December of 1998 was a turning point.

Jolyne had become extremely exuberant in the weeks leading up to Christmas. With every song that played on the radio, the lights and holiday sales and pine trees that she saw, she'd tug on her father's coat and tell him exactly what she expected him to buy for her.

His father's only response was a vague hum and a pat on her head— "You don't believe in Santa anymore?" He would ask sometimes, as if he had forgotten it had been him who made her dispel that belief.

"You called Santa Claus 'a load of dog shit,'" Jolyne would remind him.

Her mother would often burst into laughter anytime Jolyne told her anything her dad said. "Did he really tell that to you?" She said. "Jojo, don't pay your father any mind. He's a grump; he didn't celebrate Christmas when he was your age, so he doesn't like it very much even now."

Jolyne made a face, and told her mom, "That's stupid. Christmas is the best holiday."

"Sure is," she said as she squeezed her cheeks. "But that's just how Japan works."

Jolyne didn't think she liked the idea of Japan very much. "Will daddy come over for Christmas still, though?"

"Of course he will."

Jolyne's father was very important. They always talked about him on the radio, and his hero name was almost always in the newspaper her mother subscribed to somewhere. It became a game— as soon as her mother was done flipping through her favorite sections, Jolyne would steal it from her and look for pictures of her father, count and see how many times they mentioned him. He was usually near the front, and sometimes in the Sunday comics section. There were drawings and little panels of him.

Jolyne's father was very important, so important that Jolyne didn't get to see him that much, only some weekends. She didn't understand a lot of the details the newspapers and radio always got into when they talked about him, but she knew that he saved people for a living. He was a pro hero.

"Is the reason why daddy doesn't live with us because he's a hero?" Jolyne asked her mother once.

"Not exactly," she said, looking up from the dishwasher.

"Then why doesn't he live here?"

"You don't remember this," he mother explained patiently, "But when you were around two or three, he did live here. After that he and I decided that we didn't like being married, so he moved out. You stayed here with me because he's incredibly busy, and he was worried that he wouldn't be able to take care of you. But he loves you very much, and when he doesn't have to go to work, he comes to see you."

Jolyne's mother was very good at explaining things. She had taught her how to read English, how to speak a bit of Italian, and Jolyne shouted, "Buon giorno!" Around the house for a day, even greeting her father like that and laughing at his nonplussed expression.

Her classmates at school talked about him too. At school it was always about him punching things and being cool and the strongest, "Star Platinum's the strongest hero in the world!" Jolyne's mother told her that her dad was a secret she couldn't tell anyone. So she bit her lip, closed her eyes, and tried not to say, My daddy's Star Platinum, and—

And everytime he would come by her mother's house to visit, he'd stoop down to her level, hug her, then nod and do whatever she wanted him to do. That was the person Jolyne knew as her father. Those were the things she couldn't say.

December of 1998 came with all the regular events: school ended, Jolyne tried to imagine what snow would feel like as the weather in Miami became more mild, and she and her mother decorated and decorated and decorated. The only person who became more busy was her dad, busy with all the hustle and bustle and security that came with every holiday season. "I'll come by for Christmas though," he said. It didn't really sound like a promise. Then again, maybe it hadn't meant to be one. Maybe he would just say it and do it.

December 19th marked the day Jolyne's grandparents were supposed to come to visit. Her mother greeted her own parents warmly, said, "Watch Jolyne while I'm gone, alright? I forgot to buy more pepper. Jojo, I'll be back before long, so don't cause any trouble for grandpa and grandma."

She never came back.

May, 1999: Morioh, Japan

"Didn't you hear?" Koichi's entire body was vibrating as he jogged. "Star Platinum's moving to Japan!"

"For real?" Josuke said through a mouthful of breakfast. "Since when?"

They both ran as they talked, uncomfortably aware that the bus would be coming any minute. It was a massive pain to miss it— another line also passed by Budogaoka High School, but it was scheduled in a way that made it almost impossible to arrive on time.

"He's already here actually, but it was only reported on the news this morning. Isn't that cool? Star Platinum's a Japanese hero now."

The bus stop quickly came into view. Okuyasu was already standing there, glancing at his battered wristwatch. He looked visibly relieved when Josuke and Koichi came into view. "I thought you weren't gonna make it!" He called out to them. "That was close."

Josuke punched him in the arm good-naturedly. "We're neighbors, Okuyasu," he complained. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Sorry man, I ended up leaving the house way early…"

Once they were safely on the bus, prior conversation quickly resumed, this time with the input from Okuyasu. "I mean, I don't really know much about foreign heroes," he said. "But even I know Star Platinum. Isn't he actually Japanese?"

Koichi lit up. "Yeah! His father is Japanese, his mom's American. He moved to the states after high school and debuted there, but he grew up in Japan. In some ways, he's the exact opposite of All Might, who's grew up in America but is a Japanese hero now."

It was sort of funny, seeing Koichi all excited like this. He had a great fondness for heroes, which wasn't uncommon, really— the same way one might be into manga and anime, there were also a whole lot of people crazy about heroes. It was just that Josuke had never really been one of them, though there was certainly a healthy amount of respect and admiration there. Judging by the befuddled look on Okuyasu's face, he wasn't either.

"Where do you think he's going to set up his hero agency?" Koichi muttered aloud. "It was in Miami before, and he's said in interviews that he likes living by the coast… Japan's an island though, there are plenty of cities by the ocean."

"You've read up on interviews about this guy?" Josuke grinned and adjusted his stance so he wouldn't fall over as the bus lurched. "Koichi, that's so passionate. I didn't realize you were so crazy about Star Platinum."

Koichi turned red. "There's a reason behind it," he began, scratching his head sheepishly. "I always wanted to be a hero when growing up. But you know, when I finally found out I was quirkless, I was in so much denial that I started looking up to see if there were any heroes in history that made it without a quirk."

Okuyasu blinked and said slowly, "I don't remember things too well, but I'm pretty sure Star Platinum has a quirk."

"He does, it's just that his didn't develop until he was seventeen! It was totally unprecedented. After that, I just thought he was so amazing and cool, I started researching him a lot…"

That was totally crazy. Josuke whistled out loud. "That does sound pretty badass." Seventeen? He must have only had his quirk for a little bit before the whole DIO thing. "It's pretty cool that he's moving to Japan, I guess."

They got off at their stop and, safe from tardiness, began to stroll down the sidewalk with time to spare. It was a nice morning already, with plenty of businessmen heading to work, students in school uniforms chatting as they walked— but nothing special.

Morioh was a pretty peaceful town when it wasn't tourist season, after all. Most days were like this.

"Alright, alright," Josuke said as they rounded the corner by St. Gentlemen's. It wasn't open yet, but the smell of fresh bread wafted through, making his mouth water a bit. "There's just one thing I don't get— Oh sorry, my bad!" He added quickly as he bumped into someone, dropping his school bag. "I wasn't looking where I was going. Anyway—"

Koichi suddenly grabbed his sleeve. "Josuke," he said.

"Just hear me out, ok?" Josuke said. "He sounds cool and all, but who chose the hero name 'Star Platinum?' It makes him sound like he's a drag queen."

"Josuke," Koichi said shrilly, a bit louder this time.

"What, it does!" He said, and picked up his school bag from the ground. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Koichi didn't answer, looking straight past Josuke in mortification, and then a moment of horrible premonition passed over him.

See, the morning had started off ordinarily enough. Sure, he'd overslept. His mom yelled at him when he stole her cream puff, but he'd buy her another one afterschool and she'd forgive him. Yeah, it was an odd coincidence that he'd seen Koichi since he had also been running late— but it was still not that surprising.

It, unfortunately, had not stayed that way.

"Are you Josuke Higashikata?"

The man he had just bumped into stared down at him. The rim of his cap sparkled gold, the bright accents on his white costume gleamed bright, and yet somehow the overwhelming, stifling gravitas around his massive frame didn't seem to fade. His eyes were bright blue under the brim of his cap, and his frown grew deeper the more Josuke gaped at him.

"Josuke Higashikata?" He repeated. His voice was deep, and he held out a picture of a youth who was obviously Josuke, pompadour and all. "Your mother's name is Tomoko, you're sixteen, born in 1983, and raised in Morioh all your life. First year at Budogaoka High. Is that you?"

"Yeah," Josuke said faintly. Behind him, Koichi made a vague choking noise. "Yeah, that's me." The sudden onslaught of information that the man had thrown on him made him ask in slight horror, "Am you here to arrest me?"

"No." The cool voice didn't really inspire much confidence. "But I was looking for you. I supposed you've saved me the trouble of heading to your house."

"My… my house?"

By now, a few people were beginning to look their way. He wasn't as well known as Japanese heroes, but his costume and appearance were still familiar enough to attract at least some attention.

"Are you free to come with me for a bit?"

"I've got school," Josuke said automatically, but the excuse was weak.

Yet somehow, he seemed to take it as an appropriate enough reason. "Then I'll drop by your house sometime this evening. Or if you're free before that, I'll be at the Morioh Grand Hotel, room 324. Give the front desk your name and they'll give you the keycard."

And with that, he gave one last nod to the three of them and strode off in the opposite direction.

As soon as he was out of sight, Koichi croaked out, "I think I just had a really vivid hallucination."

"Yeah," Josuke said breathlessly. "Man, there's gotta be something funky in the air today, Koichi."

Okuyasu, who had been standing a bit dumbly through the exchange, suddenly spoke in epiphany, " Wait, that was—"

For most of the school day Josuke was on autopilot— he took notes halfheartedly and his eyes moved along as the teacher read out of the textbook, but most of his energy was dedicated to trying figure out the exchange in the morning.

"Josuke," one of his classmates called out during lunch, giggling, "I heard you were talking to a cosplayer this morning?"

Cosplayer?! Josuke stuffed a bit of rice into his mouth before he also started giggling nervously, and Okuyasu looked as if he was about to die. "Something like that," he said weakly.

Koichi wasn't here— he and Yukako were eating together again, probably being all gross and domestic too. That was good. If he had to go through this conversation, he'd probably combust.

What did Star Platinum want with him? He hadn't even brought up Josuke's mom, either. It was himself that he seemed to be interested in. What would warrant a hero digging into his background?

The Higashikata family had a very local history, an old family in the town. His grandpa had been the head police chief when he was still alive, and a lot of shopkeepers knew Josuke by name— partly because of his grandpa, and partly because he kept mooning over brand clothes that he couldn't afford. There was really nothing that he could think of that would attract the attention of Star Platinum.

This was just great, he thought miserably. Anxiety gnawed at his insides.

Once school was over, Okuyasu and Koichi reluctantly walked home. "It wouldn't make sense for us to go with you, y'know," Okuyasu said, shrugging. "He only invited you, and it seems kind of rude to just go to his hotel like that."

"I'm sure it isn't anything bad," Koichi said. "And if you get the chance, please, get me an autograph."

Koichi was probably right. His track record of being correct about these sorts of things was far higher than Josuke's, at least, and for once it matched up with his own assessment. Nothing would happen, probably.

It was still weird, though. What would Star Platinum want with him?

Morioh Grand Hotel was the best, classiest place to crash in town. It was for rich tourists who came to Morioh to relax in the summer season. Josuke had only set foot in it once when he was twelve, in an attempt to use the bathroom in the lobby. And the bathroom had been nice— excessively opulent, decorated like someone was going to have to live in there or something. It had been weird, though in a good way.

Entering the establishment the second time, he saw a little girl sitting couch, her expression bored and mulish. When she saw him walk in, she looked up with curiosity.

Here was the thing— little girls were hardly unordinary, but what was odd about her was that while she had dark-colored hair and vaguely Japanese features, it also felt extremely western. Morioh sometimes had overseas tourists, but it was hardly the right season.

The girl brightened when they made eye contact, and she said in English, "Your hair's so cool!"

Well, foreigner it was.

Just a month ago, Josuke couldn't speak a lick of English. His grades in the subject were barely average, and stuttering out a hello would probably be the best he could do.

Instead of any of that though, a big smile crept up. Kids were always cute, and this one had fantastic taste in fashion. "Thanks," he said. "Ain't it the best?"

"How'd you make look so big?"

"A lot of hair gel," Josuke said. "Yours looks pretty cool, too." Apprehension that had flanked his entire mind slipped away for a bit as he took the chance to prolong the inevitable. It wouldn't hurt if he just humored the girl for a bit, right? "Did your parents do it for you?"

"My dad," she nodded, pleased with his compliment. "He tried to teach me how to braid yesterday, but I kept messing up. It's not fair! He's got such big fingers, even though he said small fingers are better." She held up her own hands. "Mine are a lot smaller."

Josuke laughed. "Well, I dunno how to braid things, either," he confessed, leaning down to whisper as if it were a big secret. "Maybe we're both normal, and your dad is just the weird one."

She giggled, then said, "Daddy's busy talking on the phone right now, so he said I could wander around the hotel if I wanted. But nothing's in English, and no one knows what I'm saying. Japan sucks."

Well, that explained why she had latched onto Josuke immediately. "You probably shouldn't go around talking to strangers like this," he said, scratching his head sheepishly. It was sort of on him, being so friendly with a random kid, but she looked bored out of her mind and seemed desperate for any sort of conversation. "Not all of are as cool as me, y'know."

"Daddy says if I meet a bad guy and I'm by myself, I should yell something cool and kick him in the nuts."

"... Sounds like pretty solid advice to me."

"I'm Jolyne Cujoh," she said, sticking her arm out for him to shake. She was obviously imitating a scene she had seen before, from the way she used her full name and her professional tone of voice. Maybe her dad was a businessman? "I'm six and three quarters."

"Josuke Higashikata," he replied, grabbing her tiny hand and shaking. "I'm sixteen."

"We're not strangers anymore, Josuke," she announced. "Bad guys don't have cool hair, anyway."

Jolyne, it seemed, was at the precocious age when children were articulate and outgoing, naive charm at its finest. She saw nothing strange at all with becoming friends with the first person that had walked in with good hair. At least she had good taste.

"D'you have time to hang?" Jolyne bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet. "I'm bored."

"Sorry, Jolyne," Josuke said apologetically. "I gotta meet someone, and after that I gotta go home help my mom with dinner."

"Oh." Her expression fell, more so than he expected. "Who're you meeting?"

The apprehension came flooding back. It seemed as if Star Platinum's stay here was kept on the down low, so Josuke scratched his head and said vaguely, "Just this guy."

The man at the front desk looked up when he approached awkwardly, his school uniform making it clear that he wasn't here for a room. "Er, I'm Josuke Higashikata," he said, pointing at himself awkwardly. "I was told that you could give me access to room 324?"

The key was handed to him without much fanfare, the clerk saying, "I've been told you should forgo knocking and just go in," and Josuke shifted uncomfortably in the ornate elevator. His own golden reflection stared back at him as the elevator dinged at the third floor.

The little light on the door flashed green as Josuke flashed the keycard in front of the sensor. He grabbed the handle, turned, and pushed the door open.

"Excuse me?" He called out into the space, "Er, it's Josuke, from this morning, Star—"

"Don't call me that."

The voice came floating from inside the room, and Josuke jumped. He was always got nervous at the idea of famous people, and walked in mechanically, took off his shoes next to a pair that were obviously the hero's, when Star Platinum said, "Come in."

The hotel room was obviously a suite, it seemed— another door seemed to lead into the bedroom. This room had a television, a couch, and a desk for office-work. There were massive windows on three sides of the room, overlooking the town and ocean.

Star Platinum was seated at a desk, the landline in his hand and a cup of tea in the other. Before Josuke could say anything he said, "This morning must have been confusing for you."

"Oh! Um, it was no problem, sir."

"Don't call me that," Star Platinum repeated, and it was impossible to tell if he was annoyed. "I'm in Morioh for hero business, but I'm contacting you for personal reasons. This morning I was working, so it was best to push back the matter."

"A personal reason?" Josuke asked hesitantly.

"I'm here on behalf of your father," Star Platinum said. "He passed away two days ago."

Joseph Joestar was another name that was almost everyone knew— mentioned in history textbooks in the fine print when discussing the developments of the past 50 years. He was a big name in real estate, and, slightly more notably, had put a lot of his wealth into funding the American hero industry. He had even been a pro hero for a bit, though he'd retired from old age before long.

Joseph Joestar had been married for over sixty years, had a daughter and grandson and great-granddaughter and a happy family— and apparently cheated on his wife with Higashikata Tomoko sixteen years ago. He remained blissfully unaware of his illegitimate son until April of 1999, about a month ago.

"You're mentioned in his will," Star Platinum said. "You and your mother are also invited to his funeral in New York in two days. The Joestar family would like to apologize for the delay in contacting the Higashikata's— it's been a rough few weeks."

"Oh no, it's fine," Josuke was quick to assure, still blinking a bit from the sudden info drop. "I— he's dead…?"

"Sudden heart failure," was the reply. "His health hadn't been so great recently."

Strangely enough, all Josuke could really think of was, my mom's gonna cry herself to sleep tonight. He shook his head weakly, said,"Sorry, you said this was personal affairs? Does that mean you and I are…?"

"Joseph Joestar is my grandfather," Star Platinum said. "You're my uncle."

Oh.

"Call me Jotaro," he said. "I wanted to speak to you first, since there's some legal semantics to sort out regarding the old man's will and what's been portioned off to you. But I'll still need to talk to your mother about—"

"It's ok," Josuke interrupted. "I'll tell her myself. If you came, she'd probably see the family resemblance immediately and start sobbing her eyes out before you can get a word edgewise. Come by tomorrow, I'm sure she'll want to go to the funeral."

The last word left a heavy taste on his tongue, and the conversation that was going to take place in the Higashikata household was already weighing on him. He could already imagine the look on his mom's face.

The darkening conversation was quickly cut short by the door opening once more, and a the familiar voice calling out, "Daddy, are you done with your phone calls yet?"

Jolyne let the door swing shut behind her, and her face lit up when she saw who her father was sitting with. "It's Josuke!"

Josuke jerked around. "Jolyne?!"

"You two have met," Jotaro commented. His eyes slid from the boy to his daughter speculatively.

"You've got a daughter?!" Josuke sputtered out.

Jotaro ignored his outburst entirely and said to the little girl, "Jolyne, this is your great uncle."

"Great-Uncle Josuke," She spoke skeptically, eyed him, and announced with the all-important voice only a child could have, "You're too cool to have such a long name. You're just Uncle Josuke now." She turned back to Jotaro. "Daddy, I'm hungry."

"I'll meet you tomorrow, then," Jotaro said, and that seemed to be as much of a dismissal as he would get.

The added benefit of having your best friend be your neighbor was that you could pop by his house anytime you wanted without much delay, and now was certainly a good time to take advantage of that.

"Okuyasu," Josuke called, pounding on the dilapidated door. "Oi, Okuyasu! Open up!"

After a moment, a mussed-looking Okuyasu pulled the front door open, brightening as he saw Josuke. "How'd it go?"

There was, unfortunately, nothing quite like America's number one superhero dropping by your itty bitty seaside hometown of Morioh to tell you that your father was dead and you were his estranged uncle, so Josuke had to cut to the chase and tell him exactly that.

"The funeral's the day after tomorrow, apparently," Josuke said, as they both sat on Okuyasu's porch steps. "I already know my mom's going to go, and she can't speak English and doesn't know anyone there— and she'll be a complete mess. There's no way I'm going to just let her go alone like that, so I guess I'll be going to New York soon."

"Man," Okuyasu spoke, "That's rough, bro. To finally know who your dad is, only to find out he's dead."

Josuke said, kicking a stray pebble with his shoe, "I was perfectly fine not knowing who my dad was, honestly."

Joseph Joestar, huh? It was hard to connect the name to the man his mom would cry about on nights she felt particularly lonely— back when his grandpa was still alive, spry enough to still insist on covering night shifts and she had tucked Josuke into bed, sometimes she'd take out the wine bottles in the pantry and cry. On rare occasions Josuke would catch her like this— as soon as she thought he was asleep, he'd crawl out out of his room and listen to her, discomfort prickling through his entire body.

She'd never abuse the alcohol. It was usually put back where it belonged by the time grandpa came home. But the loneliness was something that hadn't been faked. Tomoko wasn't the type of person to cry for no reason, and she was tougher than nails usually. It was unsettling and upsetting.

He didn't mourn for him, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable. Of course he felt something, because it was never good when people passed away. The Joestar family had probably been split apart by the revelation of Josuke before this, then following with Joseph Joestar's death, it had probably further fragmented the family. Of course he felt bad. He felt terrible about it.

But… he didn't love him, so he couldn't really mourn for the man beyond that.

He didn't hate his father. Tomoko didn't really talk about it, but she always spoke of Joseph Joestar with love, and he had always been vaguely aware that his dad didn't know about him. You couldn't hate someone for being there if they didn't know you existed. But still, there was a bit of ambivalence when it came to him— Josuke's life was fine as it was. His mom and him, living happily in Morioh: that was how it'd always been, so it'd be nice if it could stay that way.

Star Platinum— Jotaro had seemed pretty cool, once Josuke realized they were family. His daughter was cute, too. He didn't mind too much that he had reached out to find him, but some part of him hoped that whatever he was doing here, it would be quick and he would leave. He wasn't sure what his mother would do when she saw Jotaro tomorrow.

"A lot of people seem to be dying recently, huh," Okuyasu spoke candidly. If it had been anyone else, Josuke would have socked them in the face.

As it was, he replied, "You're right."

After all, his own grandfather's shrine was still a new addition to his house. Okuyasu still went to visit his brother's grave every day.

"Man," Josuke said, tipping his head up to look at the rosy, orange sky, "This really sucks."

I'm just very amused by the fact that if BNHA was set in present day, All Might and Jotaro would be approximately the same age. Also how Araki refers to Jotaro's character as "the hero" archetype, but i literally cannot imagine what a terror he would be as a government sanctioned pro hero, breaking every law as he sees fit.

this particular fic is set in "1999," 12 years before Deku attends U.A. Academy, aka BNHA theoretically takes place the same time as Stone Ocean.

this is on anon on ao3 but i honestly couldnt care less on this hellsite.