✨Stand Bullshit✨

This also opens up the possibility for the savior to be someone they could stay in contact with long-term later - maybe they're an exchange student or traveled for college and live elsewhere, but since Tomoko spent more time around him, they might've exchanged phone numbers.

yeah :D

personally I'm thinking something along the lines of "was in Morioh since his college was nearby and he had family he could stay with in town" and the internship/job at the vet was a side thing to get cash and experience, so unfortunately he won't be able to stick around forever

however, he and the Higashikatas call at least once a week and he does visit when he can :D

plus, that's a couple years down the line, and until then he and Josuke have a great time together. Once the fever passes and things begin to settle down, it's honestly kinda nice having someone else in on the secret, plus the fact he's actually knowledgeable on animals and their health is a HUGE weight off Tomoko's shoulders

I'd imagine he has an entire (very, very secure) folder dedicated to observing Josuke's behavior and health, as well as trying to figure out What The Hell He Is. By the time DiU rolls around, he's honestly got a pretty good understanding of Josuke's biology and how it works, which is going to be very helpful

hell, maybe when Jotaro learns about this, he ends up sending some Speedwagon Foundation guys his way to offer him a job

(plus...... well, the Joestars probably aren't the only werebeasts in the world, and given how the SWF keeps a close eye on the supernatural it's possible they've run into more. I'm sure they'd appreciate a doctor who actually knows what he's doing and respects their privacy)

On his first day of school, Josuke got insulted and punched 3 times and almost got arrested by the police

DiU was a bunch of fun high school antics

okay, firstly I wanted to draw smth epic because there is the begining of new season and that’s cool BUT I was so busy with drawing stupid comic about lil Josuke ha-ha

Personally, I think he'd be a Mutt. Like a rescue, probably. A bit of Border Collie, German Shepherd, Cane Corso, Great Dane, Saint Bernard, Rottweiler, Newfoundland, and Akita. All very big, and plenty of intelligent breeds of dog. He looks like this big, intimidating, beast (scary dog privileges), but is more of this massive cuddle bug that seems to forget he's not a puppy anymore and makes it everyone else's problem. That usually the person he's sitting on. Which is usually Polnareff.

Imagine Jotaro still becomes a marine biologist even as a dog. Also I like the idea of Star Platinum still being somewhat humanoid and sentient so he can communicate with others. And that Jotaro does have a star shaped patch of fur on his neck which is why he was adopted.

For part 4, this massive stray dog strolls up to Morioh with little luggage bags and wanders around looking for this master's (holly) father's illegitimate pup. When he does find Josuke, he sticks around outside his school and follows him home. And now all I can think of is when Usagi and Luna first met in Sailor Moon. Josuke takes a nap after getting home and wakes up to a significant weight press down on his bed. He thinks it's his mom, but when he opens his eyes he sees the same massive dog from earlier. He's startled and frankly a little concerned on how this dog even got into his house, let alone his room, but it doesn't compare to the surprise he feels seeing a humanoid purple dog-man with a lion-like mane rising from him and addressing Josuke by name.

Jotaro still accidentally insults Josuke's hair, but before he can even land a hit on him with Crazy Diamond, Tomoko comes barging in and rescues Jotaro. Jotaro is adopted on the spot and can now live with the Higashikatas, which is great since he has to keep an eye on Josuke anyway.

Also, the tag on his collar is star shaped and reads "JOJO" in big letters and "Jotaro Kujo" in (what, Kanji?) small print on the front, while the back reads "if found, please contact Holly Kujo". So now, Holly shows up and gets to meet her baby brother! :D (which we were really robbed of in canon)

Y E S

Jotaro is such a Sweet Floomfy Boi who looks way scarier than he actually is, but he's also one of those dogs who has no right being as big as he is. When he goes on his hind legs he can put his paws on Joseph's shoulders and as Dio's minions very quickly find out, he doesn't need his Stand to pull off some NASTY damage

and I'd imagine cuddling with Jotaro is a double edged blade. On one hand it gets really fucking cold at night and Jotaro is basically a giant heat pack, but on the also he's absolutly massive and might accidentally smoosh you and sometimes he tries to cuddle in the day when its a bajillion degrees out

and I had a funny idea for Part 4

what if Jotaro is just Vibing when Holly gets the call about Josuke and ends up overhearing basically the whole thing and makes the executive decision to go ahead and check up on the kid because He Didn't Know Holly Had More Pack He Wants To Meet The Pup. With the help of Star he manages to get a pack filled with food, water and his favorite toy (a plush dolphin he'd had since Holly had first adopted him) and sets off

it takes a couple days, but via a mix of cross country travel and using Star to hitch a ride on top of buses and cars, he manages to make his way to Morioh :D

and what if bits and pieces of the beginning are the same. He still accidentally bumps into Koichi which is both more and less terrifying for him because Jotaro is a Giant Fuck You Dog who gives him licks as an apology and growls when the upperclassmen try to extort him. Josuke thinks this giant black dog is pretty cool and strikes a conversation with Koichi thinking the kid is his owner, only for that to be proven wrong. But unfortunately for them, they don't have much time to look for answers because school is starting soon and they really need to go

And Jotaro just kinda. Politely sits outside the school gates and waits for them to be done so he can hang with them more

and RGJVFSJVDVF OH I LOVE THAT. Josuke decides he might as well have a quick nap, and Jotaro who had been trying to catch up to him the whole way back but kept getting stopped by various inconveniences sees this and decides "hmmmmm Cuddles :)", uses Star to open either the front door or Josuke's window and just. Is half laying on top of Josuke

and it was a SIGHT to see when Josuke finally woke up being met with an enormous lump of black fur and an even bigger mass of soft, glowing purple which looks like a Weird Lion Dog Thing With A Tiara

And the idea of Star being similar to Act 3 in the Cat Koichi AU is just. CHAOS. But what if for a pinch of fun, Star doesn't talk very often, and usually in as few words as possible. If communication is necessary he'll do it, but if he can get away with being silent he will

but yeah Josuke nearly has a heart attack when Star talks to him

also a BIG OL YES to bringing Holly to Morioh. There's also the pinch of fun that comes with bringing her because nobody would know the danger Morioh held since Joseph hadn't taken the photos with Hermit Purple just yet :)

also also, completely random but I have this mental image stuck in my head of Koichi being small enough to ride on Jotaro's back :>

Ok, but what if Holly did know? Like by the time Jotaro arrives in Morioh, Holly is given the photo and is made aware of Angelo and the danger he is. After realizing her dog is gone, she panics a little. Like, where's my baby??? Then, just as she's about to head out to Morioh herself, figuring her smart boy over heard her and went there himself, she gets a call from a nice lady that informs her she found her dog. Holly can't believe her luck that Jotaro was with her baby half-brother's family so she's able to hit two birds with one stone.

When she gets there she's delighted to meet her baby brother, and Jotaro is just happy to see his human. Though, Holly pulls Jotaro to the side and asks him to keep an eye on Josuke while she stays with Tomoko because of Angelo. Unfortunately, they completely overlook Officer Higashikata, so he's still taken out. Jotaro sits with Josuke as he grieves, getting the cuddles of a lifetime and comforting the poor boy.

Though, Jotaro is still a marine biologist. Like, he was given human classes by the SPW Foundation because of his human-like intelligence. So while he's still a dog, he's still hunting the Arrows and trying to finish his thesis. Which is so much easier thanks to his Stand having opposable thumbs.

He's still a dog though and his loyalty is to his pack, which was Holly and The Crusaders (also his mate and pup), but now Josuke is a part of it so he tends to follow him wherever he goes. He's there when Koichi gets his Stand, which is great because now they can talk (he's grown fond of the little human that reminds him of a miniature Polnareff with the personality of Kakyoin), but horrible because he's seem the things that stand users have done to kids and canine loyalty can be a bitch sometimes.

He's also there when Okuyasu becomes Josuke's friend. He's not too fond of Yukako for kidnapping koichi, but tolerates her for koichi's sake. And he loves tonio, because goddamn is his food good. Not as good as Holly's, but still. Speaking of, Holly and Tonio would definitely trade recipes, Holly did grow up with an Italian mother after all.

The Dumbass Duo and their Fucking Massive Dog with Koichi and Yukako are basically the town's Scooby Gang at this point XD. Just that Jotaro is a very reluctant and not-so-scared Scooby. Unless the Dumbass Brigade are doing something stupid that will undoubtedly get them killed and Jotaro needs to bail them out. Jotaro is gonna be the first Dog to go gray from stress and anxiety because of these little shits, if that didn't already happen because of Polnareff and his bathroom escapades.

GJDBFJDBFBDBF Y E S

And to make things even funnier, what if Holly had initially been planning to bring Jotaro with her anyways....... but then Jotaro goes missing and she slightly puts the plans on hold to find him. After all, she knows he's smart enough to not get lost and he rarely just disappears like this, plus...... given his track record the most likely option would definitely be a Stand Attack and she is Incredibly Worried For Her Boi

but luckily it's not and apparently he just went to see her baby half-brother :D

Jotaro having previously been there for several hours at that point is definitely going to help the two parties bond and relieve some of the tension, which is always nice. Angelo is....... definitely gonna suck for Josuke when his grandpa dies, but Jotaro's going to bury him in cuddles to help him feel better and you bet he's gonna be SUPER protective when Angelo finally shows his face

What if when it's all over with, Holly, upon seeing how much Jotaro has been able to help and protect her brother, ends up polity asking if the Higashikata's would like to watch Jotaro while she was in Morioh. After all, he seems to like them a lot and would probably prefer this to a stuffy hotel, and of course she would pay for any and all expenses

Josuke would absolutely be over the moon because Magic Doggo Gets To Live With Us

and DDRJFDRHVGDVF OH MY GOD YES. Jotaro's just a little pupper doing is best to finish his studies ✨✨✨

Jotaro's known Josuke and Koichi, and later Okuyasu, for only a few days but if anything happened to them he'd probably go on a rampage. He sticks to the kids as much as he can to try and help keep them out of trouble, but he mostly sticks with Josuke because of their living situations. Any time Yukako comes around he just. Stares at her, watching to make sure she doesn't try anything again. Same with Rohan too

Tonio and Holly bonding wasn't something I knew I needed but I love it

Jotaro isn’t sure how he’s been alive for this long, but these kids manage to make him feel even OLDER with all the stress they give him.

what i think would be funny if one of the clues Holly had that something isn’t right is if Josuketaro’s hair DOESN’T FUSE INTO HIS HAT

that hat knows

that hat knows everyhthing

and it knows this isnt jotaro

RTGNVDJRBGJVD

Tomoko 🤝 Holly

Knowing it’s not their son via what is and isn’t on their head

I wrote a bit on how Tomoko and Jotaro’s initial confrontation could go!

y e s s s s s s s s s s s

CONFUSION ABOUND, NOBODY HAS ANY IDEA WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON, LEAST OF ALL THESE TWO >:DDDD

Jotaro's inner dialog was just 🤌🤌🤌 he was so off guard and desperately trying to keep things together and Tomoko was competently in the dark but doing best and it was just Y E S

Personally, I think he'd be a Mutt. Like a rescue, probably. A bit of Border Collie, German Shepherd, Cane Corso, Great Dane, Saint Bernard, Rottweiler, Newfoundland, and Akita. All very big, and plenty of intelligent breeds of dog. He looks like this big, intimidating, beast (scary dog privileges), but is more of this massive cuddle bug that seems to forget he's not a puppy anymore and makes it everyone else's problem. That usually the person he's sitting on. Which is usually Polnareff.

Imagine Jotaro still becomes a marine biologist even as a dog. Also I like the idea of Star Platinum still being somewhat humanoid and sentient so he can communicate with others. And that Jotaro does have a star shaped patch of fur on his neck which is why he was adopted.

For part 4, this massive stray dog strolls up to Morioh with little luggage bags and wanders around looking for this master's (holly) father's illegitimate pup. When he does find Josuke, he sticks around outside his school and follows him home. And now all I can think of is when Usagi and Luna first met in Sailor Moon. Josuke takes a nap after getting home and wakes up to a significant weight press down on his bed. He thinks it's his mom, but when he opens his eyes he sees the same massive dog from earlier. He's startled and frankly a little concerned on how this dog even got into his house, let alone his room, but it doesn't compare to the surprise he feels seeing a humanoid purple dog-man with a lion-like mane rising from him and addressing Josuke by name.

Jotaro still accidentally insults Josuke's hair, but before he can even land a hit on him with Crazy Diamond, Tomoko comes barging in and rescues Jotaro. Jotaro is adopted on the spot and can now live with the Higashikatas, which is great since he has to keep an eye on Josuke anyway.

Also, the tag on his collar is star shaped and reads "JOJO" in big letters and "Jotaro Kujo" in (what, Kanji?) small print on the front, while the back reads "if found, please contact Holly Kujo". So now, Holly shows up and gets to meet her baby brother! :D (which we were really robbed of in canon)

Y E S

Jotaro is such a Sweet Floomfy Boi who looks way scarier than he actually is, but he's also one of those dogs who has no right being as big as he is. When he goes on his hind legs he can put his paws on Joseph's shoulders and as Dio's minions very quickly find out, he doesn't need his Stand to pull off some NASTY damage

and I'd imagine cuddling with Jotaro is a double edged blade. On one hand it gets really fucking cold at night and Jotaro is basically a giant heat pack, but on the also he's absolutly massive and might accidentally smoosh you and sometimes he tries to cuddle in the day when its a bajillion degrees out

and I had a funny idea for Part 4

what if Jotaro is just Vibing when Holly gets the call about Josuke and ends up overhearing basically the whole thing and makes the executive decision to go ahead and check up on the kid because He Didn't Know Holly Had More Pack He Wants To Meet The Pup. With the help of Star he manages to get a pack filled with food, water and his favorite toy (a plush dolphin he'd had since Holly had first adopted him) and sets off

it takes a couple days, but via a mix of cross country travel and using Star to hitch a ride on top of buses and cars, he manages to make his way to Morioh :D

and what if bits and pieces of the beginning are the same. He still accidentally bumps into Koichi which is both more and less terrifying for him because Jotaro is a Giant Fuck You Dog who gives him licks as an apology and growls when the upperclassmen try to extort him. Josuke thinks this giant black dog is pretty cool and strikes a conversation with Koichi thinking the kid is his owner, only for that to be proven wrong. But unfortunately for them, they don't have much time to look for answers because school is starting soon and they really need to go

And Jotaro just kinda. Politely sits outside the school gates and waits for them to be done so he can hang with them more

and RGJVFSJVDVF OH I LOVE THAT. Josuke decides he might as well have a quick nap, and Jotaro who had been trying to catch up to him the whole way back but kept getting stopped by various inconveniences sees this and decides "hmmmmm Cuddles :)", uses Star to open either the front door or Josuke's window and just. Is half laying on top of Josuke

and it was a SIGHT to see when Josuke finally woke up being met with an enormous lump of black fur and an even bigger mass of soft, glowing purple which looks like a Weird Lion Dog Thing With A Tiara

And the idea of Star being similar to Act 3 in the Cat Koichi AU is just. CHAOS. But what if for a pinch of fun, Star doesn't talk very often, and usually in as few words as possible. If communication is necessary he'll do it, but if he can get away with being silent he will

but yeah Josuke nearly has a heart attack when Star talks to him

also a BIG OL YES to bringing Holly to Morioh. There's also the pinch of fun that comes with bringing her because nobody would know the danger Morioh held since Joseph hadn't taken the photos with Hermit Purple just yet :)

also also, completely random but I have this mental image stuck in my head of Koichi being small enough to ride on Jotaro's back :>

what i think would be funny if one of the clues Holly had that something isn't right is if Josuketaro's hair DOESN'T FUSE INTO HIS HAT

that hat knows

that hat knows everyhthing

and it knows this isnt jotaro

RTGNVDJRBGJVD

Tomoko 🤝 Holly

Knowing it’s not their son via what is and isn’t on their head

So I just realized I never explained how I thought the memory aspect of Peanut Gallery would work so hERE IT IS NOW-

Basically, I think that upon first returning to reality, they don’t remember jack. Not about their adventure, not about the other’s adventures, not even the fact that anything happened at all, nothing

But then the second their adventure finishes. The night they awake after last “scene” from their series plays out…….

then they get hit with EVERYTHING

Unfortunately Jonathan and Joseph are both kinda fucked. Jonathan has no way to avoid his death, and because Jonathan died there’s no one with future knowledge to change how Joseph’s adventure goes

But Jotaro…… Jotaro’s going to have a chance

And how much do you think this is going to hurt Joseph at first when the boy is born. Knowing that such a small, helpless infant is someday going to have to face such hardship

Not alone though. Joseph refuses. His precious grandson had been so alone the first time, but he refuses to let it happen. He’d seen the scars it had left behind and Jotaro didn’t deserve that. Not again

But this also brings in the strangeness of the relations between all the living and present Jojo’s. The ones with their memories would be stuck with the ones without not recognizing them, and how much do you think that would hurt? Heck, when Joseph realizes Jotaro doesn’t remember, even during the trip to Egypt, he might begin to worry that he was alone in his memories. That he’d be the only one knowing where the future would lead yet be held back by the chains of old age, his body and mind wasting away with time.

Hell, in this version he might even end up continuing to practice Hamon because as much as he loves Suzie, he can’t bring himself to put his descendants’s lives on the line, can’t bring himself to put the entire UNIVERSE on the line. Jolyne’s adventure cannot happen a second time because it would kill so, so many innocent lives and Joseph wouldn’t be able to burden that guilt knowing he could’ve done something

……but then Jotaro remembers. He wakes up the day after they return to Japan and asks to speak with him and he remembers

Perhaps it was selfish to feel so happy, ignorance is bliss after all and Jotaro is merely 17, but Joseph couldn’t deny the surge of hope at the fact he wasn’t alone in what he knew anymore

and then eventually Josuke remembers. And even Giorno.

By the time the year 2011 rolls around without anything noteworthy(they’d tracked down and killed Pucci ages ago), Joseph is able to breathe a sigh of relief

His family is safe

And he didn’t have to do it alone

I could see Joseph, like. Casually introducing the concept of stands to Jotaro without doing it explicitly. Making up stories of warriors who fought with ghostly companions, extensions of themselves. Because he didn't want to see his grandson afraid of his stand—of himself—again.

I could also see him trying to inspire some form of fighting spirit within Holly. Because as much as realizing that his grandson was scared of himself hurt, seeing his daughter in pain like that is something he would actively try and avert. Maybe he tries to get her into social justice?

And oh boy, Josuke. Josuke, on his own, is probably the most likely thing to make Joseph explain what he saw to anyone, if only Suzie Q. Because he does not want to cheat on her, but he wouldn't feel right in keeping Josuke from being born, and he wouldn't know being a sperm donor was an option when he first regained his memories since that technology really made advancements a good number of years after Battle Tendency ends.

And then there's Giorno. Joseph knows he went through a horrible time growing up, and how could Joseph just stand by and let that happen? What kind of person would Joseph be to let that kind of abuse continue? But if he interfered, would Giorno have as much passion (heh) to overthrow Passione?

Basizally what I am saying is that being Joseph is going to be suffering.

Y e s s s s s s s s s s

oh my god I am LOVING every single part of this

Joseph does his best to be a much more active roll in Jotaro’s life this time, showing him that he isn’t something to be feared and that he can be gentle, regaling him with tales of the Stand fights he’d seen from the future and even sprinkling in a couple of his own adventures in there. What if in a funny bit of irony Jotaro’s favorite stories were always the one about the boy with the purple gladiator and the girl with the spirit yarn, and he’s going to be so embarrassed when he remembers fjdnfjdbf

For Holly, Y E S, and may I also raise: him teaching her how to use Hamon so that even if she does still get sick she’ll have an extra natural defense against it since Hamon can heal and jazz. I can see Holly getting very skilled in it, especially given how Lisa Lisa would probably take an interest in teaching her granddaughter

And when it comes time for Josuke..... what if that’s when Joseph just breaks down. It’s been decades at this point since he’d been given his memories back, and this is when he finally reaches his breaking point. And that’s how Suzie finds him, quietly sobbing in their bedroom as he tears himself apart trying to make a decision.

At first Joseph was just going to lie. Say it was just another nightmare, that it wasn’t anything important, but...... but he just can’t bring himself to do it. He’s so tired and he hates having to do this all on his own, and dam finally breaks and everything comes spilling out. What he experienced, Stands, what’s to come and how he’s doing his best to circumvent it. And Suzie…… honestly takes it really well. She sits quietly and listens as he talks about everything.

They’d probably eventually reach some kind of solution, and even if they didn’t I don’t doubt Suzie would give Joseph the green light after a long conversation. She could tell that Joseph truly loved Josuke, the idea of him not existing was tearing her husband to pieces. While the intention behind boy’s origins the first time were….. not the best, this time things were different. Heck, this time Josuke might even be able to have the Joestars in his life because him and Tomoko wouldn’t need to be a secret. They definitely wouldn’t go flaunting it, but now it’s not something Joseph needs to keep hidden

As for Giorno…… that’s also where things are going to get complicated. It’s definitely going to make Joseph incredibly anxious just letting Dio do his thing in the shadows for a couple years, but he doesn’t want to risk Giorno not existing either so it’s a necessary evil so to speak. He’d also hate to leave Giorno in that situation, but even with Hamon keeping him young, his age of going to make the legal side of things a tad more difficult.

………wait……. Didn’t Giorno live in Japan for a couple years?

Maybe that could be how that issue gets solved. Maybe when Joseph was visiting Japan at one point he “accidentally” found this young boy abandoned at home, and he’s just a kindly old man with a daughter and grandson, so he was just worried for the boy. Maybe Holly can adopt him when they get him out too :D (And for a pinch of drama what if Joseph miscalculated how long the Shiobana’s would be staying in Japan so there’s a brief scare when they move to Italy but it’s all good in the end)

As for the gang stuff…… well, they might as well teach Giorno the family legacy of Hamon, and what better place to teach him then Air Supplena island! They probably take periodic trips, likely with the excuse of wanting to show them “the family’s Italian roots” since Suzie is from Italy and all

Pucci’s still going to be terrifying to deal with, especially since for a while they wouldn’t have any way to track him. They’d just have to be on the look out as best they can. Maybe somewhere during their search they end up finding Weather? And on the off chance Jolyne does still end up getting yote to jail, she has a whole extended family with future knowledge and their friends ready to bust her out. And even better, Jotaro was a more present father this time so there’s that :D

Araki should have just made Joseph a sperm donor in the first place. He’d have lost literally NOTHING by doing so, and he’d have kept Joseph in character by doing so. Maybe Tomoko could have been an independent young woman who was ready for children and yearned to start a family, but interested in finding romance yet.

She could have gone to a bar and complained to the barkeep as she drank and was overheard by a sympathetic Joseph and Suzie, who she begins chatting the night away with. When the night begins to reach its end they swap numbers and decide to stay in touch, and start a good friendship, which eventually results in Suzi and Joseph deciding to offer to help her out after they’ve talked to Holly about the idea of having a much younger sibling(after some thought, she’s ecstatic, the idea of another child to dote on? Sign her up! She’ll watch him on the weekends!), Joseph eventually becomes her donor and Suzi and Holly help her to understand what to expect during her pregnancy and how to deal with the physical symptoms.

Shed probably decide that she wants to raise him on her own, but allow frequent visits and phone calls, and would encourage a good relationship between the Joestar group and Josuke, giving him a healthy and loving environment to grow up in, as well a large support network of extended family.

That right there could even be argued to be a more interesting backstory than the original, and if Araki wanted to keep the whole unknown son bit, he could have just had Joseph be blackout drunk when he made the donation at some random sperm bank because he needed $50 for gas money or something, and then he gets a call 17 years later from the bank that his semen was used and he has a son, and shenanigans continue as normal, but without the anxiety of knowing ‘some dude was unfaithful any your the result’.

Pretty much any AU! Could fit into either of those frame works too! Dang it Araki!!

E X A C T L Y

THIS. THIS WOULDVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER IN EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY

Just. The two families being very close. Jotaro and Josuke practically being siblings. Holly and Tomoko bonding. And in this AU specifically, Josuke getting to know his dad’s husband and wife.

the possibilities are ENDLESS and it’s all accomplished without assassinating Joseph’s character

SO THE OTHER BRANCH IDEA FOR THE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AU, AKA THE ESCAPE BRANCH

This one is more “““canon compliant””” which is a hilarious word to use in this AU, but essentially Dio doesn’t escape the Joestar’s notice and Stardust mostly happens as normal. From the Crusader’s perspective, the only difference is this weird Hol Horse guy who keeps popping up and making things easier for them. They aren’t sure if he’s actually helping them or if he’s just that incompetent, but they aren’t complaining

However, at the mansion things are a bit interesting :)

It’s nearing the end of the 50 days, Dio is almost out of minions and it’s only a matter of days before the Joestars and friends arrive. Josuke is horribly sick, Okuyasu is trying to figure out what he can do to help, Keicho is trying to pretend he’s not worried and everyone’s freaking out because no one’s actually explained what’s going on. Koichi especially is nervous because Hol Horse hasn’t come back in a while.

But then he does. He’s covered in bandages and barely healed wounds and should definitely be in a hospital, but he’s here

Because this is it. This is his chance to grab his brother and the kids and get them all to safety without tipping off Dio

He goes straight to Dio and tells him what’s going on. Tells him that the Joestars are getting closer and they’re going to find the mansion eventually. Expresses his worry of the group finding out about Josuke and taking him, rendering all the training Dio had been giving him useless.

He’s terrified underneath the professionalism. Terrified Dio will sniff out what he’s doing, terrified Dio will kill him right then and there, terrified Dio will decide to cut his losses and kill the other three kids-

But Dio doesn’t. Because after all, nothing Hol Horse told him was a lie. Nothing Hol Horse said or did was out of character. Of course he’d be worried about his brother and play it off as worry for Josuke and the plan

But Dio underestimated something. He underestimated just how much Hol Horse wanted to escape, underestimated how attached he’d get to the kids, underestimated how that protectiveness and anger would overcome his terror of Dio and punishment

Hol Horse and the kids are sent away the day before the final fight happens.

And the night Josuke’s fever breaks, it finally hits them all.

Safe

They’re safe

Dio is dead. Gone for good. He can never hurt them again. And if somehow some of his minions survived the Joestar’s attack, Dio himself was the only one who knew they’d left and they’d be far gone by the time anyone noticed.

Of course….. then comes the question of where they go. None of them really have a home to go back to anymore

Except Josuke.

So off to Morioh they go

Tomoko just bluescreens as her kidnapped child is returned to her with magic powers now, and two best friends who also have magic powers, and said friends's older brothers, who also have magic powers and one of whom is like 20 at least, none of whom have anywhere else to go.

Also the older brother who's like 20 is badly injured and probably only barely fluent in japanese.

Like. How are you supposed to react.

LITERALLY

Like. Imagine it. It’s probably only been a couple days since they escaped. All of them are still very on edge because of everything that’s transpired, and Hol Horse is just barely able enough to walk. Josuke offered to fix him up, but everyone immediately vetoed that because Josuke’s still recovering from his life threatening fever and they don’t want to risk it

The kids end up being incredibly useful on the way over too. Echoes is a great look out, Bad Company are great for keeping watch while they rest, and The Hand and Crazy Diamond are generally just incredibly useful. It’s also great practice for them all.

And when they arrive in Morioh….. Tomoko is grieving. There were no leads on Josuke’s disappearance and it’s been nearly two months. She doesn’t want to give up, doesn’t want to face that reality….. but every day that passes feels more and more bleak.

And then he just. Shows up on her doorstep out of the blue with three other children and a very injured looking young man.

I’d imagine that Tomoko and Hol become really close friends, with the former helping the latter in settling in and finding a job. Maybe he ends up buying the house Okuyasu lives in canon and with the help of Josuke, fixes it up a bit with Crazy D. Tomoko can also help Hol Horse out with parenting the other three and give him tips and advice when needed.

Of course, there is the issue of their almost crippling trauma, ESPECIALLY Hol Horse. Dio scarred them, and while him being gone for good is a comfort, it’s far from erased everything he’s done. It’s going to take a while before they feel secure again, and I doubt the kids will want to be separated. They’d probably end up explaining everything to Tomoko. She definitely deserves to know the truth after All That, and does what she can to make things easier.

Sometimes a family is a single mother, a traumatized ex-mercenary, four traumatized magical children and their soul manifestations 💖💖💖

Wrote this in bits and pieces over the course of a while so if it's not totally internally consistent that's why.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Tomoko sighs. She wasn't getting any sleep anyways, may as well see who's ringing her doorbell so insistently at three-twenty in the morning.

(Not like she was asleep anyways. It had been months since Josuke went missing. Some nights she'd spend hours just laying there, worrying, wondering if she'd ever see her son again, if he was already dying or dead.)

(She'd love to say that she just knows he's alive somewhere, by a mother's intuition- but she doesn't. She just doesn't know.

Maybe they'll find him tomorrow. Maybe he's already dead. Maybe he's been dead for weeks. Maybe he's dying now. Maybe they'll find him soon. Maybe they'll never find him. Maybe they'll find him in pieces. All she can do is hope.)

She doesn't want to get her hopes up only to be disapointed. She hopes her son is back, more than she's ever hoped for anything in her life.

Tomoko thinks she's dreaming when she opens the door.

"MOM!"

Josuke launches himself into her arms.

She clings to him, wrapping him up as tightly as she can, terrified she'll wake up and be alone again, wake up to a call that they found her son's body.

She clings to him like he's life itself, like he's the only thing in the world that matters, and he clings to her right back.

"Ms.Higashitaka?" A raspy, exhausted voice with a painfully thick american accent interrupts her.

She looks up and-

Her son didn't come back alone.

There's two other boys her son's age, one with hair growing out a stress-bleached white and one with two massive half healed scars cutting across his face. There's a blond boy with an unmistakable family resemblance to the scarred one. The one who'd spoken to her is the eldest of the five, maybe the same age as she was when she met Joseph. He's covered in blood-stained bandages and limping, hand curled as though holding a gun as his eyes dart wildly around the street.

"Ma'am," he says, in painfully awkward Japanese, "can we come inside?"

Tomoko nods. "Of course." She picks up Josuke, taking a closer look at him as she ushers the five of them into her home.

She's still not convinced she's not dreaming, but...

She doesn't think her dreaming mind would be able to fill in the tiny freckles on Josuke's cheeks that are only the smallest shade darker than the rest of his skin. Doesn't think it could perfectly recreate how his hair is the exact same color as hers except just a little bit wavier. Doesn't think it could invent the faint echoes of exhaustion hanging off of her son's form.

She sets Josuke down at the kitchen table. The two older boys take chairs of their own, but the younger two all squeeze into the same chair with Josuke, the three of them piled on one another's laps.

If she's going to treat this as real, she might as well make some hot chocolate for them.

"My name's Hol Horse." The oldest of the five introduces himself. He gesutes to the next eldest and the scarred kid. "These two are Keicho and Okuyasu. An' that's my baby brother Koichi," he says, gesturing to the final unknown member of the group.

"After we escaped... Me and Koichi don't really have anywhere else to go. Oku and Keicho's dad... Probably dead at this point, probably for the better. Josuke told us where to find you."

Tomoko swallows back tears. Her son's back. He's back. And he's visibly been through hell without her.

She sweeps Hol Horse into a hug. "Thank you for bringing him back to me."

Hol Horse tilts his hat and stammers for a moment in a foreign tounge. "I just- thank you, ma'am."

Tomoko looks over the group again as she passes out cups of hot chocolate. Really looks at them.

Hol Horse is bloodied and bandaged from head to toe, hands shaking almost too badly to hold his mug. Keicho won't take his eyes off of her, watching her warily like she's a wild animal poised to strike.

And the final three- her son and his new friends-

God.

Those cuts on Okuyasu's face can't be more than a week old, and they look agonizing. Koichi seems almost painfully frail somehow. And Josuke-

Josuke is clinging to the other two like lifelines, like he's terrified to lose them. He looks so weakened and pale compared to when she'd last seen him.

"Let's all go to the living room." Tomoko says. "Typically we don't bring food in there but I think it'll be fine just this once."

She sits down dead center on the couch, helping Josuke climb into her lap.

Okuyasu and Koichi follow on either side, the trio packed as tightly against her and one another as they possibly can.

Hol Horse settles in next to Koichi, and Keicho hesitates only a few moments before sitting down next to Okuyasu.

"You're safe here, I promise." Tomoko says. "My dad's upstairs, if anyone comes after you. You can tell me what happened in the morning, I'm just glad Josuke is home."

Josuke passes his mug to Keicho to turn around and latch onto Tomoko. "I missed you so much. It was so scary, I got really sick, I thought I might never see you again, I," Josuke shudders and breaks down into tears.

"Shh, shh." Tomoko rocks him back and forth, only loosening her grip enough for Koichi and Okuyasu to squirm into her arms alongside him. "I'm here baby. I'm here. You're going to be just fine, okay?" She swallows back her own tears. "All three of you are going to be just fine. We'll figure it out, you'll be fine, I promise."

Josuke nods, wiping snot all over his shirt. "...thanks mom."

A clatter sounds from the stairs.

Suddenly Hol Horse is on his feet, hand curled as though around a gun, and Keicho is scanning the room for threats, the three youngest shaking in fear in her arms.

"Tomoko?"

"Josuke's back, Dad." She says. "He's here."

She can't say anything else through the tears, so Hol Horse speaks up next.

(Keicho's still watching her father warily.)

"I, uh. My brother's a friend of Josuke's. Same applies to him." He gestures to Keicho. "Sorry to intrude sir."

Her father smiles. "It's alright young man. Thank you for bringing my grandson home safe." He pats Hol Horse on the shoulder.

"You all need to get some sleep." He continues. "Josuke's room is still set up, but the guest room would take a little while."

"Can mom stay with me and Oku and Koichi?" Josuke asks.

"Of course, baby." Tomoko responds. "Hol, Keicho, how about you two take my room for the night then?"

Keicho and Hol nod, both looking about halfway to either collapsing or falling asleep standing up.

"I'll get everything sorted out for you five in the morning." Tomoko's dad says. "Just sleep for now."

Tomoko nods, heading upstairs with her son and his new friends.

Whatever happened to them, it's clear none of them made it out quite alright.

But she has her son back. No matter what scars came back with him, he's home. And that's all that matters right now.

Y E S S S S S S S S S

Oh my god I loved all the little details here, especially with all the kids and Hol Horse!!! And I didn’t think about the fact that Koichi’s hair could be grey in this AU from the stress andWAIT

WAIT WAIT WAIT WHAT IF KOICHI’S HAIR COLOR USED TO BE BLONDE LIKE HOW IT’S COLORED IN THE MANGA

AND THEN ALL THE CHAOS AND STRESS CAUSED HIM TO GREY EARLY