Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Though she had firmly rejected the notion of being a housewife at the tender age of five because she was determined to take care of her damn self, Tomoko Higashikata had to admit the harder of her two jobs was the one as a mother (though it was also the most rewarding). It was especially difficult when your son was a so called “delinquent” who spent two hours on his hair and then ran off the hang with his buddies until who knows what hour. Usually without cleaning his room.

She knew she should just wait and let the clutter build until he couldn’t stand it anymore, but the boy had recently been caught dead in the center of a gas explosion, so she didn’t see cleaning his room as too much of a bother. His room was cleaner than normal because he’d been out so often, but there were still odds and ends that needed to be picked up. It also happened that Josuke wasn’t a very private person and Tomoko wasn’t a snoop, so there was little concern of her stumbling onto something she shouldn’t see.

Or so she thought.

Sticking out under his bed was a porno book, hidden as poorly as only a teenage boy could. She sighed, leaning down to take it out and put it in a drawer. But something about the book caught her eye and made her pause.

There wasn’t some big breasted woman who probably had back pains on the cover.

It was a man. A man with rippling muscles and chest hair, without an ounce of anything soft about him. There were a lot of terms she didn’t recognize but the word “dick” was rather prominent more than once.

She stood stock still for a moment, processing the image before her eyes. Her son was gay? Josuke?

A recent conversation in the teacher’s office between some of her coworkers, who were also mothers, came to mind.

“I heard that Hiroko’s son turned out to be a homo!” on of them said behind her hand, like she wasn’t whispering so loud everyone around could hear.

“No way! But he was such a nice boy! Poor Hiroko...there goes her chances of grandchildren!”

“I don’t know what I would do if my boy was a homo. He definitely couldn't stay in our house! What if he preyed on his younger brother!?”

“Your son is normal, so you don't have to worry!”

They both laughed, but it sounded more maniacal cackling to Tomoko. ‘They spent all that time loving and raising their child and they’d simply kick him to the curb!?’ she’d thought.

She sighed. It wasn’t a common, or very safe opinion, to be supportive of gay people, especially after AIDS, but...she couldn’t bring herself to have the normal disgust others had.

There was also no way in hell she could kick Josuke out. She was lucky that her parents supported her choice in keeping the boy at all, because plenty of people in her life told her to just give him away and save herself the trouble, so she was not going to throw what she had worked so hard for right out the door.

It wasn’t the Higashikata way to cave into what other people thought of you anyways. Josuke seemed to share that, but at the very least, he could be himself in the confines of this house. Anyone who thought otherwise would have to square up to her, and Tomoko was not a fan of holding back.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening downstairs, “Yo, Ma! I’m home!”

“Hey kid!” she called, putting the book back on the floor and kicking it under the bed. She hurried out of the room and shut the door gently, making her way downstairs. Josuke had clearly slung his bag onto the kitchen table to rummage through the fridge.

“If any snacks I was saving for myself are gone,” she growled and he waved her off (though she was satisfied to see his flinch).

“I got it, I got it.”

Nothing had changed about this situation. Josuke was Josuke, her stupid, irresponsible, clever and charming son. Gay or not.

“Okuyasu or Koichi aren’t coming over today?” she asked casually, moving to the counter to brew some late afternoon coffee (because she knew she would need it for a conversation they were soon to have).

He shook his head, shutting the fridge and moving to the pantry, settling on a bag of nearly finished chips, “Koichi’s got to study for cram school and Okuyasu just got a cat so he wants to be home to make sure it doesn’t make a mess.”

She nodded, and they both moved to sit down at the table. He pushed his bag off and began to crew on the crisps, “You could learn a lesson in responsibility from them both, ya’ know.”

“Hey!” he protested with his mouth full, "I do my homework!”

“Don’t chew with your mouth open, you big spender!”

He swallowed in indignation but didn’t argue, as she was the one in possession of most of his lotto winnings. The machine went off she got up to pour herself a cup. Mug in hand, she sat back down and took a few small sips. There was a comfortable silence between them, of a type only a close mother and son could have. She had to gather up her courage to confront him however.

Tomoko wasn’t a fan of prying into anyone’s business, least of all her son’s, but she wanted him to know that he didn’t need to hide from her.

“Josuke,” she began, looking down into the swirling brown liquid, “I need to talk to you.”

He looked up at her like a deer in headlights, What did I do!?  unspoken on his lips. She shook her head fondly.

“I was in your room earlier, cleaning up,” he nodded, “You have to find better hiding places than that.”

There was a hacking noise that turned out to be Josuke choking on his mouthful of chips. Luckily he managed to swallow and cough before an ambulance needed to be called, but she had never seen true fear on that boy’s face before now.

“M-Mom I-! That’s-”

It was awful to see Josuke, who was normally so confident, unfounded or not, splutter and wheeze. She reached a hand out to cover his, “Josuke, I’m not angry. I promise.”

He stopped for a moment. His usually perfectly engineered pompadour had started to unravel when he ran his hand through it in panic. He pitifully reached up to adjust it, but gave up and just rested it on top of his skull.

“I won’t stop loving you. You have my support, whether or not your gay. You’re an irritating punk, and this doesn’t change that.”

He laughed weakly, gaining some color back in his cheeks.

“Not everyone is gonna agree with me, but you’ll always have a place here,” she put her hands on her hips and pretended to look stern, “ But I will kick you out if you keep eating my snacks!”

“What was all that talk about unconditional love?” he said, clearly more comfortable. He scratched the back of his head, mussing up his already uncharacteristically messy hair, “Look, mom, that was, impulse. We were in the store and sort of laughing at it but then I got curious and-”

“You don’t have to explain how you got it. Most teenagers have porn in their room. You just need a less obvious hiding spot.”

“Yeah, gotcha.”

They were silent again. She cleared her throat, “I’ve got a story, if you’re still willing to listen.”

He nodded, though he did look twitchy to go and fix his hair. She smiled, forcing memories of her youth back to the front of her brain.

“Let me tell you about a girl I knew when I was younger...”

Chapter Text

“What’s this?” Tomoko had asked her father when he handed her the thin book. She stared at it in confusion, as it appeared to be backwards and was written in characters she vaguely recognized as English letters.

“It’s called a ‘comic book’. One of the guys at the station got ahold of it and we’re taking turns borrowing it. You can use it to practice your English,” he said with a smile, “It’s about superheroes. It’s from America.”

“America?” to her, America was a far off, imaginary place, but now she was confronted with concrete proof of it’s existence, “Can I bring it to school?”

He nodded, as he was never one to deny his daughter anything, “So long as you’re careful.”

She grinned excitedly, because she would be the center of attention tomorrow if she had something from this “America”.

Her prediction came true. Though most of her grade school class didn’t have the level of English comprehension to properly read it, it’s foreign novelty was very exciting to them. She proudly showed it off the whole day, and when it was time to go home, she was approached by one of the shyer girls in her class, Junko Kobayashi.

“U-Uh, do you like comic books? My uncle works in America and he sends me some every month...I can even read them...”

“You can read them!?”

“Y-Yeah, my dad is real good at English so he taught me.”

“Can I come over and read them!?”

“S-Sure!”

Tomoko was called away by her mother, but after picking next Wednesday, they parted ways with a wave. The next week could not come quickly enough for Tomoko, who was sociable and always looking for new friends. Her parents were indulgent as ever and allowed the playdate with no fuss.

She was dressed in what she considered the the nines and ready to go right after school, and nearly pushed her mom away when the Kobayashi’s door opened. Her mother made both her apologies and some small talk in the entryway as the children bounded upstairs. As Tomoko found out later, she was the very first friend Junko had ever made, so they were both equally eager.

Junko tugged out a rather hefty box from her closet, revealing a sizable collection of comics. She grabbed one off the top, displaying it proudly, “This is Wonder Woman! She’s my favorite!”

“Wonder Woman?”

“Yeah! She has super strength and she’s magic!”

The next few hours were spent with Junko translating the words from her various Wonder Woman comics into Japanese for Tomoko. They shared laughs and shouts of triumph when their superheroine’s fist landed straight in a baddy’s face. They reluctantly parted ways when it became nighttime, but the invisible seeds of friendship had been planted, and for the rest of their elementary career they could found at each other’s houses as often as their own.

The saga of Tomoko’s and Junko’s friendship continued onto middle school, as they both attended the biggest in Morioh. They still spent their weekends pouring over comics, but Tomoko was now well versed enough in English that she could read along by herself. Those days spent on Junko’s bed reading were still some of her fondest memories.

High school began much the same, but in their second year, something... happened. Tomoko came over after school like always, but Junko had been in low spirits the whole day, admitting that she has something “Weighing on her mind, ” which Tomoko hoped to find out now.

When they got to Junko’s room, she flopped on the bed like always, “Okay, spill!"

“Tomoko...” she sighed, sitting next to her, “You said we're best friends forever, yeah?”

“Uh huh...” she sat up, genuinely concerned right now.

There was a look of pure panic in Junko’s eyes, “You have to promise not to hate me or tell my parents or anyone! Promise!”

“I promise.”

“I t-think...I think...” tears welled up, “I think I don’t like boys?”

Tomoko let out a strained laugh, “Well yeah they’re dumb-”

“No!” she  put her face in her hands and her next words were muffled, “I t-t-think I only....only....like girls...”

No words came from Tomoko’s lips and the only sound in the room was Junko’s quiet sobbing. Only...like girls? That was a foreign concept to her, as she had always been told how men marry women and that was the way of things. She got a feeling in her gut that she was supposed to feel disgusted, but when she thought about it...it was still Junko, right?

“L-Look, I...” she paused, biting her lip, “I don’t get it. But like, you’re my friend. I won’t tell anyone. Though I think it’s weird.”

She was still sobbing hard, but the smile on Junko’s face was unmistakable. Looking back, there were only a handful people in their then small town that would have reacted that way and Junko was lucky to have a friend that did.

High school proceeded as normal, though Junko’s secret constantly weighed heavily on her mind. Her base instincts told her to be disgusted but her mind knew that nothing had changed. Fortunately for the both of them, it didn’t come up often, except for one more time during their third and final year.

Apparently, someone had someone found out and spread it, along with other nasty rumors, and Junko ended up the subject of ridicule of most. Tomoko’s constant support helped her save some face, but teenagers were and still are an awful breed.

One day after school, a group of boys approached Junko with clearly less than friendly intent.

“If you don’t want people to think you’re a homo, how about you spend some time with us?”

“Yeah, we’ll show you what you’re missing without men-”

Her only response was tearful shivering, but they were interrupted with a shout.

“Hey! Leave her the hell alone!”

This battle cry was followed by the leader of the group getting a swift kick to the head. He was down, from pain and from shock, and the other boys looked at her with gaping mouths.

“Even if she was, it’s none of your damn business! Now scram or I’ll tell everyone you got beat up by a girl!”

They took this threat deathly serious and they all scrambled away (the boy who had been kicked ran the fastest). She turned to Junko, who was now crying in earnest. Her friend ran pitifully into her arms and cried her heart out. They stood in there, in the shadow of the school, for countless minutes until she had no more tears to shed.

“I’ve always got your back, see?”

“W-Wont you get in trouble?”

“They won’t wanna admit I did them in. It’ll be fine.”

Junko nodded. The “rumor” was soon cleared up, though it still left some scars, and they managed to graduate.

Years later, they met up again in their fourth year of college, the first time in their lives they attended separate schools. They sat together in a bar, catching up.

“I met the most wonderful man...his name is Joseph Joestar. He’s British!”

Junko smiled into her drink, “I’m happy for you!”

Tomoko leaned over, using her hand to shield her mouth as she whispered, “Find any nice ladies lately?”

“H-Hush!” she stuttered out, but there was a smile on her face, “I’ve not been so lucky as you.”

“Lucky, huh...” she wasn’t planning on telling Junko this now, but who knows when they might meet up next, “Listen, I think...”

She took a deep breath, “I’m pregnant.”

There was a thunk as Junko’s drink hit the bar, “What!? Is THAT why you only ordered juice!?”

“Yeah. The baby probably won’t be born until after graduation, but...I’m keeping it,” she downed her juice, “I’m going to keep it, though I don’t know if a crass woman like me would make a good mother.”

“I think you will,” there was nothing but honesty in Junko’s voice, “I don’t think...I don’t think I’d have lived through high school without you.”

“You would have-!?”

“Uh huh. I’ve talked with some people who tried to...if you don’t have support, the pressure can suffocate you. But...I was lucky, and I had you. If you support that baby the way you did me, you’ll be fine.”

They shared a smile, downing what was left in their cup and each asking for another. They talked well into the evening, and parted ways with the dearest of hugs.

Tomoko remembers the moment they separated vividly. She ran a hand down her stomach and decided that however this baby turned out, she was going to love and support it with all she had.

Chapter Text

When she finished tale, Josuke looked at her in awe. He didn’t say it because he was just as prideful as her, but she could see him thinking My mom was always this awesome!? and she appreciated it.

“Do you still know her?”

“Who do you think I go to see when I take trips to S-City? You’ve met her, but you were small.”

He looked at the floor, “Maybe I could tag along next time?” he asked, still uncharacteristically nervous. She nodded, finishing her last sip of coffee.

“Now that the air is clear...” she smiled, “Why don’t you go clean your room? I didn’t get to finish because I was distracted by your horrible hiding spot.”

“Mooooom,” he whined, finally somewhat back to his normal self. Her smile became a grin.

“If you do you can play your videogames for an extra hour~”

He pouted but got up, clearly glad for the excuse to go upstairs and think. He tossed the bag of chips which he had devoured as he listened to her story with rapt attention. As he walked upstairs, she could hear him moaning about how he’s seriously messed up his hair.

Tomoko’s fond look didn’t disappear when her son did. He was a punk who never listened but she loved him and he’ll never be allowed to forget it. She got up to put her mug in the sink, reminding herself that she had a call to a certain Kobayashi Junko to make.•