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Josuke sat in the exterior of a cafe with a steaming cappuccino on the table. The day was warm with a refreshing breeze. The weather was perfect for Josuke. His school uniform wasn’t too hot, and the wind wasn’t strong enough to mess up his hair.
His phone kept his attention with a stream of himself. He played with the Snapchat lenses, trying to decide which change to his face he preferred. He’d already sent Okuyasu several of himself where he looked like an old lady. Okuyasu had yet to respond, which only meant Josuke had to send more pictures. It was common sense.
He was so intent on his phone that he hadn’t noticed Joseph approach. It was still Joseph. Not dad, but sometimes Jotaro’s phrase, “Old Man,” fell from his mouth. It sounded fatherly, but it didn’t feel strange to say it. He was meeting Joseph and Jotaro for coffee. No plans. Just a visit.
Jotaro would be silent. Joseph would ramble a bit in his discomfort. Josuke didn’t mind the company of either of them. In the heat it might have been frustrating, but now, now it was a pleasure.
“Josuke,” Joseph said, hovering nearby. “What do you have there?”
“Oh it’s Snapchat.”
“What?”
Josuke stood up to take the diaper bag from him and help Joseph into the seat beside him. Shizuka quietly sat in the old man’s arms. She didn’t fuss, but she moved enough to suggest she was awake. Josuke wanted to touch her nose with his finger, but the last time she had, she cried and turned Joseph’s torso completely invisible. It was unsettling to say the least, and it’d be a while before he touched her again.
Joseph huddled closer as Josuke showed him his phone. “It’s this app for your phone that lets you take pictures and video to send them to your friends. You can add filters and lenses to make it more fun.”
“You have dog ears.”
“I didn’t think it was possible for me to be cuter, but there you have it,” Josuke said.
Josuke smiled absently, and Joseph watched as he flipped through the other lenses. Joseph gently bounced Shizuka in his arms.
Watching Joseph out of the corner of his eye, Josuke said, “We should try a face swap.”
“What’s that?”
“Here, I’ll sit closer.”
Josuke moved his chair closer to Joseph’s and leaned so his face almost touched the other man’s. It was strange being so close to him. He thought he’d smell like his grandfather, but instead he constantly smelt of bubble gum and, recently, baby powder.
Regardless, how much he wanted to be around Joseph surprised him. Joseph seemed to have a personality that drew other people to him - regardless of whether or not he was a stand user. He was friendly, upbeat, and warm. He was funny, though often unintentionally so.
Josuke always saw shades of himself reflected in his mother, and it was strange to see his personality reflected in this man as well. Joseph seemed to have passed down his best traits to him, and it was odd to see them in a face that still often felt like a stranger’s.
Still, Josuke leaned close and lined up their faces on the phone. He draped his arm behind Joseph’s chair. Joseph let out a laugh as he saw their faces switch. “I look so handsome,” he said with a grin.
“I look distinguished,” Josuke said.
“Good response,” Joseph replied. “Should I smile or make a face?”
“Let’s do smiles.”
Josuke and Joseph smiled, and he snapped the picture. Josuke stayed close to Joseph so he could see the screen as he shot the picture to Okuyasu. The waitress stopped by, and Joseph ordered while Josuke tried to decide whether or not he should move his chair away. Shizuka hadn’t acted negatively to his presence yet.
His phone chirped, and Joseph said, “Is that a reply?”
“Yeah. You can send chat messages as well instead of replying with a photo.”
He looked at Okuyasu’s response: “Why”
Joseph puffed up. “I’ll try not to be insulted.”
“Hey, that’s the first message he sent back today.”
“Tell him he’ll be lucky to age as well as me,” Joseph said. He paused thoughtfully, and added, “You may age better. You’ve got your mother’s genes as well.”
Josuke’s phone chirped again - he was relieved to change the topic - and found that Okuyasu had replied with a picture of himself with the wrinkled old lady lens. He captioned it, “Joseph.”
Joseph gasped. “Tell him I don’t wear makeup much anymore.”
Josuke laughed. “Much?”
“Hardly ever.”
“Oh my god,” Josuke said, laughing.
Joseph grinned, and Josuke chatted with Okuyasu about the conversation. Joseph’s grin faded some as he watched Josuke. He looked away as he said, his voice a bit lower, “Could you - I mean - would you install the app on my phone? I think it’d be fun-”
“Oh yeah sure,” Josuke said, not missing a beat. It was always a bit awkward when they reached out to each other, but he didn’t want to lose touch with Joseph. Snapchat would be a fun way to keep in touch without having to worry about small talk. “Front pocket of the diaper bag, right?”
“Right.”
Josuke fished it out. “We need to get you a new case,” he said. “This one is boring. Maybe a Disney one?”
“If you see one you like for me, pick it up. I’ll pay you back.”
Josuke smiled and installed the app. The waitress brought Joseph a cup of tea, and Joseph looked through the menu. Shizuka gurgled. Josuke set up Joseph’s account and added himself as a friend. He then set the phone down on the table. Joseph asked, “I just press my face and lenses pop up.”
“Yep.”
“And then you press the big circular button to send?”
“That’s right.”
“I should remember that,” Joseph said.
They both looked up as Jotaro approached. “What is the old man going to forget?” Jotaro asked.
“How to use Snapchat,” Josuke said. “It’s really straight-forward.”
“You should get it too,” Joseph said. “It’ll be fun.”
Josuke wondered what Jotaro would Snapchat. Maybe the ocean? “I’d be interested in seeing pictures of all your travels,” Josuke said.
Jotaro exhaled and took out his phone. “What’s it called?”
“Snapchat,” Joseph said.
“I can’t find it,” Jotaro said.
“Let Josuke do it. He’s good at it.”
Jotaro handed his phone to Josuke. Josuke said, “It’s right there. At the top.”
“Maybe my finger was covering it.”
“You don’t even have a phone case,” Josuke said.
Jotaro shrugged. “It’s in my pocket most of the time. I can freeze time if I notice myself dropping it.”
“One time, when we were on a boat, and his phone slipped out of his hand,” Joseph said.
“And he stopped time to grab it?” Josuke asked.
Jotaro stayed still, and Joseph laughed. “He just watched it fall.”
“Did you not notice?” Josuke asked.
“Joseph tried to catch it. He leaned over the edge of the boat and practically fell in after it,” Jotaro said. “I had to protect him first.”
Joseph scoffed. “I would have been fine.”
“Some fish is probably using your phone now,” Josuke said.
“Fish don’t have fingers,” Jotaro said.
“An octopus then,” Josuke said. He handed the phone back to Jotaro. “I’ve added me and Joseph to your contacts, so you can send us messages easy peasy. I’m going to pick you up a case too.”
Joseph said, “Maybe something with a fish.”
Josuke gasped. “The Little Mermaid.”
The pair laughed and Jotaro muttered, “Give me a break.”
*
Josuke and Okuyasu sat in the former’s living room. With his mother out working, Josuke played videogames guilt-free while Okuyasu took control of the potato chip supply. Sitting cross-legged, Okuyasu kept the chip bowl in his lap. Josuke’s legs were splayed out while he leaned forward to watch the screen.
Josuke opened his mouth, and Okuyasu tossed a chip into it. The pair cheered at the successful catch. Josuke’s phone chirped. He said, “Could you check that?”
Okuyasu wiped his hand on his pants before flipping on Josuke’s phone. “It’s Joseph snapchatting you again.”
Josuke paused the game. Joseph sent a picture of the hotel room floor with the caption, “I FOUND THE BABY”
Josuke laughed while Okuyasu shovelled more chips into his mouth. Putting his arm around Okuyasu, he pulled him close into the shot. Josuke took a picture - with chips crumbs gracefully falling from Okuyasu’s mouth - and released him. Josuke added the caption, “FOUND MY BABE”
He tossed the phone to Okuyasu and said, “Could you send it to him?”
He resumed the game and Okuyasu went to the next step. Okuyasu laughed to see Joseph’s name with a golden heart and fire beside it. “He’s your best friend?”
“He sends me a lot of Snapchats.”
“You reply to a lot of Snapchats,” Okuyasu said, still smirking, and sent the image. “I think you like it as much as he does.”
Josuke scoffed. “He worries if I don’t reply.”
“You worry if he doesn’t reply,” Okuyasu said, nudging him. “It’s fine. I understand I’ve fallen from best friend status.”
“It’s a tier,” Josuke said. “Come on, I don’t want to mess this up.”
Okuyasu grinned. When Josuke’s phone chirped again, he opened it. “It’s from Jotaro. What do you think that is?”
Josuke paused the game and looked at the picture. It was too dark to see what he tried to take a picture of. “Jotaro hardly ever Snapchats. Do you think he needs help?”
“Would he take time to open the app just to send this?” Okuyasu asked.
“I don’t know,” Josuke replied. “Maybe it’s a joke. Maybe it’s the baby?”
“Maybe.”
Josuke shot Jotaro a chat message. “Is it the baby?”
After a beat of hesitation, Josuke sent Joseph a similar message. “Did you get the picture from Jotaro? Was it the baby?”
Jotaro sent another picture of his finger pointing to his pocket. Okuyasu said, “Looks like Jotaro is getting the full snapchat experience.”
“How did he accidentally send it to me?” Josuke asked. “There are steps.”
Joseph sent a chat message to Josuke. “He sent it to me. He has the most precise fingers and movements, but he still manages to pocket snap.”
*
Joseph checked on Shizuka in her crib before sitting down in a firmly stuffed hotel room chair. He exhaled. He’d been feeling better than he had in weeks. He even practiced some of his hamon exercises. He checked his phone to see a Snapchat from Josuke. Smiling to himself, he opened it up. Josuke and Okuyasu sent him a faceswap. Joseph laughed and then raised the phone to take a picture of himself looking shocked.
He typed out, “What have you done to my son?” and then hesitated.
They didn’t really talk about it. He wanted to. He wanted to apologize and be there for him, but Josuke hardly needed an old man doting on him now. He should have been there a decade ago. Not that Josuke wasn’t a fine boy on his own, but he knew what it was like to grow up without a father.
He deleted the caption. After a moment’s hesitation, he sent the picture without any text.
He received a response almost instantly. Josuke sent a picture of Okuyasu and himself with flower crowns. The caption read, “We’re handsome either way.”
Jotaro entered the room as Joseph smiled to himself. Jotaro said, “Are you still playing with that app?”
“Yeah come here,” Joseph said. “Take a picture with me.”
Jotaro leaned over so his face lined up with Joseph’s. Joseph grinned, and Jotaro’s face stayed stoic. Joseph swapped their faces, and he added the caption, “Finally my grandson is handsome.”
Jotaro took the phone away just as Joseph tried to send it. Joseph stood up, following Jotaro as he looked at the phone. “How do I erase it?” Jotaro asked.
Joseph said, “Hand it back to me.”
When Jotaro did, Joseph sent it to Josuke. “Deleted,” he said.
“You sent it to Josuke.”
“I mean, it’ll be deleted after he sees it,” Joseph replied with a shrug.
Jotaro took the phone back out of his hand. Joseph puffed out his cheeks and said, “What are you going to do?”
Jotaro made direct and firm eye contact as he crushed the phone with Star Platinum’s grip. Joseph stared at him for a moment with his eyes wide.
Joseph said, “There were pictures I wanted on that.”
Jotaro tossed him back the crushed phone and indifferently said, “Maybe Josuke can fix it.”
*
Joseph sat in the cafe while Josuke looked over his crushed cell phone. “Can Crazy Diamond fix it?”
Crazy Diamond appeared and punched the phone. Within a moment, it was fixed, and Joseph exhaled in relief. “Thanks,” he said. “I doubt Jotaro would have done it if you couldn’t have fixed it.”
Josuke wasn’t so sure. “It was a good picture though.”
“I was proud of it.”
“I saved it,” Josuke said. “Do you want me to send it to you?”
“Oh, yes please,” Joseph said. “Just don’t tell Jotaro.”
Josuke sent over the picture and the two men exchanged smiles. Joseph sipped his tea while Josuke rubbed the back of his head. “So, where’s Shizuka?”
“Jotaro is babysitting,” Joseph said. “She’s just sleeping, so he should be fine.”
“I can’t imagine him raising a kid.”
“Oh he has a girl,” Joseph said. “Those are the pictures I was worried about losing.”
Joseph sorted to find the folder and handed the phone to Josuke. He added, “I should try to get one of those clouds to work. I’m just not good at keeping up with technology.”
Josuke looked through the pictures of Jotaro with the little girl. There were even a few of Joseph with her as well. He was surprised at the sudden pain in his chest. Sure, Jotaro kept to himself, but he hadn’t expected him to have a whole life he didn’t know about. Jotaro really had planned to just slide him into Joseph’s will and leave him out of it all.
Josuke gripped the phone tighter for a moment, trying to keep his voice steady. “If we hadn’t,” he paused and swallowed. He stared hard at the phone. “If we hadn’t needed you, would you have come to meet me?”
Joseph’s voice was soft. “I thought you wouldn’t want to. Jotaro said you were angry and I didn’t blame you.”
Josuke slid the phone back across the table and stood up. Joseph said, “Please, sit back down.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve already lost too much time with you.”
Josuke sat down and covered his face with his hand. Tears burned his eyes. “Can I invite Okuyasu to meet us?”
“Sure,” Joseph said. “Give me your phone. I’ll send him the message.”
Josuke slid his own phone to Joseph, and Joseph texted Okuyasu as Josuke tried to regain his composure. The worst part was, he didn’t want to. A large part of him wanted to hug Joseph and cry. He wanted to cry until every time he cried without him had spilled out of him.
Joseph stood up and moved to the chair next to Josuke. He held out his hand for a moment, and Josuke wasn’t certain if it was his age that made it shake. Josuke took it, and he offered it a squeeze. Joseph squeezed it back. He took another drink from his tea.
Joseph’s phone chirped. Josuke grabbed it first. He saw a Snapchat message. “It’s from Jotaro.”
They put their heads together to look at the screen. The phone displayed an unexpressive picture of Jotaro’s face with the caption, “Is your phone fixed yet?”
Josuke stared at the picture for a moment and then said, “Why didn’t he just text you?”
Joseph laughed. “Maybe he’s trying to prove he can use Snapchat. Let’s send him a picture back.”
Josuke feared his face would reveal how upset he was, but Joseph handed him his phone. “Take a picture of me for him. Choose whatever lens you like.”
“I wonder what you look like with the wrinkled old lady lens,” Josuke said, holding his thumb on his face.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I put on a dress and makeup to sneak into a German facility to find Speedwagon?”
Josuke laughed and said, “No, but save it for when Okuyasu is here. He’ll love to hear it.”
*
Jotaro worked on his thesis a few feet away. Textbooks covered the table. He and Joseph shared a room. Jotaro was still worried someone would try to harm him. Joseph sat with Shizuka in his lap. Joseph sent Josuke a picture of his face swapped with Shizuka’s. She’d been content and hadn’t turned herself invisible for a little while, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. Josuke sent him a reply of himself making a face with the caption, “No wonder she’s always invisible.”
Joseph laughed, and Jotaro said from his spot at the table, “Are you still playing with that app?”
“You’ll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands,” Joseph said. “Come here.”
“No.”
“Come on.”
Jotaro just stared at him. Joseph reversed the camera to take a picture of Jotaro. The caption read, “Angry? Happy? Sad? The world will never know.” He sent it to Josuke.
Josuke replied with chat, “If he’s with you, he’s probably angry.”
Joseph laughed again.
“What did you send him?” Jotaro asked.
“If you take a picture with me, I’ll tell you.”
Jotaro watched Joseph. Joseph offered him a bright smile. After a beat of hesitation, Jotaro got up and Joseph put Shizuka in her crib while Jotaro stood with him. “We can do flower crowns,” Joseph said, lining up their faces. “Josuke will love it.” He nudged Jotaro in the ribs and said, “You’re such a delicate flower, you know.”
Jotaro muttered under his breath. He waited. Just as Joseph was about to press the picture, Jotaro froze time. As he walked away from Joseph, he counted inside his head. He sat down in his chair and pulled his textbook back out. When time returned, Joseph blinked at the photo of just himself.
“Did you really freeze time just to get out of the picture?”
Jotaro didn’t reply. Joseph sat back down to look at the picture. There was still a flower crown over where Jotaro would have been. He sent Josuke the picture with the caption, “Jotaro used The World to get out of the picture.”
Josuke sent a picture of him winking with the caption, “Tbh I’m surprised he didn’t use it sooner.”
*
Jotaro walked along the empty shoreline. His socks were tucked into his shoes, and he carried his shoes so his feet sunk into the sand. He kept his pace slow, appreciating every small sensation. The smooth sand. The crisp smell in the air. The warm breeze coming off the sea. He smiled to himself and eyed the waves.
The sky was clear. There were no ships in the water. He set down his shoes. He took off his jacket before folding it neatly on top of his shoes. He sat down and let the air wash over him. He heard a vibration in his pocket and drew out his cellphone.
Josuke sent him (and he suspected Joseph) a Snapchat of him and Okuyasu in the arcade together. They had crammed into the car racing booth, grinning. He set his phone in the sand beside him. Jotaro’s smile stayed in place. He let his eyes drift back to the water. He listened to the soft waves kiss the sand.
His phone vibrated again, and he drew it out. Joseph sent him (and he assumed Josuke) a picture of Shizuka sleeping on his chest. Again, Jotaro’s smile stayed firm, but this time he held onto the phone. He carefully pressed the buttons to get him back to the camera. He turned it sideways, and he snapped a picture of the sea. Not entirely happy with it, he discarded the picture and tried again.
He sent the second one to Joseph and Josuke.
Joseph sent him a chat message, “Glad you’re taking time to yourself.”
Josuke sent him a message as well. It read, “If you hold down the button, you can take a video.”
Jotaro’s brow furrowed and his smile faded. He switched back to the camera. Joseph and Josuke had sent him videos before, but he hadn’t cared to learn how to do it himself. He knew the camera wouldn’t capture the moment. There wouldn’t be any of the smells or the feeling in the air. He wouldn’t be able to look back at it and feel the same emotions wash over him. It worked for some people, maybe, but not him.
When he looked back at pictures over his time with Egypt with Polnareff, Avdol, Joseph, Iggy, and Kakyoin, he only felt the loss. He couldn’t remember the noise Iggy made when he chewed gum. He couldn’t remember the heat that radiated off of Avdol. He couldn’t remember Kakyoin’s voice.
The pictures only reminded him of how the hole the dead left in him was growing. His memory would grow worse, but the hole would never fade.
Jotaro hadn’t said it, but he thought Snapchat perfectly captured the ephemeral nature of life itself. You could only see them for a brief moment before the data decayed.
He remembered how Polnareff had hugged Joseph and said he wished he’d live forever. Jotaro had wished it too. It was strange to think of his life without the old man in it. It was strange seeing shadows of Joseph in Josuke. It constantly reminded him of how limited his time with Joseph was.
Soon his pictures would only remind him how much the hole in his life had grown.
So Jotaro looked back to the sea through the screen of his phone. He held his finger on the button until the timer ran out. He put his ear to his phone and listened to the waves. He sent the video to Josuke and Joseph.
Joseph sent him a chat. “Do you want company?”
Josuke sent him a chat. “Can Okuyasu and I meet you?”
A smile twitched back into the corner of his mouth as he replied, “Sure,” to each of them.
*
Josuke turned over in bed and lifted his phone to check the time. It was a little after three in the morning. He hadn’t slept. He turned over and watched Okuyasu. He would have described it as “dead to the world” if Okuyasu hadn’t almost died earlier in the day. He wasn’t dead to the world. His eyes moved slightly behind his eyelids. His lips moved slightly with each breath.
He had asked Okuyasu to sleep over. Everything was over, sure, but he was still afraid to spend a minute without him. Even now, he stayed awake. He worried he wouldn’t be there when he woke up. He told himself he never really thought Okuyasu had died, but still, he hands couldn’t stop shaking. Even now, he held his phone a bit too tightly, steading himself. He slid closer to him, watching his face carefully with the phone softly illuminating it.
It occurred to him that Okuyasu wouldn’t care if he woke him up. He brushed his knuckles against Okuyasu’s chest before spreading his fingers out, feeling his heartbeat. Okuyasu mumbled something under his breath. His eyes opened slightly before he wrapped his arm around Josuke’s waist. He pulled him closer. His grip was strong, and it quickly turned heavy. He was asleep again.
Josuke checked his messages and then opened Snapchat. The frame was completely black. Josuke turned on the flash and guessed where they would be. He took a picture. Okuyasu stirred with the light. His fingers dug into his back before he loosened his grip again. The picture had half of Okuyasu’s face and maybe a third of his own. He noticed Okuyasu was almost smiling.
He slapped on the caption, “He’s still okay,” and added Joseph to the receivers. He hesitated and, after a moment’s thought, added Jotaro to it as well.
He held onto his phone, and he waited. He desperately wanted a reply. He wanted to know that he wasn’t dreaming, that it was all real and that Okuyasu was fine. He knew that Stands could bend reality and the thought of all of this being an illusion was a very vivid fear of his. He touched Okuyasu’s chest again. He felt the steady rhythm.
Okuyasu mumbled, “Go to sleep.”
Okuyasu rubbed his back, his fingers rested on his lower back. His other arm slid underneath him, pulling him closer. Okuyasu rested his head on top of Josuke’s, and Josuke nuzzled into his neck. He twined his legs in with Okuyasu’s, and he heard Okuyasu sigh.
Josuke’s phone vibrated and he checked it against Okuyasu’s chest. There was a chat message from Joseph, “But are you all right?”
Josuke smiled to himself and Okuyasu mumbled, “Your phone is so bright.”
Josuke replied to Joseph, “I think so.”
He waited. Joseph said, “Did I ever tell you about how I lost Caesar?”
A frown crossed Josuke’s face. Okuyasu squeezed him. Josuke replied to Joseph, “No.”
Joseph replied, “I’m really glad your friend is okay. I’m proud of how well you took care of him.”
Josuke replied, “Tell me about Caesar.”
He waited. Okuyasu’s breaths turned steady as he drifted back into sleep. Josuke didn’t think he would sleep at all, but the thought of Joseph on his phone during the night as well gave him comfort. Josuke typed, “Is Shizuka keeping you awake?”
A few minutes passed, and Joseph replied, “I’m not very good at typing this stuff out.”
“It must be hard doing it in a second language. My English is good enough if you’re too tired.”
There were another few minutes without any response. Josuke listened to Okuyasu’s steady breaths. Joseph finally replied, “Caesar was like you. Bold. Exciting. Full of energy. He was more serious, but also more reckless and stubborn.”
Josuke replied, “I wasn’t sure there was anyone more stubborn than the Joestars.”
“Jotaro beats us all.” Joseph continued, “I was more like Okuyasu. I looked up to Caesar but also wanted to prove myself and maybe even surpass his skill. I wasn’t as serious and a lot of the time I just wanted to have fun.”
Josuke replied, “I’m sure you were serious when it counted.”
Joseph simply replied, “I let him down, and even in death, he didn’t let me down.”
Josuke asked, “What happened?”
Again, Joseph’s reply wasn’t immediate. Josuke settled into Okuyasu’s arms. He felt his eyelids grow a bit heavy, and he opened his eyes wide again. The thought that he might fall asleep frightened him. Okuyasu gave him a squeeze again, and he worried that even in sleep, Okuyasu could tell he was trembling.
Joseph replied, “I can’t type it out here, and I’m too embarrassed to tell you in person. I’m old. You’d think you’d grow harder with age, but I only feel softer. Everything is difficult, Josuke.”
“I’m sorry I pried.”
“I’ll try to tell you. Another time. Not in the middle of the night. Is Okuyasu asleep?”
Josuke wanted to know what happened. Part of him wanted to call Joseph. Part of him desperately wanted to hear his voice, but another part of him feared he’d hear the sadness in his voice. He thought if he heard Joseph’s voice crack, he wouldn’t be able to hold any tears in.
So he simply replied, “Yes.”
Joseph said, “Treasure every moment. Love him with everything you have.”
Josuke almost laughed to himself. Why wouldn’t he? Still, he replied, “I will.”
Joseph said, “I’m sorry. That was stupid. Of course you will.”
Josuke laughed aloud, and Okuyasu stirred again. Josuke said, “I appreciate the reminder anyway.”
“Did I say I’m proud of how you handled yourself out there? I am.”
“You did say that. I know.”
“I’ll let you sleep instead of rattling on then. Have a good night, Josuke.”
Josuke typed out, “I can’t sleep,” but then deleted it. He hesitated and asked, “Could you sleep? After what happened?”
“I had to lose my arm and fall into an ocean before I could sleep,” Joseph said. “Do you want me to stay up with you?”
Josuke smiled and replied, “Yes, please.”
“What do you want to hear about?”
“Tell me about Jotaro locking himself in jail because a demon possessed him.”
*
Jotaro sat awake, writing out his research while searching through textbooks. A lamp on the table illuminated his work, but everything else was still and quiet. He could cleanly hear his pencil across the page. His eyes shot to his phone as it vibrated. He flicked on the screen and saw the picture of Josuke and Okuyasu. He saw the caption, “He’s still okay.”
Jotaro smiled. He waited for the timer to run out. He leaned back in his chair. His smile faded as he thought of Kakyoin. He wondered where Kakyoin would be now if he hadn’t died. Would his own life have changed? Would they be here, together? He considered how Kakyoin struggled to fit in, but how perfectly Kakyoin seemed to fit next to him. The comfortable silences. The quick thinking. How much love he had for everyone on their team.
Kakyoin didn’t have to fight to protect his mother. He could have stopped there and looked the other way. He died to solve the mystery of Dio’s stand. He died to save everyone. He even, unknowingly, saved Josuke.
He wondered if Kakyoin and Josuke would have played videogames together. Would Josuke be better since he had more free time? Or would Kakyoin’s years of experience adapt to any game?
He thought of Avdol and Iggy. He thought of Polnareff and him trying to sleep in the desert with the stars splayed out above them. Polnareff had been different. Quieter. More serious. He said, “They died for me.” When Jotaro didn’t reply, he said, “I haven’t done enough to make this life worth their sacrifice.”
Jotaro had said then, “You’ve done enough.”
Polnareff didn’t believe him, but when Jotaro tried to press, Polnareff stopped talking for the night. He never minded silences with Polnareff. Usually it was a nice break. But that silence had been different. It felt like a punishment for both of them.
Jotaro looked at his phone and flipped through his numbers. He looked at Polnareff’s number and opened their messages to each other. It had been months since they last spoke. He wanted to reach out to him. He wanted to hear his voice. But he had no idea what to say.
Snapchat was growing on him. He knew Joseph and Josuke carried out entire conversations in the app, but he liked being able to just send them a picture. He didn’t need filters or lenses. The picture was enough. They could fill in the blanks.
He flipped through his phone’s album and found an older picture he’d taken of Joseph and Josuke. Joseph insisted on it and Josuke was still nervous around Joseph. He considered sending it to Polnareff, but what would he say? “Apparently Joseph has a son and also we collected some arrows and saved the town from some asshole.”
He scrolled through his album again instead. He looked through the pictures he’d taken when Josuke, Joseph, Shizuka, and Okuyasu crashed his visit to the beach. His phone had been passed around. Josuke and Okuyasu had taken selfies with it in the water. Joseph had fallen asleep on the beach and Josuke had spelt “OLD MAN” out in sunscreen on his chest. Okuyasu tried to build a sand castle for Shizuka. Shizuka’s tiny fists smashed it.
Jotaro found a picture he’d taken when they were cleaning up the area around the beach. There were countless footprints and smashed patches of failed sandcastles. A bottle of sunscreen sat in the sand. And the waves started to wash away their old footprints. Everything faded.
He went back to Polnareff’s messages and sent the picture. He waited a minute, letting the night’s silence swallow him and his thoughts. He then returned to his research.
*
Josuke sat with his legs splayed across Okuyasu’s lap. Okuyasu scratched his head with a pencil before going back to writing. Josuke had promised to help Okuyasu with his report, but Okuyasu hadn’t asked for any yet. Okuyasu made a noise in thought and then returned to scratching out his notes.
Josuke opened up Joseph’s wallet. “I’m thinking of using Joseph’s wallet from now on.”
“Why?”
“Because I probably shouldn’t still be using a wallet with velcro.”
“That doesn’t mean you should have an old man’s wallet,” Okuyasu said. “And I’m not exaggerating. That’s literally an old man’s wallet. What if he wants it back?”
“He owes me,” Josuke said.
Okuyasu didn’t reply. Josuke assumed he tuned him out to work. Josuke pushed Okuyasu’s chin with his foot. “Hey. Would you like me any less if I used an old man’s wallet?”
“Don’t be dumb,” Okuyasu said, grabbing Josuke’s foot. “Use whatever wallet you want. I don’t give a shit about that stuff.”
Okuyasu firmly planted both of Josuke’s legs back in his lap and absently rubbed his foot as he returned to reading. Josuke started to lay out Joseph’s belongings from his wallet. He could mail him back his identification and his credit cards - he couldn’t use either of them in Japan anyway. He kept the cash in the wallet, but took out the bills. He found a few photographs. A picture of Jotaro and his mom together. A picture of Jotaro’s mom as a little girl with Joseph’s wife. He tried to remember their names. Holly and Suzie Q? He finally drew out the picture of Joseph with his friends in Egypt.
He considered keeping it, but he figured Joseph would miss it. He put it in the small pile of things he’d mail back to him. Josuke counted out the cash and wondered what he’d spend it on. “What should I buy with this money?” Josuke asked.
“You mean you’re not just going to spend it on videogames?”
“Oh, well, yeah, I mean, okay that’s probably what I’m going to spend it on,” Josuke said, nodding. “Good choice.”
“Hey, when we’re not busy hunting down evil stand users-”
“-and befriending the good ones-”
“-yeah, that. Would you be willing to help me fix up the house? I mean, most people still think it’s abandoned, and I don’t want strangers wandering in and finding dad and Stray Cat, you know?”
“Yeah I know. Crazy Diamond might be able to save us some time. We’ll see what we can fix easily first, and then go from there.”
Okuyasu smiled and said, “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I can’t put any money into it. Mom locked my winnings away, remember?”
Okuyasu laughed. “I didn’t expect you to. Why would you put money into my house?”
Josuke rubbed the back of his head and said, “Oh, I don’t know.”
Why had he expected to put money into Okuyasu’s house?
His phone chirped. He had asked Jotaro for an address to send the content of Joseph’s wallet to, and he expected a reply. Okuyasu scratched his head again as Josuke found a Snapchat from Jotaro. Had Jotaro used Snapchat for regular conversation again?
“What did you get?” Okuyasu asked.
“Looks like Jotaro sent me some more videos of water. Hold on.”
Jotaro had started Snapchatting video whenever he was near the shore, and once Josuke had jokingly sent him a video of a running tap in response. Jotaro said, “If you’re not going to appreciate them, I won’t send them.”
Josuke told him he loved seeing them and that he was only joking, but he hadn’t received another. Though, they hadn’t really had time for it either.
As he looked at the waves on the phone, he wished Jotaro and Joseph were staying for longer.
He heard a clear voice through the phone. “I’m going to miss Josuke a lot.” The voice was Joseph’s. “I know the circumstances weren’t great, but I’m glad to have met him. I hope I’m well enough to see him again. I’d like to see him grow up, but he’s going to be all right, you know? I love that kid.”
Josuke’s eyes started to burn. He wished Jotaro hadn’t snapchatted it. He replayed it. Tears muffled the sound of the waves, but the voice was clear. Okuyasu started, “Hey Josuke-” but stopped sharply.
The video stopped. Josuke sat up and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Okuyasu sat beside him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. “I didn’t say enough,” Josuke said. Tears streamed down his face. “I didn’t do enough.”
“What are you talking about? Joseph said you were a good kid-”
“But I - I didn’t say anything. He didn’t even know I existed. How can I hold a grudge against that?”
Okuyasu struggled. “Feelings are complicated, right? If you’re mad about it, you can’t just reason your way out of it. Trust me, I have first-hand experience with that.”
“I think - did I fuck things up?”
“No, he thinks you’re a great kid. He loves you.”
Josuke cried harder and hugged his stomach. Okuyasu propped his head on Josuke’s shoulder and hugged him tightly. “I can’t say it,” Josuke sobbed. “I can’t say it to him yet.”
Okuyasu laughed softly. Josuke felt it against his arms. He tried to make himself smaller so he fit better in Okuyasu’s touch. “Josuke, he knows. You don’t need to say anything.”
Still, Josuke cried. He wasn’t so certain. Okuyasu held him patiently. He rubbed Josuke’s back. Josuke tried to remember Joseph’s words. His tears started to ease up. The unease hadn’t completely passed, but it didn’t hurt so much anymore. Part of him felt good, remembering Joseph’s words, and another part of him wanted to stay with Okuyasu and cry more.
But he’d run out of tears. So he’d just have to feel good.
“You all right?” Okuyasu asked.
“Better than your report,” Josuke said, wiping his face with his sleeve.
Okuyasu smirked. “I’ll get back to it then.”
He slid back on the bed, leaning against the wall. Josuke stretched back out on the bed. Okuyasu pulled his legs back onto his lap. Josuke picked up his phone again. He hadn’t received anymore messages.
He sent Joseph a Snapchat of a pensive Okuyasu with the caption, “Studying hard without you to distract us.”
He opened a chat with Jotaro. He typed out, “Thanks.” After a beat of hesitation, he sent it.