Chapter Text
Waking up to the yowls of your cat is never the way you want to wake up in the morning. Waking up to the yowls of what should be a plant is even less so. Only adding fuel to the fire was the twelve hour shift Josuke had done the day before in the ER. Unfortunately for Josuke his loving boyfriend also slept like a rock and there was no way Stray’s cries would rouse him from his slumbers. Grumbling, Josuke did get out of bed to check on the cat plant thing. If he didn’t he knew Stray would hold it against them for days and he did not feel like dodging bubbles on his coming days off. The screaming got louder as Josuke came down the stairs, not bothering to even put a shirt on.
“I’m coming I’m coming you stupid plant!” He yelled at her as he hurried down the stairs. The fact she was getting louder had started to worry Josuke, not that he would ever admit that out loud. Once he got to the bottom of the stairs he just stood there for a solid minute. In his dining area was none other than Keicho Nijimura. The supposed to be dead man was clearly not a ghost as he had somehow found a toy soldier, he guessed one Okuyasu had kept to remind himself of his brother, and was using it to try and attack his cat. Stray was holding her own very well with her bubbles, but was obviously aggravated that the thing just wouldn’t die. A sentiment he currently shared about the suddenly alive Nijimura brother. “Hey!” he finally said going over to Keicho, “Leave my cat alone!” Finally the other man turned to look at him and his face was a mixture of shock and disgust.
“What are you doing in my house!” Keicho yelled, to which Josuke quickly shushed him. Not only did Stray have good hearing, the cat plant had recoiled at the sudden rise in volume, but Okuyasu was still very much asleep.
“Shut it man, Okuyasu is still asleep,” Josuke whisper yelled at the other man. He then flicked the tiny army man away from his cat and picked the potted plant up to calm her. “Besides I should be asking you that question. Last I checked you were dead!” he shot back, going to the kitchen to grab the cat food, and some treats.
“What are you talking about your house. This is my family home,” Keicho was very short with the other. Seemed death had not mellowed the older brother out at all.
“Regardless of that, you are still dead so that makes it Okuyasu’s house. My point still stands, what are you doing here? You’re dead!” he reminds once more as he feeds the cat and pets her. Keicho glares at the cat, which Josuke both gets and hates. After all this is his cat now, even if she is a little peculiar.
“I don’t know. Last thing I remember was getting zap fried and next thing I know I wake up on my couch with that… thing in my dining area,” Keicho glared at the cat. Josuke felt the itch of crazy diamond under his skin wanting to give this guy a good pummeling, but that was sure to wake Okuyasu up. Somehow since starting their relationship they could always sense the other’s stand when it was in play. No doubt using crazy diamond would wake him up and cause him unneeded stress. From the stories Okuyasu had sparingly shared of his brother, him being back was going to be enough stress, he didn’t want to add more to it.
“Leave our cat alone,” Josuke says, now watering her. Keicho looks like he has a lot of questions, but quickly gets hung up on one unfortunate word.
“Our?” Keicho asked, eyes narrowing. Josuke was very thankful that his back was turned to the other in that moment, as he was sure he lost all color in his face. During hushed conversations at night after some nightmares in highschool Okuyasu had admitted that both his father and brother had been horribly homophobic. It was one of the reasons it had taken the two so long to finally stop dancing around each other and just confess, much to Koichi’s chagrin. Josuke was trying to figure out the most believable answer, would he believe they became roommates after Josuke had finished nursing school because he had debt (a lie due to Joseph, but not something Keicho knew about before he died) or would he need something more. Normally he was better at lies, but typically he wasn’t so caught off guard. With Morioh being such a small town he hadn’t had to hide his relationship with Okuyasu in years. Just as he was about to answer the other they both heard someone coming down the stairs.
“Josuke, why did you leave the bed? Is Stray acting up again?” Okuyasu must have woken up a little and then noticed the other side of the bed was colder than usual. Since the two started to live together Josuke had quickly found out how cuddly the other was at night and therefore hated when he woke up to an empty bed. It had led to the other taking early morning shifts to match Josuke’s schedule as a nurse. If looks could kill though the look Keicho was giving Josuke would have blown him up. He was trying to find any reason that they would be sharing a bed that wasn’t them dating, but he was quickly drawing a blank. “Big bro,” Okuyasu broke Josuke out of his spiraling with how broken he sounded. Josuke quickly left Stary to be by Okuyasu’s side. Unsure of what to do, unsure if Okyuyasu would even want his brother to know about them, but wanting to be closer if he needed any kind of support.
“What is he doing here Okuyasu,” was of course the first thing Keicho demanded to know. Josuke glared at the other for being so callous. Okuyasu stared at his brother then looked to Josuke as if to ask if this was a dream. Josuke wanted to hold him, but he knew better. Josuke opened his mouth to try his lie out, but Okuyasu beat him to it.
“Josuke is my boyfriend,” Okuyasu said so matter of factly it shocked everyone in the room. It seemed like Keicho was rebooting from his information. With the information out though, Josuke took Okuyasu’s hand and squeezed it. The simple motion made Okuyasu’s eyes go wide as he started to fully wake up and realize this was not a dream.
“You aren’t gay,” Keicho said firmly. His tone left no room for argument and it made Josuke snort. This guys clearly had no idea how any of this worked, but the snort made Keicho glare at him.
“You’re right,” Okuyasu said, which made Josuke raise an eyebrow at him. Keicho smirked at Josuke and crossed his arm across his chest smugly. Josuke rolled his eyes. “I am bi,” Okuyasu finished, “and I just happened to have fallen in love with Josuke.” Josuke stuck his tongue out at Keicho like a brat. Though that seemed like a bad idea as Keicho suddenly looked ready to fight. Josuke got ready to take out crazy diamond just in case. Okuyasu luckily sensed the fighting spirit rising and yelled, “Knock it off you two! I don’t know how you’re back big bro, but you are just going to have to deal with the fact I love Josuke. Josuke, I love you but please do not antagonize my brother,” Okuyasu squeezed Josuke’s hand.
“He is confusing you! He tricked you! You never talked of men before… before this!” he motioned to Josuke. From what Josuke remembered of Keicho and what he had heard it wasn’t like Okuyasu would have even had the opportunity to tell his brother he was bi even if he thought Keicho would have approved. The fact he is so obviously against it surely didn’t help matters. However Okuyasu was far from the little boy he had been the last time Keicho had interacted with him.
“Oh yeah, cause that would have gone soooo well obviously,” Okuyasu pointed out. “You were just as bad as dad with letting your fists do the talking,” Okuyasu narrowed his eyes at his big brother. It was obvious this accusation struck a nerve as Keicho’s fists clenched as if he did want to let them do the talking. Luckily getting called out seemed to be having him think twice before throwing a fist.
“Where even is dad? Surely this debauchery is triggering for him! Did you even think about him before parading around your depravity in the house?!” Keicho was becoming more agitated by the second. Josuke for his part just stared at his and Okuyasu’s clasped hands trying to figure out which part of this was depraved. Perhaps it was that Josuke was shirtless? But he couldn’t help that, Okuyasu was like a human furnace!
“Dad’s… he aint around,” Okuyasu managed to get out. He looked away a little ashamed of himself, so Josuke just kissed their clasped hands. Okuyasu gave his lover a weak smile. Sending his dad off to the Speedwagon Foundation had been hard, but he knew it was for the best. Occasionally he and Josuke went to the foundation to visit and his dad seemed a lot happier in their hands. Plus Giorno seemed pretty sure he would soon be able to cure his dad. Though that brought its own anxiety with it that this interaction with his brother was only making worse. The look of pure disgust on his brother’s face from Josuke’s simple act of love felt worse than any of his brother’s punches ever had.
“What do you mean? I didn’t think he could die. Did you finally find a way?” Keicho asked, glaring at their hands still clasped. Okuyasu was at a loss of words, unsure how to tell his brother the truth. Luckily he and Josuke were always a team.
“No, we had the Speedwagon Foundation take him in. They have resources that we just don’t have. They even found a son of Dio’s who is working on curing him with his stand,” Josuke explained to him. Despite what they said being a good thing it seemed to just anger Keicho.
“Is this true Okuyasu?! Did you give our father to strangers?! This is a family matter! They have no right to interfere!” Keicho yelled. Once again it looked like he may summon his stand, but a well placed glare from Josuke made him rethink it. Still he glared at Okuyasu demanding answers.
“I am helping him! Dad doesn’t have to die! Christ asking for help isn't the end of the world like you led me to believe!” Okuyasu yelled back. Soon the brothers devolved into yelling at each other, constantly on the edge of pulling out their stands and letting their fists do the talking. During this Josuke grabbed Stray so he could put her in another room. She often reacted to fights by joining them to protect herself. Unfortunately she also did not control who she hit well and the last thing he needed was her to hit Josuke or Okuyasu. As he left the room he heard their home phone go off.
“I’ll get it!” Josuke called, but neither brother seemed to hear him or the phone going off. He set Stray down on the table next to the phone and picked it up, “Nijimura residence, what can we do for ya?” Despite the fact that Josuke lived there, people still knew this place as the Nijimura’s rather than for himself. Okuyasu still wanted to find a way that people could recognize it was the two of them, but they hadn’t figured it out yet.
“Josuke,” the voice on the other line was none other than Rohan. Despite how many years it had been since Kira’s death the two of them still had a rocky relationship. Mostly Rohan tolerated them since Koichi worked with him. Internally groaning at the phone call, he pet Stray to try to feel better. Still he supposed Rohan was better than the screaming match a room over.
“To what do I owe the displeasure Rohan?” Josuke said in a sickly sweet tone. He could practically feel the other frown and eyes twitch.
“Care to tell me what you and Okuyasu did yesterday?” Rohan said firmly. Josuke blinked as he tried to recall the day before. He had had a twelve hour shift yesterday and he was pretty sure Okuyasu also worked the entire day. He certainly didn’t recall any pranks that they had planned at Rohan’s expense.
“Worked and fucked, why?” Josuke said just to get a rise out of him. While Rohan was certainly no bigot, he had once admitted he was bi when they had gotten him particularly plastered, that did not mean he liked to hear what the two got up to. Rohan was sputtering at the other end and then he heard another voice say something he couldn’t make out. What he could tell was that the voice was certainly female and he wasn’t sure what female Rohan was actually friends with.
“No everything is fine,” Rohan called to whoever was there before going back to him, “Then how the fuck is Reimi alive?!” That took Josuke aback. It had been a while since they had talked about the ghost girl who had helped them all those years ago. Not only that but if she was alive that meant there was a chance other people in Morioh had come back to life, not just Keicho. “She even thinks we somehow got married,” he hissed in the phone. That caused Josuke to bust out laughing. He could not imagine Rohan married to anyone, much less someone as sweet as Reimi. Though those were also false memories, something Keicho did not have.
“That is odd,” Josuke said once he finally was done laughing, Rohan no doubt fuming. “Wait, why did you think it was something Okuyasu and I did?” Josuke asked.
“When is it not?” Rohan grumbled into the phone.
“Okay fair point,” he chuckled slightly. The two of them may have grown a lot, they were still little shits at their core. “Nah, we didn't do anything yesterday. Stranger still we woke up and Keicho was in our kitchen fuckin with Stray. Though he didn’t have any strange memories like Reimi, he even remembers he should be dead,” he explained to Rohan.
“If you didn’t do anything, and I didn’t leave the house yesterday, is there a chance this is all over Morioh?” Rohan asked. The thought hadn’t crossed Josuke’s mind even after hearing about Reimi. He blamed his twelve hour shift the day before. It was then he was hit with the fact these two people may not have died anywhere near each other, but they did both die suddenly. Perhaps the fact they were murdered was the link. There was only one other person he could think of that had been murdered that he could see if they were alive.
“I gotta go Rohan. Let’s meet tomorrow in the park to get any leads,” Josuke said quickly. Rohan tried to stop him from hanging up, but Josuke hung up anyway. Quickly he dialed a number he knew by heart, his mom’s home phone number.
“Hello?” his mom had the day off as well. Originally Okuyasu and him were headed over for dinner that night, Okuyasu was of course cooking.
“Hey mom,” Josuke said, squeezing the phone cord tightly in his hand, “is uh, Grandpa there?” There was a chance he was wrong. A chance that this was just some weird thing happening to only a select people. However there was at least a chance.
“No, not right now. He’ll be here tonight of course. Do you need something from him? Don’t tell me you two have to reschedule. He’s been talking about what he’s planning on grilling all week,” his mom gave a fond, exasperated sigh. Josuke quickly wiped his eyes, determined not to let the tears fall.
“Okuyasu just wanted to make sure he wasn’t cooking still,” Josuke easily lied. As much as he hated it, lying to his mom had become so easy. Especially if a stand was involved somehow.
“Uh huh,” she didn’t sound so convinced, “don’t tell me Keicho started being an ass again. I know he’s Okuyasu’s brother but you two give him too much leeway!” Seems in this version of reality Keicho at least came around to the idea of the two of them. That at least was nice, even if it was false.
“No, just a tough shift yesterday,” Josuke told her. That one was less of a lie at least. He had lost a pretty young girl during his shift, she had been in a car accident. The girl wasn’t much younger than him and her little sister had been devastated. It reminded him so much of Okuyasu that it had physically hurt him to see. So yeah, it was a tough shift but it wasn’t the reason he was so upset now.
“I’m sorry to hear that baby. I’ll have dad make you an extra burger, I know how much you love his burgers,” his mom said. That caused Josuke to put a hand over his mouth to try not to sob. He did love his burgers, it was one of the things he found he missed the most about his grandfather. No one could make it like him, even Okuyasu had been unable. Part of it was probably the talks at the dinner table and his grandfather’s booming laughter more than anything. Never before had he been so grateful for a strange thing happening in Morioh. Okuyasu could finally meet the man who helped raise him. Considering his mom had mentioned Okuyasu it was safe to say his grandfather probably liked him, even if Josuke and Okuyasu didn’t have the memories of it.
“Thanks mom. Yeah, we’ll be there. We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Josuke told her honestly. He was glad he told Rohan they would figure this out tomorrow. After everything he deserved to enjoy the oddities for once.
“Love you and Okuyasu. See you tonight,” his mom told him before hanging up. His mom was always quick to do everything and often Josuke didn’t have a chance to respond by saying he loved her too. Luckily she knew. Josuke put the phone back on the receiver and Stray gave him a concerned look. No doubt he looked a mess from trying not to cry, but he hadn’t felt this elated in a while.
“I’m okay Stray,” he said, picking up his cat plant. The two went back to their dining area where the brothers were still yelling at each other. When he entered he saw Okuyasu was so mad he had tears in his eyes while his brother looked like he was trying to keep his fists in check. On the ground was a picture frame that had been shattered, he must have been so engrossed in his conversation that he hadn’t heard it. Carefully he bent down and picked up the frame.
The picture was of him and Okuyasu holding Stray after the two of them had remodeled the downstairs of their house. Koichi had taken the picture to celebrate. It was one of his favorites of their little family and he had no doubt Keicho had accidentally broken the frame. Probably what caused Okuyasu to tear up in anger. Without thinking he quickly fixed the frame. Seeing crazy diamond out caused Keicho to shut up and Okuyasu to take shaky breaths to regain control. Josuke set both Stray and the picture on their kitchen table before going and holding Okuyasu, ignoring Keicho completely.
“It’s okay love,” Josuke says gently as he strokes Okuyasu’s back. Slowly he began to calm down. “You should go to your room for now. We haven’t changed it since you died so don’t worry about the queers ruining it,” Josuke told Keicho, narrowing his eyes at the other. Crazy diamond was still out as if daring him to make a move. Smartly Keicho just stormed off to his own room without further word. Silently he hoped that the time away would allow him to think on what was going on more and come to accept it. Josuke knew this wouldn’t be enough to make Okuyasu leave him, but he also knew that it would mean so much to Okuyasu to have his brother’s approval.
“I’m such a fuckin crybaby,” Okuyasu muttered into Josuke’s chest once Keicho was out of the room. Frowning, Josuke lifted Okuyasu’s chin up so he could look into the other’s eyes. Gently he kissed the tears away, earning him the most adorable giggles from the other.
“None of that. You know it is perfectly fine to cry when you are feeling something intensely, sad or angry or happy or whatever. Don’t ever change and certainly not for someone as bigoted as your older brother,” he softly reminded his lover. With a shaky exhale Okuyasu nodded, knowing that the other was right. “You don’t have to worry about cooking tonight by the way,” Josuke let him know.
“I am fine Josuke! I can still cook,” Okuyasu pouted. Not being able to contain himself, Josuke gave Okuyasu a kiss to his pouty lips. Okuyasu returned it before saying, “seriously bro I got it under control. Sure seeing Keicho was a shock and he’s being a huge jerk, but I handled him for years. I can certainly do it now that I am older.” The rambling was enough to tell Josuke that this was bothering Okuyasu more than he wanted to admit. He cast a knowing look at Okuyasu, who looked away.
“Yeah that is what I thought,” Josuke sighed, but shook his head. “It isn’t what you are thinking though. My grandfather is back too,” Josuke finally told him, “He apparently wants to cook and well, sorry babe but I really want his burgers again.” Okuyasu’s eyes went huge at the news. “Rohan was also the one that called and apparently Reimi is also back. Get this, she thinks she and Rohan are married!” he laughed at the absurdity.
“Really? She can do so much better,” Okuyasu said, to which Josuke could only nod in agreement. “I guess I can let your grandfather cook,” Okuyasu said slowly, clearly not wanting to, but he knew how much this meant to Josuke. Though it might have been for the best since Okuyasu could feel himself starting to get nervous about meeting Josuke’s grandfather. The two had talked in the past about how they wished he could have seen them in a relationship, but now that he could it seemed so surreal. Okuyasu only hoped that Josuke’s grandfather went better than Keicho did.
“Hey,” Josuke cupped his face, snapping Okuyasu out of his thoughts, “he is going to love you. From the way mom was talking he already does. Seems if you don’t have a stand you don’t remember the death at all. If he didn’t like you he wouldn’t be cooking for you.” Despite the encouragement Okuyasu was still fidgeting with his hands. Seeing that Josuke smirked and grabbed his hands, slowly tugging him towards their bedroom. “Let me take your mind off of it. After all, I think I should thank you for agreeing to all this,” Josuke whispered into the other’s ear seductively. It did not take long for the other to realize what Josuke was impling and quickly nod in agreement. Chuckling Josuke took Okuyasu to bed with him with no more convincing needed.
Unfortunately they ended up losing track of time as they got lost in one another and were almost late for dinner. Their activities seriously messed up Josuke's hair which took forever to fix despite Okuyasu assuring him he looked great a good ten times. Once his hair was done he just did a natural makeup look, he missed being able to do makeup now that he was in the ER. Finally they were making it out the door, but not before Keicho made a snide comment about Josuke taking as long as a girl to get ready. Okuyasu looked ready to fight his brother once more, but Josuke just flipped Keicho off and rushed Okuyasu out the door. They did not have time to be fighting if they wanted to get there at all close to the time they were supposed to arrive. Even with rushing Okuyasu, and Josuke’s mom not living far away, they were still nearly ten minutes late. When his mom answered the door she did not look pleased.
“You’re late Josuke,” Tomoko huffed at her son, swatting at him with the towel she had been using to dry her hands. Josuke tried to dodge, he still got hit, as he scooted his way inside.
“We lost track of time is all!” Josuke defended himself, “It is our day off, give us a break!” Tomoko gave her son a very unamused look.
“Sorry Miss Higashikata,” Okuyasu said sincerely. One look at the other boy had Tomoko quickly changing her tune though. She always had a sweet spot for Okuyasu.
“Oh it’s fine Okuyasu. I know how young people can be,” she winked, causing both boys to blush profusely. Neither wanted to admit she was right on the money, but their faces gave them away causing her to laugh. She ushered Okuyasu into the house. “Also how many times do I have to tell you Oku, just Tomoko is fine,” she said, kissing the boy on the cheek. Okuyasu beamed at the affection despite his embarrassment. Josuke couldn’t help but smile at the two of them, his heart doing things that he didn’t care to admit outloud to anyone.
“Now Tomoko, stop giving the boys a hard time. You remember what you were like at their age. I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about them producing another Josuke,” Ryohei Higashikata had entered the room at some point during the teasing and was producing a big barrel laugh at his joke. It was now Josuke’s mom’s turn to be embarrassed and Josuke could only grin at how the tables had turned on her. Okuyasu though now looked ten times more nervous since he was standing in front of the man. It wasn’t like they could do introductions since Ryohei thought he knew Okuyasu. Never before had Okuyasu actually wished for a stand, or whatever this was, to work on himself this badly. “Come on, let’s sit and eat. I’m starving!” Ryohei said as he went back to the dining room. Tomoko followed, nagging her dad about embarrassing her in front of the boys.
“You okay bro?” Josuke asked, walking over and taking Okuyasu’s hand in his own. Just holding Josuke’s hand was enough to make Okuyasu relax.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Okuyasu pointed out. Josuke shrugged and kissed his cheek instead of answering. “I’m fine, just startled is all. You and your mom were right, he has a big presence,” Okuyasu said.
“Yeah, gramps has always been like that. Good to know whatever this is didn’t change that. I just hope his burgers stayed the same too,” Josuke had a cheshire grin on his face as he drug Okuyasu to the dining area, not letting go of his hand the whole time. The dining room looked exactly the same as always just with an added place for his grandpa. Okuyasu took his seat, but his leg was bouncing from his nerves. Josuke put a comforting hand on Okuyasu’s leg and gave him a soft smile.
Tomoko could obviously tell something was wrong, but knew better to press a stressed out Okuyasu. It was more likely that he would just shut down for the entire night. If it was something that was pressing she knew Josuke could take care of it. Despite the nagging she knew she raised Josuke right and the loving smile spread across her son’s face was enough for her to know that. It did not take long for Ryohei to come in with the burgers. “Hope you all are hungry!” he laughed. Josuke quickly hopped up and went to make his and Okuyasu’s plate. Tomoko was about to follow, when Okuyasu grabbed her hand.
“Uh, later, after dinner, could I uh,” Okuyasu seemed so nervous. It had been a long time since he was so awkward around their family, so she knew whatever was going on was important. Patiently she waited for the other to piece his words together. “Could I talk to you two with Josuke not around at some point tonight?” Okuyasu finally managed to get out.
“I am sure I can send Josuke off to do something so we can talk,” Tomoko smiled. Secretly she hoped that this was going to be something about taking the next step between the two boys, but she also knew it was likely that it could be something about Keicho. Okuyasu didn’t like to worry her son and she was the closest thing he had to parental guidance. Still he seemed nervous more than upset, so she let herself hope. Before going to make herself a plate she gave his hand a fond squeeze and a loving smile. It seemed that was enough to loosen the boy up some, that or the sight of Josuke coming back.
“You better hurry mom before gramps eats it all,” Josuke teased his mom as he set his and Okuyasu’s plates down. Tomoko thought about making a comment about Josuke not caring enough to get her food, but she thought better of it for Okuyasu’s sake. The last thing she needed was him feeling guilty on top of whatever else was going on. Instead she just hurried off to the kitchen. Josuke was quick to dig into his food once his mom was gone, practically moaning at how nostalgic the taste was to him.
“I should ask your grandpa for the recipe today,” Okuyasu commented upon seeing how happy Josuke was. There were very few things Okuyasu could remember cooking that had gotten that reaction out of the other. Once Okuyasu took a bite he could understand why Josuke missed it so much, it was an extremely good recipe. No doubt it would be hard to replicate, but Okuyasu trusted himself to be able to do it.
“Already eating without us,” Tomoko lightly chastised the boys. Josuke just stuck his tongue out while Okuyasu at least looked slightly sheepish. His antics earned Josuke a swat as Tomoko sat down to eat.
“Now Tomoko, they are growing and rather active boys. It is only natural for them to wolf down a good meal,” Ryohei had a grin that could be described as wolfish himself. Neither man was used to someone being so brazen with their sex lives causing both of them to turn bright red.
“I don’t want to even be thinking about that dad! Especially not while I am eating,” Tomoko groaned and sent a glare to her dad that held no heat. Despite being massively embarrassed Josuke couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face as they all continued to make jokes at one another’s expense. A couple of times even Okuyasu joined in. It felt just like when Josuke was a kid, like right before his entire world went upside down. He couldn’t remember the last time there had been this many jokes and laughter at a family dinner. If he had to guess it would have been before gramps had died. As dinner wound down even Okuyasu seemed to be in a better mood with a grin plastered on his face. Ryohei just had that effect on people, always had for as long as anyone could remember. One of the many reasons the house had felt so cold after he was murdered. Probably one of the reasons Josuke’s mom had taken such a quick shine and liking to Okuyasu, he was just as infectious as Ryohei.
Dinner eventually started to wind down as they all finished their food and their stomachs were sore from all the laughter. Once they were done Tomoko gathered all the plates up, before handing them to Josuke. “You can handle the dishes right? Help us out here?” Tomoko had a smile on her face that made it very clear she wasn’t actually asking. After such a good meal Josuke was in an incredibly good mood, so he just took the plates and went to the kitchen with no complaint. It was something that often happened back at their home, but Tomoko seemed shocked as he just walked off. “Is he always like that for you?” Tomoko asked once Josuke was out of earshot.
“Most of the time, unless he has had some rough couple shifts,” Okuyasu told them honestly.
“You have magic when it comes to my son,” Tomoko laughed as she sat back down. “Love is strange like that though,” Tomoko sounded all wistful again, probably thinking about Joseph again. After meeting Mr. Joestar Okuyasu couldn’t say he fully got the appeal, but then again he was always more attracted to pretty boys rather than the more masculine types. “I am guessing that young love is what you wanted to talk about?” Tomoko raised an eyebrow with a knowing smile. Okuyasu wasn’t sure if the fact Tomoko already guessed what he wanted to talk about made him more or less nervous.
“Uh, yeah,” Okuyasu said gulping. He had had an entire speech in his head about what to say when he asked. However that was before Josuke’s grandfather was in the picture and after the shock of Keicho being alive he had forgotten every word he had planned. Deep down he knew he didn’t really need to ask permission to marry Josuke, but he knew it would mean a lot more to Josuke if he found out that he had asked permission.
“Take your time,” Ryohei finally said when he noticed the words were eluding Okuyasu in a tone much softer than he had shown the entire night previously. Taking a deep breath, Okuyasu steadied himself. In doing so he overheard Josuke singing softly to himself some Prince song and he was reminded why he was doing this in the first place.
“I want to ask Josuke to marry me,” Okuyasu finally rushed out. “I know we can’t actually get married or anything. But, well, I thought maybe we could have a mock ceremony and party? Just something that truly cements how committed we are ya feel? I mean someone like Josuke deserves at least that much I think,” Okuyasu had started to ramble and he knew that. Still he couldn’t stop himself. He had thought about this for a while. It was unfair that he could not truly marry Josuke. Josuke was the type that deserved such a celebration of love for her, so he would try to give him something that resembled such an event.
“Of course! I am sure he will say yes! Oh I just can’t wait to help you two plan this!” Tomoko looked more excited than Okuyasu had seen her in a long time. The two then looked to Ryohei, who had become more serious with the topic of conversation. Him staying silent had caused Okuyasu’s relief to quickly turn back to panic as he waited. Sure whatever he had to say wouldn’t matter in the long run once they fixed whatever had brought the dead back, but having his blessing meant so much to Okuyasu. “Dad?” Tomoko looked confused that the other man was staying so stoic.
“Welcome to the family,” Ryohei finally said, his face breaking back into a huge grin. Okuyasu let out a breath he was unaware he was holding as he wiped some tears away. Tomoko got up and hugged Okuyasu in excitement as Ryohei just watched the two. The pair was still locked in an embrace when Josuke came back from washing the dishes.
“Did I miss something?” Josuke asked his grandfather as he looked at the pair lost in their own world. As much as he loved how much his mom adored Okuyasu, this felt celebratory somehow.
“You picked a good man Josuke,” was all Ryohei said. While taken aback from the complement, Josuke couldn’t help but smile as his heart swelled. Sometimes stands were not so bad he supposed, sometimes they gave gifts that Josuke didn’t even know he wanted.
“Yeah, I did,” Josuke said softly. Unfortunately the dinner couldn’t last forever and the two had to head back home to face the reality of the situation. As nice as the dinner was, it wasn’t what reality was meant to be. The two knew they had to find out what really happened and set everything back. Though secretly Josuke hoped there was a way they could keep things this way, as long as there weren't any bad side effects. Rohan could deal with being married if that meant his and Okuyasu’s family were made more whole. With a heavy heart Okuasyu and Josuke said their goodbyes, with Josuke being sure to tell both his grandfather and mother how much he loved them. As they walked home the gravity of the situation hung heavily over the two.
“Do you think there is a way where this all works out?” Okuyasu asked as they approached their home. Instead of answering, Josuke just took Okuyasu’s hand and squeezed it, giving him a weak smile.
“I think that no matter what we will have one another,” Josuke said as he kissed Okuyasu’s cheek. Despite the fact he dodged the question, Okuyasu felt himself relax with the reminder. Inside the house was one big issue that he and Josuke were going to have to figure out, but when they were together they could figure out anything. He just hoped this time a stand could bring about a happy ending.