Archive of Our Own

The day was bright and sunny, which typically would have signalled a good omen, but Josuke had dealt with enough life-or-death situations in the past few weeks to not let himself get lulled into a false sense of security by a lack of storm clouds. He was walking to school, bag slung over his shoulder, pondering what bread to get from the school canteen, when he noticed a man stood on the street corner. With his shock of red hair and long, green coat, he stood out from the crowd, as was the fact that he remained still while other pedestrians streamed past him. He was partially turned away from Josuke, but he could see a pamphlet in the man’s hand, his head turning from the paper, then up to the building in front of him.

Josuke pursed his lips, thought weird, and continued to walk right past, when a voice piped up.

“Excuse me?”

He stopped and turned to see the man facing him, an apologetic smile on his face. He looked to be in his late twenties, kind eyes cut through by identical scars staring at Josuke behind a pair of half-moon glasses. His mouth curved into a soft smile as he pointed at the building he’d been looking at.

“Sorry, but I was wondering if you could help me. I’m looking for this pastry shop, The Berry Cup. It used to be here but now it looks like it’s been turned into a laundromat. Did they close down?” He had a pleasant voice, smooth but not too deep, his entire demeanour the perfect picture of politeness.

Perhaps that was why Josuke didn’t hesitate to point down the adjacent street. “No, they just moved to a smaller place over there.”

The man followed Josuke’s finger and nodded once, his smile lifting. “Ah, I see. It seems quite a bit has changed since I was last here.” He turned to Josuke and offered a slight bow, one hand remaining curled around the head of a walking stick. “Thank you for your help.”

“No problem,” Josuke replied cheerily.

The stranger straightened up and their eyes met again for a brief moment. Something in the man’s gaze shifted as he stared at Josuke, losing some of its bland politeness and turning to something penetrating. A bead of cool sweat trickled down the back of Josuke’s neck as he was pinned to the spot by that hard stare, but the moment passed as the man gave Josuke one last smile before turning and going on his way.

Josuke watched him walk away, trying to shake off the odd feeling that had washed over him. Eventually, the chiming of the town clock told him if he dawdled any longer, he’d be late for school, so he turned and hurried on.

Weird, he thought again, the stranger’s violet eyes remaining fixed in his mind.

Josuke had mostly brushed the encounter off by the time school let out for the day and he was sat with Okuyasu and Koichi at their favourite café. He was stirring a straw through his iced tea, vaguely tuned into Okuyasu’s story, recounting how he’d almost accidentally pushed a teacher down the stairs, when a flash of green in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He swerved to look and his eyes widened at the sight of the same stranger from that morning.

The man was walking down the street, a paper bag of groceries tucked under his arm. He briefly stopped to check his watch and, as a result, accidentally dropped his cane. This was just the kind of situation Josuke’s grandpa had always drilled into him to show manners for his fellow townsmen. Even now, he could hear his voice chattering in the back of his mind to race over there and help that man. But Josuke’s help was evidently not needed as he watched a glowing tendril slip from inside the man’s sleeve, wrap around the cane, and bring it back to its master’s waiting hand. The man then continued on his way as though nothing had happened, Josuke staring after him with his jaw on the floor.

“Hey, Josuke,” Okuyasu called out, hands cupped around his mouth and leaning inches from his ear. “What’s wrong with your face?”

Josuke jumped at the sudden volume and proximity, shoving Okuyasu away and shaking himself out of his reverie. Jabbing a finger towards the strange, red-headed man, he exclaimed, “That guy over there! I just saw him use a Stand!”

Okuyasu and Koichi were instantly on their feet, assuming offensive stances and forgetting their drinks.

“Where?” Koichi demanded, looking this way and that.

“Over there,” Josuke said, pushing back his chair and dashing off in the direction he’d seen the man walk, his two friends hot on his heels. “I spoke to him this morning on the street. He was asking for directions but I had no idea he had a Stand.”

He briefly wondered if the man even needed that cane to walk or if it was just part of a disguise he’d built to throw people off his scent. A harsh idea, and Josuke didn’t want to believe the kind man he’d spoken to was capable of such trickery, but there had to be something hiding behind that odd stare.

The three of them skidded to a halt on the street corner where Josuke had seen the man disappear but he was nowhere in sight. Josuke whipped his head back and forth, but couldn’t catch any glimpses of that bright red hair.

“Where’d he go?” Okuyasu demanded, fist clenched as he squinted down the street.

“I don’t know,” Josuke admitted. “Maybe he caught on that we were after him and ran away. Let’s split up! Maybe we can still catch him.”

Koichi and Okuyasu immediately accepted his plan and the three of them split off. Josuke had barely sprinted down the block when he heard a familiar voice speak behind him.

“Is there a reason you’re following me?”

Josuke whirled around in an instant, finding the stranger behind him, that same pleasant smile on his face. His cane was tucked under his arm, his hand curled around a green tendril that stretched down, resting beneath his feet and keeping him hovering above the ground. No one was paying them much attention, so they didn’t see the man impossibly floating in the air. Glancing up, Josuke saw the stranger’s Stand hugging the edge of a nearby building, its odd, glowing body stretched out like taffy. It stared back at Josuke with solid, beady eyes like an insect, and he quickly glanced away.

Licking his dry lips, Josuke fired back with, “You knew I was following you,” pointing an accusing finger the man’s way.

That mild smile was back on the man’s face and he laughed once. “Yes. You and your friends are rather loud.”

“Eh-!” Josuke’s voice died in his throat, his cheeks flushing as he couldn’t deny it. He shook his momentary lapse off, adopting a sturdy stance once more and summoning Crazy Diamond. “Well, you should’ve run while you had the chance. Now, you’re gonna come with me.”

Maybe if he just held this guy’s Stand down and had Crazy Diamond glare at him long enough, he’d talk and spill his real reason for being in Morioh, ‘cause Josuke was doubting it was just for some tarts.

The man’s eyes lit up at the sight of Crazy Diamond, his gaze raking over Josuke’s Stand. “That’s a powerful-looking Stand you have there. Any other time, I’d love to get to see it in action, but right now I have somewhere to be. Sorry!”

He looked genuinely apologetic as he waved to Josuke and his Stand retracted its body, slinging him up like a yoyo. Josuke gawked, his head tipping back as he watched the man shoot up into the air, stepping off his Stand and onto the roof of the building, disappearing from view with a swish of his coat. Looking around wildly, Josuke cursed that he didn’t have Koichi with him. Echoes’ range would’ve allowed it to easily follow after him. Instead, he found a shard of a roof tile laying on the ground and seized it up. With a zap of Crazy Diamond’s restorative power, the shard began glowing in his hand and floating to rejoin the piece of roof it had snapped off from. Josuke held on, allowing himself to be lifted up, into the air, until his shoes were level with the rooftop and he stood on top of the building.

But when he looked around, the stranger was nowhere in sight.

Josuke stood there for a moment, then tipped his head back and groaned, loud and long.

“We should probably tell Jotaro about him,” Koichi suggested once Josuke was back on the ground and they were walking towards his house.

“Yeah!” Okuyasu agreed, punching his fist into his palm. “If Jotaro hasn’t beaten that guy to pulp by the time we find him, we’ll finish the job for him.”

Josuke just hummed, hands buried in his pockets as they walked. He couldn’t stop turning those two short interactions over in his head, trying to glean any details he could that might shine some light on the situation of this mystery man.

“I mean,” Koichi argued, “is that okay though? This guy hasn’t actually done anything wrong.”

“Yet,” Okuyasu interjected, pointing at Koichi’s startled face. “For all we know, he could be doing sick stuff behind the scenes. From what Josuke said, his Stand sounds creepy.”

“You’re one to talk,” Koichi mumbled.

“Haah?” Okuyasu exclaimed.

Josuke just hummed again, too caught up in his thoughts to take too much notice of his squabbling friends.

Once they were inside, shoes off, and gathered around the coffee table, Josuke seized the phone and typed in the number to Jotaro’s room at the Grand Morioh Hotel, something that was becoming increasingly familiar. It rang exactly three times before Jotaro’s gruff voice was in his ear.

“Hello?”

“Jotaro,” Josuke immediately started in, his free hand gesturing as he spoke. “There’s another Stand user! I’ve run into him twice today.”

He briefly explained the encounter he’d had with the man before school, but Jotaro cut him off before he could get too into what had happened just that afternoon.

“He didn’t attack you?” Jotaro asked, sounding quizzical. “Interesting.”

“Should we go looking for him?” Josuke kept on, speeding right by Jotaro’s words. He could just picture him rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stared out of the tall hotel windows. “If we jump him all together-“

“You can if you want,” Jotaro said, cutting him off. “I can’t today. I have plans.”

Josuke actually pulled the phone back to blink at it. Plans? Jotaro didn’t have plans. Plans implied you were hanging out with someone or going on a date, and Josuke felt fairly safe in saying Jotaro didn’t have friends or go on dates. He enjoyed the company of fish, his Stand, and occasionally, Mr. Joestar. Probably in that order.

“Really?” Josuke said once he’d gotten over his shock.

“If you still want to, I can help you tomorrow,” Jotaro replied, ignoring him. “Bye.”

Then he hung up. Josuke slowly put the phone back on the hook and turned to face Okuyasu and Koichi, who looked at him expectantly.

“Well?” Koichi prompted. “Is he coming?”

“No…” Josuke answered after a pause, frowning deeply at the carpet. “He said he has plans.”

“Hah?” Okuyasu burst out, squinting in confusion. “Plans? Jotaro?”

“Did he mean, like, plans to work on his research?” Koichi asked, trying to fill in the blanks.

Josuke shrugged, collapsing into an armchair and propping his cheek against his fist. “I don’t know. He just said plans.”

The three boys said nothing more and all stared in wonder at the coffee table.

They did not end up going hunting after the mysterious Stand user. Instead, Josuke lay in bed that night, hands folded behind his head and not sleeping. He wondered where the man was now. Was he out there in the town somewhere, stalking an innocent, oblivious citizen while Josuke just laid there, doing nothing? The idea made him uncomfortable, but for some reason, Josuke didn’t believe it. Either way, his curiosity was eating him alive.

Just where are you, mystery man?

“Dinner’s ready,” Noriaki sang softly, sliding the two plates onto the tiny dining table supplied by the hotel.

A barely-audible grunt was all that answered him and Noriaki turned with a fond sigh to Jotaro, sat at his desk in front of his computer. He was hunched over, the blue light from the screen illuminating his sleepy eyes and knitted brows. Padding softly across the carpet, Noriaki stepped up behind him, wrapping his arms around Jotaro’s neck and gently prying him away from the keyboard.

“Jotarooo,” Noriaki leaned down to murmur in his ear. “You promised you’d take a break.”

Jotaro shivered slightly, reaching up to grasp Noriaki’s wrist, stroking his thumb over the fine bones. “Right. Yeah. I am. Sorry, I’m just really close to finishing this part.”

“Mmm.” Noriaki nosed at Jotaro’s temple, breathing in the scent of Jotaro’s coconut shampoo. He cracked his eyes open, taking a look at Jotaro’s screen and finding a bunch of scientific jargon he couldn’t compute. Snaking an arm out, he placed his fingers atop the lid and said, “As hard as it is to compete with poisonous starfish-“

“Venomous,” Jotaro corrected and Noriaki flicked his ear in response. “Ow.”

“-I’m gonna ask you to step away,” Noriaki finished, pushing Jotaro’s hand off the mouse. “You can always come back to it later.”

Jotaro tipped his head against Noriaki’s, still stroking his wrist, and hummed happily when Noriaki kissed his cheek. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I usually am,” Noriaki quipped, releasing Jotaro to straighten up. It took him a moment, his back twinging in protest, and he had to brace himself against the back of Jotaro’s chair.

“You are,” Jotaro agreed, smoothly standing up and winding his arm around Noriaki’s waist.

Noriaki leaned on him gratefully as Jotaro lead them both to the table. Once he was seated with his feet flat on the floor, the pain in his back ebbed away. He rubbed at the tender spot as Jotaro sat across from him, dragging his plate towards him and seizing his knife and fork.

“Thanks for making this. Looks delicious,” Jotaro said, clapping his hands together once before digging in. Around a mouthful of food, he commented, “Tastes delicious.”

Noriaki laughed, picking up his own utensils and cutting into his meat, though with far less vigour than Jotaro. “Good to see your appetite hasn’t suffered at all while you’ve been out here.”

“Just my sanity,” Jotaro mumbled, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. “Between this thesis, the Stand arrow, and these disappearances…I think I’m ready for this summer to be over.”

“Me too,” Noriaki pouted. “I’ve missed you.”

It was an unfortunate fact of their adult life that they often had to spend extended periods apart while investigating various Stand abnormalities across the globe for the Speedwagon Foundation. The time Jotaro had journeyed through Asia in search for the Stand arrow while Noriaki had been made to remain in America had been some of the loneliest times of his life. Not the same type of loneliness he’d known as a child, completely isolated from those around him, without a friend in the world outside of Hierophant Green. No, this was a version of him who now knew companionship, and love, and Jotaro. Knowing what he was missing out on only made the lonesome nights without Jotaro’s body warming their bed all the more unbearable.

Noriaki had been caught up in a mission back in Florida, preventing him from travelling to Japan with Jotaro until now, and he was eager to catch up on all the time they’d missed.

“I’ve missed you too,” Jotaro replied, dropping his fork to squeeze Noriaki’s hand. He said it so matter-of-factly, making Noriaki’s stomach flip. “I’m glad you’re here now, if only so I don’t have to be the only responsible adult.”

“Isn’t Mr. Joestar here?”

Jotaro gave him a look, then continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “As I said. What’s it like being back here for you? Weird?”

Noriaki propped his chin up on his hand and hummed with a smile, reminiscing over his sights from today. “I guess. Parts of town have changed and others look exactly the same. I passed this really weird rock though. Some kids were taking photos with it and everything.”

Noriaki thought he saw Jotaro’s eyes flick furtively away, but it was probably nothing.

He coughed into his fist. “You, uh, don’t say.”

“Everything’s probably the same,” Noriaki went on, spearing a piece of potato on his fork, “it’s just me that’s different.”

That, and a few new faces around town. Noriaki replayed his run-ins with that teenage Stand user earlier in the day. Even without his imposing Stand, he would’ve stuck out in his memory, what with that hairstyle and all. He needed to mention it to Jotaro—they were here investigating unregistered Stand users, after all—but he hadn’t sensed any bad intentions from the kid, despite the fact that he didn’t seem to share the same sentiment about Noriaki. On top of that, there was something about that boy that was scratching at the back of his mind. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on…

“Good,” Jotaro said again in his straight-forward way. He cracked a half smile after a moment and added, “But, I’ve gotta say, I wouldn’t have minded knowing what you were like as a dweeby preteen. I’ll bet you had braces.”

Noriaki snorted, shaking his head. “Trust me, you weren’t missing out on much.” A beat passed and he swatted Jotaro’s shoulder. “Also, hey.”

They both laughed and continued eating, talking about this and that, pressing their socked feet together under the table, before Noriaki eventually circled back to their previous topic. He set his knife and fork down, threading his fingers together beneath his chin and raking his eyes along the length of Jotaro. His hat and coat were hung up by the door, leaving him in only a black turtleneck that hugged his sculpted chest and arms delightfully. Their only point of contact being their feet was suddenly not nearly enough, so Noriaki cleared his throat and spoke airily.

“You know, if you really want to know about my childhood, we could spend all night talking about it. Buuut, I was kind of hoping we could do…” He raised his eyebrows meaningfully. “Something else…?”

Jotaro’s eyes lifted from his plate to meet Noriaki’s and they stared at each other for a charged moment. Then Jotaro had to ruin it by snorting.

“You just reminded me how much I’ve missed the lame way you hit on me,” he chuckled, his eyes dancing with merriment.

Noriaki’s cheeks coloured and he blew out a puff of air, disturbing his bangs. He knew he was pouting but he didn’t care. “Well, if you don’t want to-“

“I never said that,” Jotaro interjected, entirely serious once again. He rose from his chair suddenly, moved swiftly round the table, pulled Noriaki’s own seat back and scooped him up into his arms, bridal style. Noriaki let out a little, Oh! as Jotaro clarified, “I’d throw you over my shoulder and carry you like a caveman if your back wasn’t sore.”

Noriaki laughed as he wound his arms around Jotaro’s neck, his chest feeling lighter than it had in weeks, since Jotaro had first left for Morioh. “How chivalrous of you. Now, are you going to carry me to bed?”

Jotaro kissed him once, long and lingering, before pulling away and answering, “Of course. I’ve been wanting to do something else with you all day.”

And so, they did.

The next day, the sun cleared away and the sky was covered in a blanket of grey clouds, proving Josuke’s original theory that the universe didn’t just lull him into a false sense of security on pretty days, it hated him all the time. He grumbled to himself as he walked down the rain-soaked streets, an umbrella pinched beneath his arm pit as he tore open a packet of liquorice he’d bought at the corner store on the way home.

Home: his current course of action. He couldn’t wait to get out of the rain, change into his sweats, and park himself in front of the TV to game until his mom kicked him out of living room. A dreamy sigh floated from between his lips as he imagined his dry, comfy bed socks, stepping around puddles as he continued on. The last thing he needed was to get his shoes soaked and walk the rest of the way with a pond beneath each of his feet. He approached the corner and-

“-so good to see you again, Mr. Joestar.”

-flattened his back against the wall. Slowly inching around to peer out from behind the brickwork, his heart racing and a string of liquorice dangling from his mouth, Josuke spotted the familiar red of Mr. Joestar’s coat. He was embracing someone and as they split apart, Josuke saw it was none other than the mysterious Stand user. His back was instantly up, Crazy Diamond at the ready, but once again the man looked genial and pleasant as he smiled up at Mr. Joestar—the old man might’ve been stooped over with age, but he was still ridiculously tall for a geezer.

“I’m sorry I didn’t catch you yesterday,” the man went on.

“Oh, that’s alright, Kakyoin,” Mr. Joestar responded, waving him off. “Little Shizuka’s proving to be quite a handful. Honestly, I spent most of yesterday catching up on some sleep.”

“Oh, yes,” the man—Kakyoin?—replied, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “The baby Stand user. I’ve already heard all about her. I’d love to meet her soon. It’s so rare to come across another born Stand user.”

They chatted away amicably some more, shielded from the rain by Kakyoin’s large, clear umbrella.

Josuke just watched on mutely as his brain tried to process this new information. So, he wasn’t an enemy then? Mr. Joestar clearly knew him, but how? Were they old coworkers, connected through that organisation Jotaro often talked to, or something else? To his knowledge, Mr. Joestar was retired. And how much could he trust Mr. Joestar’s judgement, anyway? Odds were this Kakyoin guy just looked vaguely like someone he once knew and Mr. Joestar couldn’t tell the difference, letting this guy swoop in, taking advantage.

The two began walking together and Josuke followed behind, keeping a cautious distance and straining his ears to hear snatches of their conversation over the pattering of the rain.

“But how are things back home? How’s Jolyne? If I don’t hear it from you, I’ll never know. You’d think it’d be easy now with all of us living in the same country, and yet.”

“Oh, she’s great. Going through a bit of a rebellious phase at the moment though, so I feel a little sorry leaving her alone with her mother for so long. I promised I’d bring her something back from Japan.”

“Rebellious phase, eh? Sounds just like her father.”

“Hah, you can say that again.”

Jolyne? So, this guy had a family then. Shit, maybe he should be taking notes to bring back to Jotaro, at least to see if he’d ever heard of this guy.

Soon enough, however, the two of them were waving goodbye to each other, Kakyoin opening the door to a taxi for Mr. Joestar, leaning down to say something to him underneath his umbrella. A moment later, the car door shut and the taxi pottered away, leaving Kakyoin to wave after it from the sidewalk.

Josuke ducked back behind his hiding spot, diligently chewing away at his candy as he thought to himself. What was his best move here? Trying to tail him again? Confront him? He didn’t really want to get into a fight on the street, not when he didn’t know what Kakyoin’s Stand’s ability was and whether it was a danger to others. But he couldn’t just-

“Are you alright there?”

Josuke yelped, jumping on the spot. His liquorice fell from his mouth and his feet landed right in a puddle, instantly soaking his socks. A long groan fell from his lips as he gingerly curled his toes within his shoes, cringing against the squelch of wet fabric.

Kakyoin, stood only feet away, winced in sympathy as he watched Josuke step out of the puddle. “Oh dear. That’s too bad.”

Josuke glared over at him. Once again, this guy had gotten the jump on him, creeping up without Josuke even realising. He was either surprisingly light on his feet, or it had something to do with his Stand. Unlike Josuke, Kakyoin appeared entirely composed, glasses in place, his red hair neatly styled, one hand in the pocket of his double-breasted peacoat, and, most importantly, he was dry beneath his umbrella.

Clenching his fist, Josuke pushed off the wall and fired back, “It’s your fault! You snuck up on me.”

Kakyoin tilted his head to the side, tapping his cheek in thought. “But you were the one spying on me, so the first strike is against you.”

He fired a finger gun at Josuke, who stiffened on instinct at being caught. Kakyoin’s eyes crinkled as his mouth stretched into a wry smile.

Josuke, never one to admit defeat, crossed his arms with a huff. “So, what if I was? Some suspicious guy shows up here and I’m just supposed to ignore it?”

“What’s so suspicious about me?”

“You have a Stand and I’ve never seen you before.”

“I could say the same about you.”

Realising he was fighting a losing battle, Josuke switched tactics. “How do you know Mr. Joestar?”

That finally seemed to give Kakyoin pause. He flexed his fingers against the handle of his umbrella, the smell of wet asphalt rising all around them in the rain. “So, you know him too, do you?” Something shifted in his gaze, his eyes growing wider. “Oh…Of course. You’re his son, aren’t you?”

Josuke was brought up short by the question. By the look in Kakyoin’s eyes, there was no doubt in his mind about it, which just made Josuke more awkward. Son was still a strange word he had trouble squaring when it came to himself and Mr. Joestar, and the fact that this stranger seemed to know all about it had him oddly defensive.

“Wha-? How would you know?” Josuke demanded.

Kakyoin smiled back, earnest and open once more as his eyes flicked over the length of him. “Well, now that I get a good look at you, you look just like him.”

Josuke could only stare back at him, reassessing his earlier judgement that Kakyoin wasn’t an enemy after all.

Kakyoin burst into laughter at Josuke’s silence, hiding his mouth behind a slender wrist. “Don’t look at me like that! It’s a compliment. Even in his sixties when I met him, he was a looker. Truth be told, I had a bit of crush on him when I was a teenager. Jotaro just about died on the spot when I let that one slip-“

“Stop!” Josuke begged, waving his free hand about in front of him. “Stop! Stop!” He squatted down on the ground, curled up beneath his umbrella.

Never in his life had he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him more than in that moment. This beat out even that time in Preschool he’d dropped his juice box on his lap during lunchtime and everyone thought he’d wet his pants. Ugh, what was this guy’s deal? Saying all that crap and expecting him to-

“Wait.” Josuke blinked up at Kakyoin’s amused face. “You know Jotaro?”

“Of course!” Kakyoin enthused, then faltered. He frowned, pursing his lips. “Jotaro never mentioned me?”

Josuke wracked his brain, but Jotaro had hardly even mentioned Mr. Joestar when they’d first met. Eventually, he shook his head. “Uh, no. He doesn’t really talk about much outside of Stand stuff.”

Kakyoin clicked his tongue, half irritated, half amused. “Why am I not surprised? Well, I’m Noriaki Kakyoin. Nice to officially meet you.”

“Josuke Higashikata,” Josuke mumbled in reply, standing up. Though he was fairly certain now Kakyoin wasn’t an enemy, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go shaking his hand or anything, so kept his hand not holding the umbrella buried in his pocket.

If Kakyoin took offence to this, he didn’t let it show, smiling impassively as ever. “Another Jojo, hm? Well, Josuke, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. I think it’d be easier if Jotaro explained it with me. So, why don’t you go home, get nice and dry, and then come over to the Grand Morioh Hotel tonight?” He clapped his hands once and beamed. “Maybe we could all have dinner together.”

Josuke squinted suspiciously. Letting Kakyoin out of his sight seemed like a bad idea but at the same time…

His socks felt really gross.

Shifting from foot to foot, his shoes let out wet sounds like farts, and Josuke admitted defeat.

“Okay,” he sighed. “Tonight.”

“Tonight,” Josuke said into the phone. “He wants to talk tonight, so clear whatever you guys are doing.”

His feet, now clad in dry socks, were slung over the side of the big, plush armchair in the living room as he settled in with the phone. It had taken him a second to shower, change into a warm, fleece hoody and pyjama pants before getting Okuyasu and Koichi into a three-way call. After that, he’d rattled off the events of the afternoon to the two of them—leaving out the fact that he apparently resembled his foreign, elderly father—while staring out the window, watching the rain sluice down the panes of glass and listening to his mom preparing dinner in the kitchen.

“I’ll have to tell Yukako I can’t come over,” Koichi fretted but Okuyasu burst out, “Josuke, what if this whole thing is a trap? This guy’s weird!”

Josuke pursed his lips. He’d considered the same thing. What if Kakyoin was just using some imaginary connection to Jotaro to lure him and his friends into an ambush? He had no tangible reason to trust Kakyoin other than that he apparently knew Mr. Joestar and had a kind smile. Still…

“I don’t think so,” he decided. “And anyway, what choice do we have? We can’t just keep letting him run around without knowing the story. Besides-“ Josuke smirked as Crazy Diamond appeared before him, punching a fist into his palm, “-it’ll be us three against him. No way he can take all of us together.”

“Yeah!” Okuyasu cheered, his earlier doubts apparently entirely forgotten. “We’ll kick his ass!”

“But doesn’t he walk with a cane?” Koichi asked, sounding torn. “That doesn’t seem very heroic…”

“You’re too soft-hearted, Koichi!” Okuyasu snapped.

The two of them went back and forth for a while, so Josuke left the phone to fetch his dinner. After fifteen minutes, he returned and they were still going at it. Instead of intervening, Josuke ate in silence, listening to his friends debate the ethics of beating a disabled man on the condition that his Stand wasn’t disabled. He’d polished his plate by the time Koichi agreed that on the condition Kakyoin attacked them first, it would be self-defence either way, and they all agreed to meet up by the Angelo rock before setting off for the Grand Morioh Hotel.

Josuke pulled on his shoes and coat, yelled out to his mom that he was heading over to Okuyasu’s house, then slipped out the door. He jogged through town, the summer air making the dampness seeped into the asphalt from the earlier rain steam. He quickly arrived on the scene, Okuyasu and Koichi already waiting for him at the meeting point. They said a quick greeting to Angelo then started towards the hotel.

It wasn’t until they got there that Josuke realised their plan hadn’t extended much further than ‘show up and fight if needed.’ He didn’t know which room Kakyoin was staying in or how to let him know they were there. Their only options were to wait or get tricky.

So, of course, they elected to get tricky.

It was simple, really. Koichi distracted the lady at the front desk while Josuke tore a shred of paper from the corner of the guest book while she wasn’t looking. They slipped away after Koichi asked some mindless questions, and with a touch from Crazy Diamond, the book was flying across the room, mending with the piece of paper. The three of them surrounded the book in the privacy of the elevator, Koichi scanning the pages for Kakyoin’s name, but finding no sign of it.

“Maybe this was all some wild goose chase?” Koichi suggested as Josuke and Okuyasu squinted down at the pages. “He could’ve lied about staying at the hotel.”

“But why?” Josuke wondered aloud.

Okuyasu smacked Josuke on the shoulder hard enough to make him grunt. “It was a reverse trap!”

Not really knowing what that meant, Josuke, rubbing his injured arm, ignored him and said, “We should find Jotaro and tell him.”

Luckily, Jotaro’s name was in the guest book, and they punched his floor number into the elevator. As they approached his door, Josuke was tempted to barge straight in and blurt out everything that had happened over the last two days, but he suddenly paused as he reached the landing. Okuyasu attempted to storm right past him, but Josuke held out an arm, blocking his way.

“Hey!” Okuyasu protested, blinking down at Josuke’s outstretched arm. “What gives?”

“Shh!” Josuke hissed, bringing a finger to his lips, his ears pricked. “I can hear voices. Someone’s in there with Jotaro.”

Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi all shared a silent look before squishing themselves up against the door, ears all plastered to the wood. Just as Josuke had said, two distinct voices could be heard from within. One was Jotaro’s familiar, deep rumble, the other Josuke recognised as Kakyoin’s softer tone. Their words were muffled behind the door and Josuke strained his ears, trying to make them out.

“What’re they saying?” Okuyasu asked, far too loudly for Josuke’s liking.

“I don’t know!” Josuke hissed back.

“It doesn’t sound like they’re fighting,” Koichi commented, his head pressed right under Josuke’s armpit as he crowded close to the door.

They were so intent on listening, they didn’t hear the shuffling of footsteps until a voice spoke up right behind them.

“What’re you three doing?”

They startled, spinning around to see Mr. Joestar stood in the hallway, leaning over his walking stick and staring at them quizzically.

Right. Josuke had nearly forgotten he was staying at the hotel too.

“Um,” Koichi sputtered, looking anxiously at Josuke and Okuyasu. “We- We were just-“

“We’re spying on Jotaro and that Kakyoin guy,” Okuyasu said plainly and Josuke mentally face-palmed.

Josuke, Okuyasu, Koichi, and Mr. Joestar all shared a silent look before Mr. Joestar dashed to the door with more speed than Josuke had ever seen him use, pushing Okuyasu down into a crouch so he could lean close.

“You’re never going to hear anything through these thick doors,” Mr. Joestar said, producing a glass cup from his coat pocket.

Josuke stared as Mr. Joestar pressed it against the door, level with his ear.

“You just had that in your pocket?”

“And why not?” Mr. Joestar shot back, then held his hand up for silence. “Now shush.” They all leaned close to the glass, Jotaro and Kakyoin’s voices clearer but only marginally so. Mr. Joestar let out a disgruntled noise before turning to Koichi. “You there. Doesn’t your Stand have something to do with sound? Could you make them louder for us?”

Koichi blinked, looking as though this idea had never occurred to him. To be fair to him, it hadn’t occurred to Josuke either. “I- I can try.”

Echoes spawned at his side, perched on his shoulder as its long tail slithered beneath the gap under the door. It opened its mouth and, suddenly, the warbling tones of the voices within were clear, as though Jotaro and Kakyoin were standing right next to them.

“-wonder when he’ll get here?” the voice of Kakyoin said. “Maybe I should wait down in the lobby for him?”

“Don’t bother,” Jotaro replied, sounding further away. “He’ll probably just show up at our room with his friends in tow. He’s meddlesome like that.”

Realising they were talking about him, Josuke flushed slightly, his lips pursed in a pout. He was not meddlesome. He just…took initiative! It was an admirable trait, as a matter of fact.

Josuke was so caught up in his own indignation, it took a moment for his brain to register the rest of Jotaro’s words.

Our room?

“He seems sweet,” Kakyoin went on. “I can see why you’ve taken such a liking to him.”

“Tch. He’s alright, I guess,” Jotaro answered.

Koichi spoke up, “It doesn’t seem like they’re fighting.”

Mr. Joestar frowned down at him and Echoes. “Why would they be fighting? And believe me, we wouldn’t need your Stand to hear them if they were fighting.” He chuckled a little to himself at this.

“So, they are friends then?” Josuke pushed. He was getting more than a little frustrated over this whole situation. Just what in the hell was going on?

Mr. Joestar stared at him, his lips parted and brow furrowed as though he didn’t know how to respond to that. “Uhh-“

Kakyoin’s tinkling laugh interrupted him. “Oh, you big, tough guy. Does hunting Stand users again bring that out of you?”

“What does that mean?” Jotaro groused.

Kakyoin laughed again. “Just takes me back, is all. If you throw on something black and light up a cigarette it’ll be like we’re teenagers again.”

Teenagers? Josuke’s mind raced. They’d known each other for that long? Long enough that Jotaro was sharing his room with him? Stone-faced, ever-serious Jotaro?

“They’re moving around in there,” Okuyasu stated and Mr. Joestar shushed him as the sound of slow footsteps played through Echoes’ mouth.

“Hmm. I can think of something else that’ll really make us feel like teenagers again,” Jotaro said, his tone low and oddly…alluring.

“We shouldn’t,” Kakyoin said back, but even without visuals his reluctance seemed performative. “They could be here any minute.”

“They can wait,” came Jotaro’s gravelly response.

Koichi jerked away from the door, pink in the face and trembling slightly. “Guys, I don’t think we should be listening to this.”

“Why?” Okuyasu demanded, clueless.

“The whole point of spying is to listen to people,” Mr. Joestar pointed out.

Their voices all melded together in Josuke’s head, adding to the noise swirling around his brain. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think he was listening in on a couple of lovebirds, flirting in their own private suite. But that was crazy because that would imply Jotaro and Kakyoin were that way together, which would mean Jotaro had a partner, which would mean that Jotaro was capable of romantic love and didn’t operate entirely on engine fuel, like some kind of automaton. Which would be crazy.

Josuke only realised Echoes was no longer broadcasting the voices within just as the door opened and he, Koichi, and Okuyasu all spilled into the room, falling flat on their faces. Josuke’s fall was at least partially cushioned by landing on Okuyasu, who grunted beneath him, but that was of little consequence when he opened his eyes and saw himself staring at a pair of white slippers. Tipping his head back with a sense of dread, Josuke’s eyes travelled up the long legs and broad torso of the person in front of him until they reached Jotaro’s face. His eyes were obscured by heavy shadows, but his scowling mouth was on full display, radiating a menacing aura.

The three of them stared up in mute terror, the silence only broken by Mr. Joestar coughing behind them in the doorway.

“Oh, dear! This isn’t my room. Silly me!” The feeble wobble in his voice was one that hadn’t been there a moment ago, like he’d suddenly aged another ten years in the span of time it had taken Jotaro to open the door. “Don’t mind me, boys. As you were.”

He then made a speedy retreat, toddling off with an innocent whistle, leaving Josuke and the others to their fate like a coward. Josuke gritted his teeth, promising to get one back at the old man before long, but his vow of vengeance was cut short by Jotaro growling above him.

“What the hell are you three doing?” he asked, the playful tone he’d been using just a minute ago gone.

Josuke scrambled back onto his ass, holding his hands up in surrender. “It’s not what it looks like!”

“Yeah!” Okuyasu agreed. “We definitely weren’t spying on you.”

This time, Josuke did face-palm.

Koichi was already on his feet, bowing rapidly and apologising profusely, trying to rationalise their actions to an unimpressed Jotaro that they were only acting out of his best interest. None of them knew Kakyoin, so they weren’t sure they could trust him, Mr. Joestar had told them nothing, etc, etc.

Jotaro just stared at them as they sat in a line, shame-faced and staring at the floor, bowing their heads in repentance. Jotaro let them jabber away, saying nothing until their excuses ran dry, arms crossed over his chest. Josuke’s only blessing was that Star Platinum hadn’t appeared, so at least Jotaro wasn’t planning to kick their asses. Yet.

Through it all, Kakyoin lurked in the background, leaning against the kitchen counter and smiling in amusement, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. Whether this was because he was anticipating kicking their asses himself or he just enjoyed their suffering, Josuke couldn’t have said.

Once they fell silent, Jotaro spoke, his voice deep and rumbling as a grinding boulder. “Are you done? ‘Cause I stopped listening about five minutes ago.”

“Sorry,” Koichi mumbled again, wincing.

Jotaro ignored him, looking at Josuke. “I didn’t realise Noriaki was the Stand user you were talking about. If you’d said so, we could’ve avoided this whole mess.”

“If you’d listened when I called you…” Josuke grumbled but trailed off when Jotaro’s ice-cold gaze sliced to his. He valued his life slightly more than being right. Though, he did still have one pressing question. “If Mr. Kakyoin isn’t an enemy, then who is he?”

All eyes turned to Kakyoin as he slinked from the kitchen, over to Jotaro’s side. Jotaro just looked at him, arms moving from across his chest to dig his hands into his pockets. He didn’t flinch when Kakyoin got right up into his personal space, something Josuke assumed would’ve gotten the average person decapitated.

“Why don’t you tell them?” Kakyoin asked, his tone deceptively light as he laid a hand on Jotaro’s shoulder. “Or is it a big secret?”

Everyone’s gazes ping-ponged over to Jotaro, who tugged at the brim of his cap with a huff.

“It’s no secret, it just never came up,” Jotaro said. Lifting his head, he curled a loose arm around Kakyoin, pulling him to his side. He said to the amassed group, “Noriaki’s my partner. We’ve been together for ten years.”

Kakyoin smoothed his hand up Jotaro’s chest and gave a sunny smile, oblivious to the line of jaws that all fell to the floor.

All Josuke could do was wordlessly sputter and stare at Kakyoin’s hand on Jotaro’s chest, comfortably resting against the fabric of his shirt, as though he touched him all the time and his rightful place was between Jotaro’s pecs. Suddenly, every assumption that he’d ever made about Jotaro had to be rewritten. His reason for disliking the attention of girls wasn’t that he despised them but that he was already taken? And gay? Possibly both? He clearly wasn’t the type to spurn romance if he’d been in a relationship for ten years. Josuke couldn’t imagine Jotaro on a date, holding hands and using pet names like normal people in relationships did, and yet there he was, holding Kakyoin as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Clearly, he didn’t know a damn thing about his long-lost nephew.

“Seriously?” Okuyasu burst out, obviously the first to break. His eyes bugged out of his head as he gawked at Jotaro and Kakyoin. “You don’t mean, like…partners in crime? But partners in…love?”

Jotaro’s expression remained the same but Kakyoin snorted into his sleeve, grinning wide.

“That would be correct,” he replied between laughs.

“But why are we only meeting you now?” Koichi asked. “Where have you been?”

“Back in America, taking care of some business there,” Kakyoin explained. “I wanted to go with Jotaro from the beginning, especially since this is my hometown, after all, but I couldn’t.”

“Eh?” Josuke blinked, his attention suddenly snagged. “Really? You’re from Morioh?”

Kakyoin nodded. “Though my family moved when I was in high school, and after I met Jotaro and Mr. Joestar, I ended up living with him after getting out of the hospital. But yes, I always missed this place and wanted to see it again, especially when I heard there was trouble with Stands going on.”

“But what about Jolyne?” Josuke questioned, the name popping into his head and dropping from his lips in the same moment. At Kakyoin and Jotaro’s surprised look, he pressed, “She’s your kid, right?”

Jotaro frowned and Kakyoin slid his hand over to squeeze his upper arm, answering, “Jolyne is Jotaro’s but we’ve been raising her together. Right now, she’s staying with her mother back in Florida.”

More questions raced through Josuke’s mind but he felt he’d pried enough already, so kept his lips pressed together. However, the realisation that Jotaro was also a father left him even more confounded than before. What the hell was the world coming to where Jotaro was a man who could wear a baby sling?

“Why don’t you all get off the floor?” Kakyoin suggested, that kind smile back on his face. He gestured to the dining table, where plates and cutlery were already laid out. “I already made dinner and I’d love to get to know you all better. You can tell me whether Jotaro’s gotten any actual work done or just looked at shells on the beach.”

Okuyasu didn’t need to be told twice, shooting to his feet with a big grin, thanking Kakyoin and marching straight to the table, Koichi trailing behind them.

Josuke watched Jotaro glance down at Kakyoin, his arm still curled around his waist, and a soft smile tug at his mouth. Smiles from Jotaro were rare enough but Josuke didn’t think he’d ever seen him look like that. Clearly, Kakyoin was stronger than anyone Josuke had ever known. So, he climbed to his feet and joined the others at the table, eager to learn more about his family.

After all, if Kakyoin was Jotaro’s partner, that made him family.

After fetching Mr. Joestar from his room and assuring him Jotaro wasn’t going to kill them all (yet), he joined them at the table and everyone sat down for dinner. Josuke, Koichi, and Okuyasu were keen to hear more about the journey across the world to defeat an evil vampire that had apparently stolen the body of Josuke’s great-grandfather and was responsible for all of them acquiring Stands when they did. Jotaro had only mentioned the event in passing, but Kakyoin happily talked away, describing certain scenarios even Josuke had trouble believing.

“You punched him so hard he blew up?” Okuyasu said incredulously, curry sauce sticking to the corner of his mouth.

Jotaro, looking rather pleased at the reaction, nodded. “That’s right.”

“I wasn’t there for this part, so I can’t confirm if it actually happened,” Kakyoin cut in, earning a flick on the ear from Jotaro.

While Kakyoin did most of the talking, Jotaro did retrieve a framed photo of them and their old companions, treating Josuke to the image of a seventeen-year-old Jotaro. He was just as tall and brawny as he currently stood, though he somehow looked even surlier in the past. It took him a moment to recognise the man at the front as Mr. Joestar, his disbelieving eyes flicking between the muscled, grinning man in the photo, and the Mr. Joestar across the table from him, trying to spoon porridge into baby Shizuka’s mouth and dropping it on his lap. He supposed he’d reconsider his offence at Kakyoin’s earlier statement that they looked alike if he focused on this twelve-year-old photo.

Okuyasu seemed to be having similar trouble connecting the two versions of Mr. Joestar. “That’s wild, Mr. Joestar. You look so different.”

Josuke rolled his eyes, missing the sly grin Mr. Joestar had on his face.

“Next you’ll say-“

“That’s how aging works, dumbass.”

A beat past before Josuke realised he and Mr. Joestar had spoken at the same time and his eyes flashed open. He stared hard at Mr. Joestar, who was pretending to ignore him, whistling to himself and holding up another spoonful to Shizuka.

“Wha-?” Josuke sputtered while Jotaro shook his head, looking disappointed. His cheeks coloured and he demanded, “Is that another ability of your Stand or something?”

“Nope,” Mr. Joestar replied, his prosthetic hand creaking as he shot Josuke a finger gun. “It just means I know you well enough now to read you.”

Josuke’s face warmed further and he busied himself with stuffing more curry in his mouth, ignoring Kakyoin tittering across the table.

The topic of Stands came up, Kakyoin crowing with delight as he watched Shizuka make her spoon invisible, and soon they were all bringing their Stands out to show them off. Josuke learned that Kakyoin’s Stand was called Hierophant Green, and while it examined Crazy Diamond, the Hand, and Echoes curiously, it remained curled around Star Platinum like a possessive vine until Kakyoin dismissed it. Mr. Joestar gave them a demonstration of Hermit Purple’s spirit photography ability by punching a polaroid camera and making it spit out a photo of Rohan while he was brushing his teeth. Josuke quickly snagged the photo, sniggering over the white cream coating Rohan’s face and warming more to Mr. Joestar’s Stand.

And possibly the man himself, though he didn’t need to know that.

They remained in the hotel room long after they’d finished dinner, talking into the night. Josuke knew his mom was going to be livid when he finally returned home, but that was a battle he’d fight when he crossed it. He didn’t want to leave just yet, not when he was learning all these things about a family he’d never known until a few weeks ago.

Watching Jotaro and Kakyoin, how comfortable they were with each other, how Kakyoin would eat off of Jotaro’s plate without asking, how Jotaro would wipe off a dot of sauce from Kakyoin’s cheek with the pad of his thumb, how they reached for each other seemingly without realising while they spoke. Maybe it was weird to watch, but Josuke couldn’t help it. He liked Kakyoin a lot, partially because he was so nice, but mostly because he seemed to soften Jotaro with his presence alone.

The knowledge that Kakyoin would be staying in town with Jotaro for the rest of the summer, or until they got to the bottom of the arrow business, warmed Josuke. He grinned to himself, wondering how soon he could convince Kakyoin to join him on a mission and wring more stories about Jotaro out of him.

He couldn’t wait.