again. Phew, it was all fine! The weirdness was all just one of those funks grown-ups go into sometimes, Jo-chan and Yo-chan were not angry at all!
“Oh? Yasuho-chan… has it?” Both adults echoed at slightly staggered paces. In silence, with eyebrows raised and mouthed words, they asked each other what the hell was going on. Neither could answer, hence Josefumi followed up, “Son, why does Yasuho-chan have your tooth?”
“Because I gave it to her,” Josuke happily replied, only managing to increase his parents’ confusion. “She’s my best friend ever, so I gave it to her. She gave me her tooth too, last year. Because we're best friends!” he further explained in roundabout fashion, nodding to himself with every assertion he made.
“Oh right… Well, that’s… nice, I guess?” Yoshikage muttered, trying to convince himself that this strange dental exchange was more endearing than creepy, just kids being kids. He shot a hesitant glance at his husband to double check, but all Josefumi could do was shrug, looking just as befuddled as he did. “Well, let's only do that once, okay? Next time you lose a tooth, you have to bring it home, you hear me? And I'll… fix you up a special treat when it happens, how about it?”
“Yay! A treat! Can it be honey sesame dango? Pleeease?” Josuke begged, now centering all of his begging effort on Yo-chan. And with those big eyes of his, plus his practised pouty face, it was nigh impossible to say no.
“Hmm, we’ll see,” the doctor deftly evaded as his vibrating phone caught his attention. It was a text message from his dear mother, which he automatically read out loud, as usual: “Grandma Holly says, ‘Sweetie, remember to wish your little cousin Jodio a happy birthday. He’s turning 10!’ And she added way too many emoticons. Heart, cake, shocked face, party popper, applauding hands.”
As much as what Holly had said was fact, Yoshikage had a hard time thinking of Jodio and his older sibling as his first cousins. Those two were children, not even teenagers yet, and he was pushing 40. It was almost the same with his dear aunt Barbie, she was scarcely a couple of years older than him, calling her his aunt felt more like an inside joke than the very factual reality they lived in. No, Jodio and Dragona were not really his cousins, they were Josuke’s. His little boy was the one in need of companionship, even if it was shackled to screens and long-distance phone calls.
“Ah! Jo-niichan! Dad, we gotta call him, dad! With video on the computer, daaaad! Please? Pleeeease?” the boy exclaimed, briefly jumping on the couch out of sheer excitement. This was pretty much his reaction whenever his American big bros were mentioned, but the addition of a birthday made it all extra exciting.
“Eh, don’t look at me. You know I'm terrible with computers, son. I can barely handle these new fangled smartphones, so go ask Jo-chan,” the sailor dodged as he briefly replied to his mother, thanking her for the heads up, to then preemptively ask aunt Barbie if everyone at home was still awake and willing to answer Josuke’s impeding call.
“Da~ddy, can we call Jo-niichan? Pretty please?” Josuke asked again, his pleading eyes now set on Josefumi. Dear goodness, the kid was good at emotional extortion through sheer cuteness.
“Of course we can, Josuke, but,” the young professional started as he loosened his necktie. “What do you have to do first?”
“Umm, I— Ah! Check the cousin clock,” the boy replied after a short pause. He then jolted up and scurried into his room to stare at the two near-identical clocks set side by side on his colourful wall. The one labelled Japan obviously had the current time, with the little short arm on 4 and the big long arm hovering between 10 and 11. So it was almost 4 pm. Now, the clock labelled ‘Hawaii <3’ had the long arm around the same spot and the important, little one on 9. “Oh no, 9 is bedtime!” Josuke mumbled to himself as he fretted with his hat, before reminding himself of a very important detail, “Ah! But Jo-niichan is bigger! And Dora-chan is even bigger, so maybe… maybe it's not bedtime in Hawaii? Daaad, is 9 bedtime in Hawaii?”
“Not sure, Josuke. Ask your dad,” Josefumi shrugged as he walked towards the kitchen, ready to do the dishes.
“Hey you, don't even think of splashing water all over your suit again. You better change out of your work clothes before attempting a single chore,” Yoshikage instructed as he blocked his husband’s way with a single glance. For his part, Josefumi raised his arms in harmless fashion and chuckled as he watched Josuke darting back into the living room.
“Daddy, do you know if 9 is bedtime in Hawaii? Can you ask aunty Barbie for me, Daddy?” the boy cooed, trying his puppy eyes again.
“I already did, she says it's not. Everyone is still up, so… Dearest, could you please set up the video call for Josuke? I can handle the dishes if it’s—”
“Ah, no no no. Both, I'm doing both,” Josefumi snapped, with his shirt half unbuttoned and his tie still on his hand. “Just give me a minute and I'll be right with you, Josuke. You can wait in the office, but don't touch the keyboard or the mouse, okay? And! Yoshikage, please please please, leave the plates and cups where they are. I'll take care of them,” he continued, his voice fading as he kept on stripping out of the sight of his family.
“Fine. Let’s go, Josuke,” the doctor said, taking his son back into his arms with a heave. “Remember sweetie, don't touch the computer until Jo-chan is here… Now sit quietly. Josefumi, do you want another sliced pear once you're done with setting up?” he asked, throwing his words into the hallway.
A muffled, enthusiastic “Yes please!” was all he got after a prolonged pause from the master room. Father and son looked at each other and smiled.
***
“Hmm, is the camera on? Uh, I… think so. The audio is fine, so… Hey, can you see me, Josu—”
“Happy birthday, Jo-niichan! Happy birthday yay! Hi! Happy 10 years, niichan! What gifts did you get? Did you have cake yet? What flavour was it?”
“Uh thanks, Josuke. You’re as energetic as ever,” Jodio Joestar mumbled at the screen, his eyes barely peeking from under his fair bangs. For a newly minted 10 year old, he was certainly calmer and quieter than his little cousin, but also much more subdued than most kids his age. And suspiciously so, the school counselors insisted back in New Jersey. “It’s not my birthday yet over here though, it's technically yesterday. Not that it matters, ‘cuz I already feel 10,” Jodio added in an aloof tone, wishing to communicate how much cooler he’d gotten since their last call.
“Oh, that's amazing Jo-niichan! You're so grown up, you're even a bigger boy than me!” Josuke celebrated, beaming and clapping at the screen. Some steps behind him, Yoshikage let out a soft chuckle; he was leaning against the doorway, to supervise the call whilst letting the boys chat freely. Beyond the home office, the clatter of wet crockery and water splashes indicated what Josefumi was up to.
“Yeah, yeah. I'll always be bigger than you Josuke, cuz I was born first. That's just how it works,” the ashy blond asserted with a shrug, only to point at his own mouth and say, “But I see you're starting to catch up. When did it fall?”
“Today, after lunch time! During teeth brushing time it kept moving and moving, like wi-wi-wi, so I— uh, I just— eh, it fell,” the younger boy shoddily explained, almost forgetting his dad was watching. Oh dear, he would've been in so much trouble if he let slip that he’d totally pulled it out at Yasuho’s suggestion.
“Yeah, that's how it usually happens at your age,” Jodio sagely commented, like he wasn't still losing random baby teeth every other month. “But hey, at least you get a visit from the tooth fairy now. Hope she gives you more than a single dollar for it, because everything's so expensive nowadays that so little money is basically useless— Oh wait, dollars are only in America, yeah? What’s the money in Japan? Japanese dollar?”
“What’s a tooth fairy?” Josuke asked right back, not even hearing his cousin’s currency query. Jodio gave him a blank stare, followed by a doubtful squint that morphed into a hesitant shrug. He couldn't really explain, apparently. “Da~d, what’s a tooth fairy?” the first grader asked, now turning to Yo-chan. He’d already heard the questions the first time he asked it to Jodio, but still, he wasn't 100% sure of how to answer either, at least not without popping some illusions.
“Um, the tooth fairy… well,” he started as he approached the video call and entered the frame by kneeling next to Josuke. “The tooth fairy is a being that leaves you money in exchange for fallen baby teeth— But she only works in US territories, sweetie. The closest she can get to us is Guam, because… um, she doesn’t have a passport,” he fibbed, trying to assess if the boys were buying it. Josuke, as usual, took his father’s words as gospel, but Jodio? It was always hard to tell what he was thinking, especially since the last time they’d met in person, he was little more than a toddler. Compared to the sweet and expressive Dragona, his younger sibling was a riddle wrapped in a mystery.
“Oh, that’s rough. Sucks for you, Josuke,” Jodio duly accepted, only to slyly add some useless hope by mentioning, “But hey, you could try putting your tooth under the pillow anyway. I've heard that there’s more types of fairy-like creatures in other countries. Like, back in Atlantic city, this boy always said there was no tooth fairy, but it was actually a Hispanic rat that took your teeth and left you trinkets. So, maybe y’know? Hope it’s not that rat over there though, ‘cuz I don’t know about you, but I'd much rather get cold hard cash than a little toy or candy…”
“A rat? Why a rat, and not a little nice mouse? Or a bunny, like the chocolate bunny? Do you know that one, Jo-niichan? The chocolate bunny?” Josuke wondered out loud as he daydreamed of little critters visiting at night and bartering for his loose teeth. As he swayed on the wheeled chair and chuckled, he barely noticed his father’s appalled expression.
“Oh, you mean the Easter bunny? That dude only comes during spring, kinda like Santa during Christmas. I don't remember what Easter is though… something to do with, uh, baby birds maybe? Or eggs?” the 4th grader speculated, absolutely getting caught up in his little cousin’s mood. Still, because he was the one facing his family over in Morioh, he did note Yoshikage’s perplexed face, prompting him to ask, “Hey Uncle Yoshikage, are you still stuck on that rat thing?” The American boy flashed a brazen smile his way, amused by the power his words could have even on an adult like Josuke’s dad.
“Uh— yes, I guess I was. It just left me with a horrid mental image, so let's forget about it. Josuke, here you go. Since we have no tooth fairy in Japan and no tooth at hand to boot, us grown ups will cover for it,” the doctor started after shaking all rat-in-the-bed thoughts away. He then presented his son with a shiny ¥500 coin and a big kiss on the cheek. “You can use it on our next grocery run, okay? Ah, and happy birthday, Jodio.”
“Yay! Look Nii-chan, it's 500 yen,” Josuke celebrated after briefly hugging his father and thanking him in Japanese; smiling, the doctor then stood up and returned to his post by the door. “I can get so many treats with this much money! I can get both Takenoko no Sato and Kinoko no Yama!”
“Ehh, you don't say,” Jodio huffed, unimpressed. He had no idea what those names meant, or how much money 500 yen was in dollars. What he did know for sure was that his dad was never that nice to him. “It’s kinda cheating to just get money without putting the tooth under the pillow and all, but I guess it can't be helped. I mean, the tooth fairy doesn't cover your country and you don't even have your tooth? Tough luck. Actually, that happened to me once too, big bro and I were riding bumper cars on the AC boardwalk and one of my teeth down here flew outta my mouth after a crash,” he retold, pulling down his lower lip to show off his bottom row of teeth. “I didn't get any money for that one, but like, it wasn't even my fault? But whatever, where did yours go? Do you know?”
“Mmhm, I gave it to Yasuho-chan,” Josuke replied absentmindedly, his attention still drawn by the shiny coin in his little hands. Only after sliding it into his sailor shirt’s breast pocket did he fully come back to the conversation at hand. “I got Yasuho-chan’s tooth last year too, it was a pointy one! Like this one— Oh, Jo-nichan, it's kinda moving now! My pointy tooth!”
“Amazing, you're speedrunning it, cousin,” Jodio flatly replied as he swished that name he'd just heard around his head like the last sip left in a can of soda. Yasuho… Ya-su-ho. Was that a guy or a girl? He’d heard the name Yasuo before, in an old anime, and that character was an old guy… but his cousin had clearly said Yasuho. Or did he say it weird ‘cuz of the missing front tooth? Or was perhaps it a girl's name? The only Japanese girl he knew was Kei, Uncle Yoshikage’s sister, and her name was totally confusing and guy-sounding too! Ugh, he hated overthinking stuff. Whatever, he might as well ask. “So, who’s this Yasuho character? Is that like, your girlfriend?”
Josuke cocked his head and considered his cousin’s inquiry, only to reply with an incandescent, “Yes!” and a huge smile. “She’s a girl and she's my best friend, so she's my girlfriend! Do you have a girlfriend too, Jo-niichan?”
“Wh— no! I don't talk to girls… Man, that's not what I meant though. A girlfriend isn't just a friend who's a girl… I think?” Jodio rebuffed, now feeling stumped by his own words. What even was a girlfriend, if not exactly what Josuke said it was? And why was a girlfriend different from a boyfriend? Not that he had many of those either, at least not since moving away from New Jersey. The other kids here could be so mean, but Jodio wasn't really worried about himself. He was fine being a loner, unlike…
“Ohh? Who’s got himself a little girlfriend? Jody?? Ah, baby cousin Josuke! How are you, gumball?”
“Hi Dora-chan!” Josuke greeted the camera as Dragona Joestar’s tanned face peeked from the upper corner of the screen.
“No one’s got a girlfriend, big bro— well, Josuke says he has one, but isn’t it like illegal to have a girlfriend when you're only 6? Cuz I'm pretty sure it’s all kinds of forbidden,” the cheeky 10 year old mused, getting pretty much nothing from his naive cousin on the other side of the ocean.
“Don’t say that, meanie. Josuke, don't worry. This goof is just trying to spook you, it's totally fine if you have a little gf, and it's cute as hell too,” Dragona giggled, plastering his palm on his younger brother’s face and forcing him to scoot over and share some screen space. “How’s it going, baby sailor? How’s everyone over there?”
“Good! My daddy is washing the dishes and Yo-chan is right there,” Josuke eagerly answered, pointing at the off-screen Yoshikage. “And look! Look here!” he continued, smiling wide for Dragona to witness where his tooth used to be. “I'm not so baby anymore!”
“OMG! That’s so flipping cute! You'll always be baby in my heart, Josuke, but wow! You’re getting so big, and so fast too! Ain’t that amazing, Jody?” Dragona reacted, showing the right amount of excitement, as opposed to his younger brother. Jodio, on the other hand, just shrugged with abandon and watched as the conversation went along without him, as usual.
“Dora-chan, you look cute too! I like the flowers in your hair, it makes you look like a princess,” Josuke admired with pure, innocent sincerity. Dragona’s silent reply was to overact all shy and embarrassed, whilst he truly laughed and even blushed a little. His cousin’s unbiased assessments were always so sweet and refreshing, and perhaps, a little encouraging too?
“Oi Josuke, don’t call a guy cute. That’s only for girls and little boys like you,” Jodio cut in, arms crossed. The frown he sported as he spoke looked rather comical on his young face, but its intensity made clear how dead serious he was about it. As much as Dragona insisted school was going fine, or much better than how it went back in NJ, Jodio had a hard time believing it. He just knew something was up with his big brother, something was different about him… So, was ‘being cute’ that thing? Or was it getting called stuff like ‘princess’ or ‘sissy’? Why did his big bro always attract all this bad attention? Jodio just couldn’t fathom it, since his big bro was like, the best big brother in the world.
“Oh, s-sorry Dora-nii chan. I didn’t know,” Josuke squeaked, hiding his hands behind his back. As a result of the sudden shift in his tone and attitude, Yoshikage stepped towards the desktop computer and whispered something into his son’s ear. “No daddy, it’s fine. I—”
“Hey hey hey, Jodio! Now that was real mean too, like whaddya mean he can’t call me cute? After all the effort I put into looking cute?” Dragona loudly complained, once again steamrolling the conversation with his exuberant energy. Dragona wasn't trying to dismiss his little brother’s concern for him per se, just his rather misguided words. But then again, he was just 10, so of course he'd say something silly like that, all boys parroted that sort of mentality, and… honestly, he really wished they just didn't. Because there was nothing wrong with being cute and princessy! Or so he hoped. He had to.
“I agree, Dragona,” Yoshikage’s voice cut in, his tone sounding much more cautious and subdued than before. As he patted his smiling son’s head, he further elaborated, “Our views may be skewed because we live in Japan, but ‘being cute’ is quite popular over here. There’s entire industries built on the power of cutesy, and not all of them are aimed solely at women or children. I say, Dragona, be as cute as you want to be and whenever you come over to visit us, you are sure to be a hit with everyone here,” he patiently explained, his words mostly aimed at Dragona, even though his sight was set on Jodio. The birthday boy rolled his eyes, evasive as ever.
“Wao, I'd love to visit Japan again, Uncle Yoshi! But I wanna go to Tokyo this time 'round too, is it far from where you guys live? I don't remember the name or the town, I was too little last time I was there I think,” Dragona exclaimed, the glee in his soft voice evident.
“We live in Morioh, that’s north of the Kanto area. I’d say it's about 2 hours away from Tokyo proper, it depends on what bullet train you take there. I guess we could all go down there once Josuke here is a bit older,” the doctor said, trying his best not to acknowledge the sparkling, expectant eyes shimmering on his son’s little face. He’d just promised a bit too much, now hadn’t he?
“Trains… sound cool. Here we only use cars and airplanes to move around, trains really suck in America,” Jodio muttered under his breath, before he actually processed what his big bro had just mentioned, “Huh, big bro? You’ve been to Japan? When? And where was I, why didn't I go?”
“You did go! But you were really little, so I bet you don't remember anything,” Dragona explained as he ruffled his brother’s hair, making him groan like a creaky door. “We all went, you, me, mom and dad, to meet baby Josuke when he… uh, was born! R-right, Uncle Yoshi?” he shakily continued, suddenly feeling very hesitant when it came to wording. Mom had been very clear with him back when they visited Japan, that he should never mention Josuke was adopted. It wasn't something he should find out through his nosy older cousin out of all people.
“Ah yes, that was a while ago. You were quite young yourself too, Dragona, I'm surprised that you remember it so well. That flight over here must've been rough though, coming from the East coast and all. I'm glad you lot moved closer now, since a flight to Hawaii is not too long or expensive from here,” Yoshikage sighed, recalling those appalling trips he had to endure back when the two lads on the other side of the screen were born, respectively. He'd almost ducked out of that last family trip to meet Jodio, the second-born, but somehow Kei had guilted him into joining in after all.
“Right? That’s what I've been saying to Mom! Now that we live so much closer to Japan, we should totally go again! Let Grandpa Jojo bankroll it, since he loves flying so much— Oh! Or you guys could come over here! Yeah! What do you think Josuke, do you wanna meet us in person again?” Dragona proposed, stretching his skinny arms towards the camera.
“Ahh! Yes!! I wanna go! Daddy, let's go to Hawaii!” Josuke shrieked in delight, almost jumping out of the wheeled chair out of sheer excitement. His cries of joy seemed to summon his other father into the room, and to his confusion, Josuke immediately greeted him with an elated screech. “Jo-chan, let's go to Hawaii!!”
“Uh— s-sure, why not?” he replied when put on the spot, defaulting to Japanese. His husband gestured for him to get closer, then he explained in a whisper what was going on, “Oh, so you want to visit your cousins, eh?” he concluded once fully filled in; his son’s reply was a nod and a blinding smile. The cousins in question, both still on screen, had drastically different reactions to this forming plan. Whilst Dragona was all bright and smiles, just like young Josuke, Jodio seemed to be slowly shutting down due to the increasing number of people in the conversation. A bit concerned by the obvious alienation, he tried saying, “Um, happy birthday, Jodio-kun. I hope you have a fun day tomorrow.”
“Huh? Oh, thanks Uncle Joseph— Josefumi,” Jodio blurted out, somewhat surprised by the sudden words directed at him, he’d almost forgotten the damn call was about his birthday. He didn’t know much about this Josefumi guy, aside from the obvious, that he was uncle Yoshikage’s husband and Josuke’s other dad. And even though he sounded a little weird across the screen and always acted pretty lowkey, just seeing how good he was to his little cousin reactivated that pang of jealousy deep within his guts.
“Hiya, Uncle Joe! Do you wanna come to Hawaii too? You totally should, you guys, like… during the summer, maybe? Oh, how about ‘round my— Aha, our birthday, right Josuke? They’re close enough, yeah? Late August? Wouldn’t it be fun to celebrate together?” Dragona kept on hyping, getting the youngest of the bunch to near bursting with excitement.
“Daddy, daddy! We gotta go! And— and, you can go see your fancy pineapples there too!” Josuke insisted, almost leaping out of frame and into Josefumi’s arms.
“Hey there, simmer down champ. Let's sit properly, okay? Remember, this chair has wheels, so it's dangerous to goof off on it,” Josefumi gently chastised as he grabbed his son and placed him on his seat. He then considered what his son had said, and noted, “Well, now that you mention it… a work trip to Maui does sound likely to be in my future, and I could ask for some days off whilst I’m there. What do you think, Yoshikage?”
“I wish you didn't have to factor in work into it, but I get where you’re coming from. Hmm, let me discuss it with my Mother, okay? Because if we truly want to make this trip happen, there's no way she's not joining us. Darling, can you watch over Josuke while I— Ah, thanks,” the doctor started, turning his attention to his phone, only to get a brief smooch from his husband as an affirmative. Grinning at each other, both men pinched their son’s cheek, one side each, and walked towards the doorway to let the kids continue their chat adult-free. Once out of sight, or so they thought, they shared another longer, deeper kiss, mumbled some sweet nothings into the other’s lips, and went their separate ways. Josefumi stood guard by the door frame, whilst Yoshikage quickly dialled his number 1 contact.
“Your dads like each other way too much,” Jodio huffed, beady eyes narrowed and barely peeking from under his hair. Amused by his apparent annoyance at unfiltered love, Dragona just burst out laughing.
“Yes! And my daddies love me too! And, and— huh, isn't that how it's supposed to be? Even if you have a mommy and daddy, instead of Yo-chan and Jo-chan?” Josuke pondered with earnest curiosity. By now, he was more than aware that having two fathers was very rare, if not completely exceptional. At least in the little town of Morioh, it was rather unique. He knew lots of kids had mommies and daddies that they didn't see all the often. Some had it the other way round, like Yasuho-chan living only with her daddy. Some kids only had a mommy or a daddy, or only a grandma or grandpa. Families were very different, but it was better when everyone loved each other lots… right?
“Our parents are… not as in love, I think,” Jodio admitted, his voice so low and husky that Josuke caught almost none of it, but his big brother did.
“Jody, you really think—” Dragona started to say, his ringing laughter drying out instantly. He grabbed onto his little brother’s short sleeve and lightly pulled on it, getting him to turn his profile towards him. What Dragona saw in those shaded eyes of his made him gulp down hard. “N-nevermind, let's… talk later,” he whispered, letting go of Jodio’s now creased clothes. On the other side of the screen, Josuke pouted in confusion, but stayed quiet and waited; he knew well not to interrupt older kids when stuff got perplexing and serious. “Ah, J-Josuke! So, uh, do you have a Switch? Jody here wants one, right lil bro? It’d be good to have one for the flight here, cuz it still is a pretty long flight, lemme tell ya. I'm so glad that Grandpa Jojo got me a 3DS back when we went to Japan, haha.”
“A… switch? Like a light swi— Ah, the video game thingy, the Swicchi,” Josuke replied, somewhat stunned, only for Jodio’s gesturing to clue him in. He was still befuddled every now and again by the subtle differences Japanese and English pronunciation had on words. “No, I'm too little for video games. Yo-chan says if you play ‘the Nintendo’ when you’re too little, it will make your brain mushy… Ah, but I like Pokemon a lot! I can only watch the anime now, but I wanna play the game someday. I like Ashimari! I like its bubbles!”
“Oh, me too! It’s called Popplio in English though. I actually have that Pokemon game on my 3DS! When you come here, I'll show you my super pretty shiny Primarina!” Dragona cried out, only to correct himself by saying, “God, what am I doing though? I can totally show you right now. Gimme a sec, I gotta go dig out my 3DS from— gah, wherever did I put it last?” Moments later, he was gone, leaving the two youngest in the family alone on the call once again.
“Jo-niichan, what’s a 3DS?” Josuke shyly asked, not quite able to picture what Dragona had been talking about all along.
“It’s another portable console, the one that came before the Switch. It's like a little book that opens like this. It has two screens on each side and one is touch, does any of that ring a bell?” Jodio answered, gesturing once again to aid his point. “You can play Pokemon on that one, although I prefer to play the older games on my smartphone. Big bro helped me get them running on an emulator after watching a video— Ah, you don’t have a phone either, yeah? Damn, I forgot that being 6 sucks.”
“Yo-chan says new phones are evil, he only has one to use a chatty app because he has to. I think he liked his flippy phone better, the one he had last year,” Josuke explained, using a similar gesture to Jodio’s previous one to exemplify the flippiness of the aforementioned phone.
“Phones, evil? Nah, phones are great. I love to watch videos in bed with it,” the 4th grader countered, producing his scuffed-up Android phone of Chinese origins and showing it off. “I could video call you on this too, but the image quality would be, um, potato,” he admitted as he moved around his app to show off the cool dynamic background that kept draining his battery.
“Haha, potato,” Josuke giggled, delighted by the mere mention of one of his favourite fried snacks. “Jo-nicchan, do you have a Swicchi at home? Or, did you get one for your birthday?” he suddenly asked, reminding himself that it was still Jodio’s big day.
“Nope, not yet. I'm hoping to get one tomorrow though, one bundled with a game. Splatoon 2 or the newest Mario game would totally rock,” he explained, falling back into a comfortable groove now that they were back in his area of expertise. “Josuke, I'm telling ya, I just can't keep playing ancient games on our old Wii. I think that damn machine was here before I was even born! And it's basically big bro’s toy, he has it full of lame dancing games. I have like, two maybe three games I like playing there, and big bro is better than me in all of them. Y’know, you're lucky to be an only child now, Josuke, cuz you get to be the big bro when your dads, uh… get another kid? Hmm, how does that work again?”
“Mmm I dunno, Yo-chan says it's a lot of paperwork… And Jo-chan is the one who does paperwork here, so maybe it's up to him? Jo-chan, do you do paperwork? Can I get a little brother or sister with that paperwork?” Josuke consulted his off-screen father, catching him very unawares. Josefumi nearly dropped his phone mid-email due to sheer shock, and was completely unable to give his son a coherent answer.
“Whatever with that, Josuke. You better get a Switch before you get a new sibling, that way you'll always be better at video games,” Jodio discounted, purposely giving his uncle a break by distracting Josuke once again. “Try asking for one on your next birthday, I'm pretty sure 7 is old enough for video games. That way, we can play online together! And wouldn't that be way fun?”
“Ah yeah! I wanna try that! Daddy, can we get a Swicchi when I turn 7? Can we? You can play too if you want to, Daddy,” Josuke pleaded at the mostly recovered Josefumi as he approached the desk and crouched by his son.
“I can play too? Aw shucks, bud. You're so nice,” he chuckled, ruffling Josuke’s hatted hair. “Well, that sort of decision has to be taken as a family, meaning Yo-chan has the last say here. You can try to convince him if you want, big guy, but you know how tough he is in here,” he explained, tipping his temple and smirking. Josuke only nodded firmly, totally ready to take up the challenge his dad had posed for him.
“Well, you can tell Uncle Yoshikage that, uh, it's like a really safe console. There's no voice chat with strangers at all, and… um, I think there's ways to lock some stuff up. Like, with a password only for parents,” Jodio attempted to explain in his very basic Japanese to Josefumi in an attempt to get him on their side. Still, his pronunciation was very English-based, and he sprinkled some of his own native language with every other word he said. But hey, he gave it his best shot. He even got a little bout of clapping from his little cousin, and not a hint of condescension was to be found in the gesture.
“My my, you don't say. Those are some good points, thanks for the information, Jodio-kun. I guess we can discuss this during dinner, okay champ?” Josefumi easily gave in, rising back to his feet and slowly walking back to the doorway. Once there, he caught the pacing Yoshikage, still on the phone with Holly, and clued him in on what he’d just heard form the kids in whispers. The doctor groaned to himself, unconvinced, but his mother was all in on the idea. She even wanted to be the one to get her dearest grandson the big gift when the time came. It took the married pair a while to talk her down from beelining to the nearest electronics store right that moment.
“Okay daddy, thanks daddy,” the first grader cheerfully replied, fully centering his attention on his cousin, who seemed to be searching for something on that little screen in his hand. “What are you doing, Jo-niichan?”
“Oh, not much. I just wanted to show you some pics and videos of the games I wanna play. Here, look. This is Splatoon 2, doesn't it look fun? It's like a water battle, but with ink cuz the characters are squids. And it’s super colourful too, yeah? I never got to play the first one, so I really wanna try this one,” Jodio rambled on, jumping from pictures to videos. Josuke’s eyes could barely keep up with all the movement and colour on display, but his sweet laughter made it clear how he felt about it.