Work Text:
Dio said no. Dio said he never wanted to be around one, responsible for one. Not in his lifetime, not in a million years, not ever. But that didn’t stop Jonathan from adopting Haruno Shiobana, an orphaned half-Japanese, half-Italian child. The worst part was that Dio only discovered this after he came home from a particularly annoying day at work, and when he opened the door to the Joestar estate, the image of Jonathan holding a small child who looked no older than six on his lap met him. The small boy smiled up shyly at him.
“That’s your other daddy, Dio,” Jonathan cooed.
“Like hell I am,” Dio muttered.
“Language, Dio!”
Dio rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, but Haruno stared up at him with deep blue eyes and kept smiling despite Dio’s clear indication that he did not approve of this. Never had any child smiled at Dio Brando before, and Dio’s persistent frown softened a little despite himself. He delivered a deliberately exaggerated sigh.
Later that night after Jonathan tucked Haruno into the spare room’s bed, Dio said, “I can’t believe you did this, JoJo.”
“He was too cute, and even though you didn’t say anything about it, I saw the way you looked at him when we visited the orphanage,” Jonathan said. “And I think we’re ready for this.”
Dio definitely didn’t they were ready, and he hated that Jonathan snuck glances at his face while he looked over the children to see if any, on the off-chance, had any potential of growing into a successful and amazing person. Someone worthy of being raised by Dio Brando. “You better take primary responsibility for him,” Dio grunted.
“This is a partner effort, you know.”
Dio rolled over, yanking the covers away from Jonathan. A small part of him felt that maybe this Haruno Shiobana was worthy, and it’s true that he considered him the best choice above everyone else, but the worst part was that Jonathan had completely thrown him off guard. Constantly doing the unexpected was Dio’s job, not Jonathan’s.
Now they were stuck with this. And Dio vowed to himself years ago that he would raise a child right, never making the same mistakes as his own father. He could never be like Dario Brando. He refused. And Jonathan knew that.
Jonathan completely pulled one over Dio. Someday, Jonathan would pay for it.
“I’m scared,” Haruno said as the family got out of the car. Dio leaned back by the car.
“It’ll be all right, Haruno,” Jonathan said, getting down on one knee and placing his hands on his son’s shoulders. “The first day of school, especially a new one, is always going to be a little scary, but it’s also fun. You’ll meet new people, make friends, and learn. Dio and I will be here to pick you up at precisely three o’clock. You can tell us all about your day then, okay?”
Haruno wiped at his eyes and smiled. “Okay.” He glanced at Dio expectantly.
Dio blinked and cleared his throat. He had no idea what to say -- at least, anything that was both kid-friendly and Jonathan-approved -- so he said, “Make the best out of it.”
“O-okay.” Still, Haruno kept smiling for Dio and turned to walk into the grade school building.
Jonathan rested his fists against his hips and turned around to Dio. “I’m so proud of him.”
Dio shrugged and said, “I guess. Grade school’s the easy stuff.”
Jonathan ran a hand over his face.
“What? You know I’m not really good at this.”
“At least try harder.”
Dio loved and valued himself above everyone else, but when Haruno sullenly walked toward their car after school, and when Haruno teared up once they went inside the comfort of their home, Dio felt his blood boil on his behalf.
“What’s wrong? Who made you cry?” he said, trying to control his voice, but his anger still left a bite to his tone. Jonathan sat down at the edge of the couch, brows furrowed, gently rubbing Haruno’s shoulder.
“Some of the kids called me… mean names,” Haruno said, failing to hide his sniffling. “And they made fun of my hair and my skin.”
Well, Dio thought, looking over Haruno’s bowl cut which was simply terribly done, I can’t blame them.
“Haruno, you need to ignore those bullies,” Jonathan said, turning Haruno’s face so he could stare into his eyes. “Bullies pick on people because they’re loaded with their own problems, and they want to see you cry. The best way to deal with them is to stand your ground, hold your head up high, and don’t let them see that their words hurt you. Don’t even talk to them. Once they realize nothing they can do will hurt you, they’ll get bored of you. At the end of the day, you’re better than them, and them being jerks is never your fault.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure of it.”
Haruno stayed quiet, looking down in his lap. Dio didn’t think Haruno was completely convinced, and he himself wasn’t at all.
“Hey, Jonathan,” Dio started as he continued looking at Haruno, “can you go get Haruno some ice cream to cheer him up?”
Haruno’s eyes lit up a bit, and seeing that brought a smile onto Jonathan’s face. “Sure.”
As soon as Jonathan’s figure disappeared around the corner, Dio knelt down and grabbed Haruno’s shoulders. The boy let out a quiet gasp.
“Listen to me,” Dio said. “He means well, but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If bullies were that easy to dissuade, it wouldn’t be a long-standing issue with so many people.” Flashes of all the times that Dio hurt Jonathan crossed his mind. His emotions back then at the back of his mind, taunting him, telling him that Jonathan’s methods never worked on him. Because he was the bully.
“Then what should I do?” Haruno asked.
“You need to look fierce, curl your lip, sneer at them, show them you’re tough. You need to either lock those pained emotions away or turn it into anger. They’re doing you an injustice and they need to face the consequences. Now I’m not encouraging you to beat them up for no reason, but if I hear that you’ve gotten into a scrape with some people who were messing with you, I won’t tell Jonathan or get mad at you.” He winked.
“But Jonathan said--”
“Some bullies don’t hurt you to make you sad. Some of them will continue to hurt you even if you ignore them. They like to hurt people no matter what. The best way to stand up for yourself is to defend yourself, either with your fists or with your words. You can’t let them walk over you. You’re strong. I believe in you.”
“You believe in me…” the boy said, his eyes growing wide. And Dio knew that look. Admiration. “I’ll try.”
Dio heard the freezer door shut. “Don’t tell Jonathan what I told you. Promise?” Dio said, placing a finger at his lips.
“Promise.” Haruno mimicked him.
Dio stood up just as Jonathan reentered the room with a bowl filled with three generous scoops of ice cream.
“You’ll spoil his dinner,” Dio mockingly nagged. “It’ll be your fault if he’s fussy later.”
“You’re the one who suggested I get him ice cream.”
For the rest of the evening, Haruno stole glances at Dio, his eyes shining.
Haruno bounced down the walkway, beaming as Jonathan and Dio greeted him after school.
“I’m glad to see you’re happier, today,” Jonathan said during the drive home. Hesitating, he added, “Were people nicer to you today?”
Haruno nodded, then realized Jonathan couldn’t see his head from the front seat. “Yeah. I think I made a friend. And I think I even scared my bully off.”
“Scared?” Jonathan said, quickly glancing at Dio accusingly before looking back at the road. “I’m not sure if any of my advice had anything to do with scaring people.”
Haruno covered his mouth. “I mean, they’re not bullying me anymore. I did what you said and they seemed scared that I didn’t cry.” In the passenger seat, Dio lifted his right hand high enough so that Haruno could see it and gave him a thumbs up.
“Really? That’s a relief,” Jonathan said. “I’ve had my fair share of bullies, and you’re better off the sooner they stop being mean to you.”
Dio thought about the eight or so years he’d put Jonathan through hell, but he wasn’t sure how to feel about how little regret such memories brought him. But the thought that he was able to help his son swat bullies away was a small comfort. A small, good thing he could do, although compared to Jonathan, he was much more violent and untamed. But he was always right.
During dinner, Haruno kept his eyes on Dio for a long time, but Dio tried to ignore it or else Jonathan would become suspicious. Jonathan noticed anyway. He narrowed his eyes at Dio, studying his face, and asked, “What’s that look for, Haruno? Does Dio have something on his face?”
The boy shook his head and said, “I want yellow hair too.”
Jonathan nearly choked on his food while Dio laughed. “Do you, now?” The blond man said. “I can get some bleach and help you with that tomorrow.”
Haruno clapped his hands and nodded furiously.
“Dio!” Jonathan said, placing down his fork. “Is that even safe for children?”
“Of course. Plus, I think he’d look good with blond hair.”
“I want to grow it out like you,” Haruno said, although more quietly than before.
Jonathan smiled in a sort of sad way. “You know you don’t have to look like one of us to be a real part of the family. You’re perfect the way you are.”
“I want to do it because Dio looks tough and strong,” Haruno said, crossing his arms the same way Dio did. Haruno puffed out his cheeks and his eyebrows shot down. Now Jonathan laughed.
“How cute, he likes you.”
“He likes me so much that he wants to be like me, not you,” Dio couldn’t help but gloat. Jonathan’s shoulders slouched at that in a way that was much too pathetic for him. Dio sighed and added, “His eyes are blue like yours, though.”
Haruno just glanced back and forth between his two fathers. Then he said, “C-can I ask a weird question?”
“Of course,” Jonathan said. “You can ask us anything.” Dio braced himself for a terribly awkward question. He didn’t want this kind of thing now of all times. What else could Haruno be asking after seeing Dio and Jonathan bantering back and forth?
“I want a new name.”
Jonathan blinked, as did Dio. “A new name? Like what?” Jonathan asked.
“I like your name,” he said, looking at Jonathan. “JoJo. I want something like that.”
“That’s my nickname because my name is Jonathan Joestar. Jo and Jo. I’m afraid we can’t really make anything like that out of your name.”
“There’s no reason he can’t have a new name if he wants one,” Dio said. “You’re rich enough that we could go legal with it.” God knew how badly Dio wished his name were never Brando.
“Well, whenever you come up with a name, let us know,” Jonathan said. “We’ll think about it.”
As they settled into bed that night, Jonathan noticed Dio’s spirits were higher than usual. With a happy sigh, Jonathan said, “I’m glad you’re warming up to Haruno. I was worried you weren’t going to like him at all. So thank you for trying.”
Thankful that the lights were off so Jonathan couldn’t see the color on his face, Dio scoffed. “Well, if you’re going to make parenting a competition, I have to be the cooler dad.”
“I never made it into one.”
“You only say that because I’m winning. He wants hair like mine.”
“And he wants a name like mine,” Jonathan shot back. “Plus, he already has the blue eyes.”
“And he listens to my advice over yours.”
“I knew you had something to do with the ‘scaring the bully’ thing,” Jonathan said. The weight on the bed shifted as Jonathan sat up, although his glares had no effect in the dark.
“Well, it worked. I know bullies better than you do.”
Jonathan didn’t say anything at that. Dio waited until the bed shifted again, and Jonathan lay back down with his back to Dio. “I just don’t want you passing… the wrong advice down to Haruno. Or at least don’t hide it from me.”
“It’s really not a big deal, JoJo.” It was easier to say than “I’m sorry.” For now. “And trust me, I know what I’m doing. I also know terrible fathers better than you do.”
Jonathan sighed, but the tension between them seemed to lessen.
“I’ll try to trust you,” Jonathan said.
“You’re the one who said this was a partner effort,” Dio muttered minutes before they fell asleep. He almost hoped Jonathan could feel his apology through his arms as he decided to wrap them around Jonathan’s waist at the last second.