A/n: This will most likely be the only chapter where the parts will not be released in bulk, and that's because I'm struggling with the second part. It should be out before September ends though! But just in case it isn't, I didn't want to keep you guys waiting, so I decided to upload this chapter before the second part. Also, I have modified Rohan and Josuke's conversation in SOYCD Part 3, and that should be out tomorrow! You guys don't have to read it because the changes weren't too drastic, but I thought I'd let you know; to me, it was doing more telling than showing, so I decided to change it. Anywho, comments/critiques is what keeps me writing, so tell me what's strong and what can be improved!
Reimi Sugimoto and her labrador-retriever Arnold sat in the comforts of their little apartment with a cloak of breathing twilight slumping over their bodies. A single flame from a carnation-scented candle was the only thing to water down the darkness, tripping over itself as a drunken man would and sending the shadows of furniture creeping up the walls like boas in jungle trees. Sundry sounds from neighboring apartments, such as a husband quarreling with his wife below and a mother crooning lullabies to her newborn above, brought their otherwise still apartment back from the dead.
It was sadly ironic, the loneliness Reimi felt. Thousands of people passed by her in the tumulting city everyday and she was surrounded by hundreds more in her abode, yet she was but a mere ghost to everyone: her existence forgotten, forced to live in an isolated purgatory. It didn't help that the sky was empty of stars every night either. To cope, Reimi would take Arnold to dog parks, reach out to the people she had babysat in the past, and would even try to get in contact with the spirit realm via summoning circles or mysterious phone numbers she found on quite questionable websites; and while these activities numbed the pain in the moment, there was something near and dear to her heart that acted as an abiding medicine for her loneliness.
Rohan and Reimi's Random Rendezvous is what the childhood friends called their personal museum. The scrapbook, which was the same shade of yellow as an ox's horn, wheezed out a cloud of murky dust every time it's pages were turned, and the seams on the spine groaned from holding years of memorabilia together. No sorrow could live in Reimi when she read the title crafted from magazine letters or gazed upon the library of decades-old photographs behind plastic walls. Her face was as bright as the sun and as merry as springtime, and the twilight and loneliness could never extinguish this joy as long as she held the scrapbook in her hands.
But then, she flipped to the last photograph in the book.
Like a child who knew not of personal space, the twilight weighed its hands―its opaque, cryptic, and cracked hands that pulsated from the flesh of nightmares―on Reimi's shoulders, making her back curl into a slouch. She could feel the twilight's smoggy breath trickle down her neck as she and it ogled at the photograph in her lap:
It was taken at night, though the moon was locked away in a tower of gray clouds. On the left was a woman skinny in figure yet plump in riches, and on the right was a man starving in both physique and affection, his face as pale as an ill pearl and as deprived of pride as a narwhal without a horn. Behind them was the sea, where docile waves grazed on a pasture of seaweed like sheep, though it was not a pleasing sea where dolphins waltz together in the limelight of the moon and lost stars nestle in cribs of seafoam. It was a sea where sirens cast their alluring voices into the blackened, unknown waters to fish for lustful sailors, and fang-like rocks drool at the thought of a passerby walking off of the cliff that bordered the photo.
"(M/n)...oh Arnold, do you ever wonder where she went all those years ago? Whatever became of her?"
Arnold licked her dangling fingers to let her know that he wondered everyday. Reimi gently patted her companion's head with a warm smile as she said, "And I know what Jotaro, Mrs. Kujo, and Joseph told me, but I still can't help but wonder..."
Her index finger hovered hesitantly over the photograph, believing that a malevolent curse would befall her if she were to touch it.
"...If she and Rohan-"
The ringing of her cell-phone shot her sentence dead. She rose from her leather-clad couch, shouted "I'll get it!" into the darkness, snickered sarcastically to herself, then stumbled through the twilight's innards as it used hundreds of ghostly hands to playfully swat her around her apartment, pretending to be a cat and treating her like a toy full of catnip. Reimi was annoyed from crashing into her furniture and walls, but her annoyance died when she saw who was calling her.
"And speak of the devil!" She answered the phone with a click. "...Ew, what's a stinky asparagus goblin doing in my phone?"
"Well well, I wasn't expecting the pink menace to actually answer!" Rohan quipped. "What are you doing at this hour? Nearly burning your apartment down trying to summon Zuul in your refrigerator?"
"Hey, Rohan, I was seven when I tried to do that, get off my back." They shared a hearty laugh then Reimi said, "So why are you calling? Did you get caught shoplifting again?"
"Haha, very funny." Reimi could practically see his eyes rolling on the other end. "But in all seriousness, the reason why I'm calling is quite important."
Reimi glanced at Arnold with a playful expression and bit the tip of her tongue, grinning. She turned back to the phone, "Ah, I know what's wrong! You finally lost that Burger King crown you always wear-"
But Rohan's voice suddenly leaked shadows that could darken a soul in seconds. "Reimi Sugimoto, I'm not joking around anymore. This is an urgent situation and I would love it if we dropped the banter for a few minutes."
"Oh," Reimi began, feeling foolish for succumbing to the twilight's childish behavior. "I'm sorry. What's eating at you? Is everything alright?"
The mangaka, forgetting he was on a phone call, shook his head somberly. All he had to say was, "Reimi...(M/n) is back in my life."
The woman looked back at the photograph, where the twilight was salivating over the mangaka's misery; it's inky saliva darkened his eyes, leaving them to be black abysses. "She's back!? After all these years!? I-How!? When!? Why!? Wha-"
Rohan stopped her prating with, "I know, but get this: that's not even the craziest part. You see...(M/n) and I had a child. A daughter to be exact."
It may have been the ravens outside using Rohan's bones as grindstones to hone their screeches, but there was something about Reimi's silence that crushed his bones to dust. Reimi loves kids, Rohan thought to himself. She should be squealing with delight and yapping my ear off and asking me a million questions! So why is she so silent? Then he heard a sharp inhale on her end as she commanded,
"Rohan, tell me what happened."
He could feel turmoil creep through his bones like a fox hunting down a rabbit in its burrow as he told the story in its entirety, from receiving the letter to the events that went down in the Cinderella Beauty Salon; and when he told her what (Y/n) had told him about (M/n), her stomach folded in on itself; especially when she heard about her eye.
"Oh my God," Reimi replied once the story was finished, "that poor baby..."
"And that's why I called you, Reimi. If there's anyone who would be a perfect mother figure to (Y/n), it's you. The poor child needs all of the love in the world...would you be able to stay with us until (M/n) comes back?"
Reimi saw a single star burning itself into the night sky. She liked to believe that many children—and even adults—were wishing on the star for their dreams to come true. "Oh Rohan, I would love nothing more! It feels like forever since I've last been to Morioh, it'll be great seeing everyone again! Oh, wait a second." Reimi looked down at Arnold, who tilted his head and perked his ears. "How does (Y/n) feel about dogs? If I'll be staying with you two for some time, then I'm going to have to bring Arnold-"
Suddenly, there was a crash—multiple actually, followed by an uproar of shrieks and (Y/n) shouting, "OH NO!" Reimi brought her fingers up to her lips in worry as Rohan groaned, "What was that?"
"...Nothing?"
"I'm sorry Reimi, can you excuse me for one moment please?" Rohan sighed as he placed his cell phone down and flew out of the room. Reimi could hear the entire conversation unfold.
"(Y/n), what in heaven's name is going on here? ...Why are the stairs covered in milk and ice cubes? And what on earth are you hiding behind your back!? ...(Y/n) (Middle Name) Kishibe, show me what you are hiding right now."
"...Promise you won't be mad at me, Rohan-Sensei?"
-Sigh- "I promise. Now show me what you have."
"Ok; but remember, you made a promise."
"I know I did...(Y/n) Kishibe. Why do you have a bat!?"
"Well, he hit his head on my window when his Mama and Papa were teaching him how to fly! So I rushed outside, wrapped him in this blanket, made him an ice pack and a bottle of milk, then let his Mama and Papa into my room! But I dropped the ice and milk when I was coming up the stairs..."
"(Y/n), that was the last of my milk for the week! And you shouldn't be letting wild animals―especially bats―into the house! What if they bit you? You don't know what diseases they could possibly be carrying!"
"I'm sorry, Rohan-Sensei..."
"...I know you wanted to help, and I bet that the baby bat and his parents are grateful for your kindness. But from now on if there's an animal in need of help, you come get me first, ok? The last thing I want is for you to get hurt."
"Ok, Rohan-Sensei! Come on (bat name), we gotta bring you to your Mama and Papa!"
"Reimi, don't worry about Arnold." Rohan assured her once he got back to the phone. "(Y/n) is going to love him-what's so funny?"
Try as she might, Reimi couldn't hold back her laughter any longer; but there was something about her 'jollity' that tickled Rohan the wrong way. He couldn't pinpoint it though. "Oh, Rohan!" She exclaimed, crushing a suspicious tear under her finger like a bug, "I haven't even met (Y/n) yet and I love her already!"
The mangaka stooped into his daughter's doorway and felt his heart melt when he heard (Y/n) warbling a sweet melody to the family of bats. "Yeah, it's impossible not to love her. ...Reimi? Are you there?"
Silence assaulted Reimi and the sight of the photograph gagged her. Rohan quickly fended off her attackers by saying, "Reimi? Are you alright?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm ok. Just soaking everything in, that's all." She dryly laughed.
"Believe me, I'm all too familiar with that." He said with a chuckle. "Anyway, I don't mean to cut this conversation short, but I have to go. I'll see you in a couple of days?"
"Pfft, I'll be there tomorrow morning!" Reimi exclaimed while straightening her aloof persona, waving her hand into the air. Arnold thought she had thrown a treat so he leapt into the air, only to slump to the ground in disappointment when he found his mouth to be empty.
"Tomorrow!?" Rohan had nearly dropped his cell-phone into the milk puddles on the stairs. "But you live three hours away! And you have yet to pack, and it's pretty late! Are you sure you're willing to come on such short notice?"
If Rohan was in the room, Reimi would have pulled him into a hug. He'd push me off with a hiss, she chuckled to herself. "Hey, when it comes to my best friend, no task is too tall! Now I'll see you tomorrow, you have a pretty bad-WAIT! You have a pretty 'bat' situation on your hands! Get it?"
Rohan hung up.
...
And then the tears came pouring out like shrapnels on a broken window. Reimi stabbed her laughter in the back with a blade of despair as the candlelight paved a path of pyre for her to cross, but the light dimmed under a rainfall of tears and footsteps.
Reimi plopped down onto the couch, hugging her dog's head. Arnold licked her tears away. "Oh Arnold," -Sniffle- "all those years ago..."
If the twilight was helping her face reality or toying with her emotions, Reimi would never know. But she knew one thing when it forced her finger to touch (M/n)'s tear-stained stomach.
"It looks like I was right."
<><><>
It was 8:30 AM when Reimi and Arnold arrived at the Kishibe residence, smiling at the rays of cheery sunshine hosing down the exterior. A familiar feeling tingled from her toes to her head as she hauled her luggage inside, though it wasn't happiness or excitement or nostalgia: it was disappointment, because Rohan had once again forgotten to lock his front door.
"Come on Rohan," Reimi mumbled as she placed her suitcase and groceries by the front door, "you have a child now. Can't you be more cautious?"
Walking back to retrieve the rest of her luggage, Reimi started to brood about Rohan's carelessness; so much so that she had failed to notice Arnold growling suspiciously at a pair of feisty peridot eyes watching from the bushes...
"Oh-hoh-hoh, so Auntie Reimi is back in Morioh, and she doesn't bother to tell any of us! Well Auntie, if you're going to surprise us like this, then it's only fair that I give you a taste of your own medicine!"
The sensation of a rope-burn itching over her palms when she readied her lasso was one that she loved; it meant that something exciting was brewing, whether it be a prank or a brawl, and the girl was a child who couldn't survive a dull day. Mischief crossed over her face like the shadow of a cloud crossing a prairie as she hushed the daydreaming butterfly on the leaf next to her, hypnotized a flock of birds above with the circular motion of her lasso, and then she was ready to strike!
Until she saw her reflection gleaming in Arnold's fangs.
"WAIT, WAIT! ARNOLD, IT'S ME, JOLYNE!"
Her name came out pathetically because Arnold had her pinned against the mess of twigs and leaves below her, his paws squeezing the air out of her lungs. He didn't stop snarling until he realized who it was, and upon this realization, he backed away with his tail between his legs, whimpering.
"Arnold? Is everything alright, boy?" Asked Reimi as she pushed aside the rhumba of hissing branches. Her pink eyes enlarged at the sight of Jolyne laying at her feet, her body limper than a sack of potatoes. "Oh my goodness! Jolyne!? Are you alright!?"
But Jolyne did not answer.
"Jolyne?" Reimi shook the girl by the shoulder, fear gradually rising like ice melting in a glass of water. "Jolyne!? ...Jolyne! Please get-"
"GRAH!"
And just like that, all of the concern in Reimi's heart took off, making the woman question if it was possible for emotions to be taken by surprise. Jolyne, whose hands were curled up to resemble the talons of a bird, fell onto her back while kicking her legs, laughing hysterically at a now jittery Reimi.
"You should see yourself, Auntie! You look like you just had a chat with the Grim Reaper! I gotcha good, didn't I!?"
"Goodness, you nearly sent me to the hospital!" Reimi exclaimed, plucking some stray twigs out of Jolyne's braids and buns and readjusting the butterfly clips in her hair. She then licked her thumb to clean up the patches of dirt on Jolyne's face, making the nine-year-old stick her tongue out in disgust. "You're up to no good I see!"
"I solemnly swear it!" Boasted Jolyne, swatting away Reimi's hovering thumb like a pesky bee, "And that's what you get for not telling me or Mommy or Daddy or Great-Grandpa or Grunkle Josuke that you were coming back to Morioh!"
The air around the three of them grew steamy from the offense boiling in the pot that was Jolyne's heart; Arnold actually started to sweat from the rise in temperature. It was no clue that the girl was upset, for she refused to look Reimi in the eye when she asked, "Why didn't you say anything? You still love us...don't you?"
The warmth one feels when their mother cradles them next to the fireplace during a blizzard engulfed Jolyne's entire body. She didn't need to look up to know that Reimi was giving her one of her famous hugs that could turn winter into spring. "Oh Jolyne, of course I still love you! You see, Rohan called me last night about something extremely important, so I came here as soon as I could; but I got so busy that I didn't have time to let anyone know; but I promise you that it wasn't anything against you or your family. I will always love you guys, no matter what."
Reimi's words brought the boiling stew of negativity down to a simmer, and once she kissed Jolyne's forehead, the girl forgave her. "Thank you, Auntie! You always know how to cheer me up!" All of a sudden, the burning bludgeon of curiosity struck her countenance. "Say, Auntie, what's this 'extremely important something' that brought you to Morioh, anyway?"
Reimi bit her lip. She wanted to tell her the news, she really did; but she feared that Jolyne would have a hard time keeping things to herself and she didn't want her to overwhelm Rohan with people from all over flocking to meet (Y/n). So she whispered, "Well...it's a surprise."
"Ooo, I love surprises! Come on Auntie, tell me, tell me! I won't say anything!"
But the woman only rolled her eyes as she smiled playfully. "If I tell you, then it's going to ruin the surprise!"
"But I wanna know!"
"You will soon, dear," Reimi reassured, planting another kiss on Jolyne's forehead. "You will. You just have to be patient."
There was a moment of contemplation before Jolyne pouted, "Fine! But it better be soon!"
The gale from an echelon of ruby cardinals and sapphire blue jays and topaz canaries plucked the strands of Reimi and Jolyne's hair like the strings of a harp when they flew overhead. The two females, acting as augurs, saw these birds as a good omen for not just them, but for every other resident in Morioh as well.
"Auntie Reimi?" Jolyne said as the canaries' feathers turned her peridot eyes gold.
"Yes, dear?"
"...Is the surprise a good one?"
"Oh Jolyne, it's the greatest surprise anyone could ask for."
Reimi pressed her forehead against Jolyne's and looked into her eyes, which were still glittering gold despite the absence of the canaries. "I have to finish unpacking now, but you can tell Jotaro, Joseph, and Mrs. Kujo that I'm back in town, ok?"
"OK! But before I go, I want you to close your eyes and open your hand! I have a little surprise of my own!"
Reimi did as she was asked, though she was feeling playful: she kept peeping one eye open which prompted Jolyne giggle, "No no Auntie! No peeking!" -Pause- "Ok, now you can open!"
Cracking her eyes open, the woman found what appeared to be a palm-sized card with a drawing of pink, red, yellow, and orange flowers in her hand. She shook it and heard a noise that held some semblance to the rainmaker instruments young children play with in music class.
"Ta-Da! Those are hyacinth seeds I bought from Toyohiro at Superfly this morning! You see, I'm starting a window garden in me and Shizuka's room to attract butterflies and welcome a new spring; it is Shizuka's first, afterall!"
"Oh Jo, you're going to make Shizuka's first spring wonderful!" Reimi proclaimed. She then remembered Toyohiro, finding it curious that a man would ever want to call a transmission tower his home and garden shop; then again, he took an alien under his wing. "And I take it that his garden shop is coming together nicely!"
"Yep! And he's always boasting about how he's going to own an entire apple orchard one day! Man Auntie, you've missed so much! The senior students at Budogaoka High School have started their work studies, Tamami quit his job as a locksmith to go into finance, though he had some trouble with the IRS last week, and daddy just earned his doctorate..."
Jolyne kept babbling on and on. Reimi listened intently at first, for she had a lot to catch up with the rest of the residents of Morioh; but she stopped listening when the sight of Arnold licking the face of a mysterious figure next to Rohan's house caught her pink eyes.
"I'm so happy to hear that everyone is doing so well!" Interjected Reimi, occasionally glancing over at Arnold and the mysterious figure. "But I really have to go now; Rohan is probably waiting for me inside!"
"Aw, come on! Rohan can wait! I need to tell you about the time I stuffed Yuya's helmet with fire ants-"
"I'm sorry but I have-"
"Come on!"
"Please I-"
"Just one more minute-"
"Jolyne Kujo. I have to go. This is extremely important!"
Seeing Reimi annoyed was quite the rarity, so Jolyne knew that she had to bring her story to an end. The girl scraped her foot against the sidewalk, as if the woman's words had wadded up and stuck to the bottom of her shoe, then began to weep, prompting Reimi to repeat softly, "Jolyne? I have to go now; but if it makes you feel any better, I'll be in Morioh for some time, so you and I will definitely do something together. Does that sound good?"
Jolyne gifted her an apologetic and forgiving smile. "Ok, Auntie. I understand. I'll leave you to it then; and I hope that you and Rohan and whom...or is it who...? ...Yes, who. I hope that you and Rohan and whoever that girl is over there have fun planting those seeds together!"
The color from Reimi's face dripped onto the sidewalk, giving it a new coat of paint, and the trees looked back at the girl in question; they had drawn their branches like curtains to block Jolyne's line of vision, but her curiosity shone through like the rays of the sun.
"Wait, you...?"
"Noticed her?" Finished Jolyne. "Well yeah I did, once she started laughing! Say, why is there a little girl in Rohan's yard, anyway?"
Then Jolyne made the face Galileo made when he discovered the moons of Jupiter and made the face Newton made when he discovered gravity. She nearly choked on her own gasp as her hands flew to her mouth.
"Oh my stars...ROHAN GAVE BIRTH!"
"Yes he did-NO! No Jolyne, he didn't..."
"Then how do you explain her, huh?"
Reimi sighed; she couldn't keep the surprise anymore, and she was not one to lie. She knelt down to Jolyne's height, placed her hands on her shoulders, then began to speak.
"It's true that Rohan had a daughter with a woman long ago; but he didn't know of her existence until a few days ago, when her mother left her in Rohan's care because she couldn't afford to take care of her. He asked me to stay with them until her mother comes back for her."
Jolyne was silent, taking the information in; but she wasn't as shocked as the others when they met (Y/n); in fact, she was more happy than anything.
"This really is the best surprise someone can ask for! Shizuka and I now have a new playmate!!" She began to prance around, chanting the last phrase spoken, but soon came to a halt at a sudden consideration. "And I know what you're thinking, so don'tcha worry, Auntie. I won't go around telling all of the residents," Reimi circled around Jolyne to check for any crossed fingers behind her back. She was surprised—yet pleased—to find none. "I don't want to overwhelm Rohan with people flocking here to meet his daughter! I'll only tell my family, if that's alright with you."
"That would be perfect, Jolyne!" Reimi said, nodding. "They deserve to know...but thank you so much, Jolyne! I know I can count on you!"
"Of course, Auntie!" Jolyne said, giving Reimi a kiss on the cheek. "I'll let you go now. I love you!"
"I love you too, Jo!" Reimi said. "And stay out of trouble! You better not be behind bars the next time I see you!"
"Pfft, me? In jail? Puh-lease, as if!"
And like a rabbit who had just discovered a valley of carrots, Jolyne sped off, tripping over the wire that was the horizon. Reimi watched her until she was gone, chuckling as she shook her head. There was no doubt about it: she loved every one of the residents like a family.
And she was ready to return the love to the newest member.
<><><>
Jotaro Kujo should have been watching the waves adopt the abandoned footprints of his wife or building a sand castle with Joseph and Shizuka; but instead, his eyes were fixated on a vine swaying with every sigh of the ocean, dangling on a cliff over fang-like rocks that drool at the thought of a passerby walking off of said cliff, which resembled the lower jaw of a snake.
The vine was the guardian of the cliff, saving countless people from slipping into the throat of the sea and meeting their demise; and its swaying was like a pendulum to Jotaro, hypnotizing him with memories long past.
"He looks ten years younger every time he looks at that vine. Especially his eyes." Commented Joseph, holding a now sleeping Shizuka in his arms.
But his eyes should look older, not younger, Mrs. Kujo thought to herself. For some bizarre reason, the beach greatly contrasted the rest of Morioh, for a sheet of silver film was masking the yellow sky; so Jotaro's beryl eyes should have been older from the lighting.
"And I can see that night playing out within them." Said Mrs. Kujo, who's eyes refused to look away from her husband. Joseph nodded in agreement, but Mrs. Kujo wasn't sure if he could actually hear her or not. "I feel like I'm reliving it..."
And not a word was spoken for as many moments as there were rocks under the cliff. Then all of a sudden, the sneaking presence of a familiar piece of rope broke Jotaro out of his trance...
"Dang it! How did you know it was me?"
Jolyne made an attempt to sneak attack her father with her trusty lasso, but Jotaro was much too quick for her. In one motion he turned 180 on his heel, stopped the lasso from ensnaring his neck, reeled in his daughter with the rope, then picked her up by the back of her shirt with a single hand. Their eyes, perfectly aligned, stared into each other for a couple of seconds, before Jolyne blew a raspberry in Jotaro's face.
"Well, there's only one hot-pink lasso with purple cow spots in Morioh." Jotaro said as he placed Jolyne down on the sand and wiped his face. He tried his best to not crack a smile, but he could feel the corners of his lips wobble furiously. "So, care to tell me where you've been, young lady?"
Jolyne leaned against Jotaro's leg, picking at a scab on the back of her hand. Mrs. Kujo and Joseph walked over to hear what she had to say, and Shizuka was just beginning to wake up. "Oh you know, talking to the one and only Reimi Sugimoto!"
The waves were impregnated by Jotaro and Mrs. Kujo's surprise, and taking this into consideration, they tenderly sloshed against the teeth-like rocks rather than clash with them.
"Reimi Sugimoto? She's back in town?" Questioned Jotaro.
"When did she get here, Jo?" Mrs. Kujo asked.
"What? Rain-on-me Sushi-momo likes black and brown?"
Jolyne, huffing, tugged on her great-grandfather's ear and nearly screeched, "Reimi. Sugimoto. Is. Back. In. Town!"
Her hand jerked like a dog who had just bitten a porcupine because for not even a second, she thought she had grabbed her father's ear, for Joseph's surprised expression was eerily similar to that of Jotaro's.
"Anywho, she just arrived this morning because Rohan called her to help him with something!"
"Well, that's a first..." Snarked Joseph. "Do you know what he needs help with?"
"Oh-hoh-hoh, do I! Now, I want all of you to be sitting down for this!"
Joseph was the only one who took a seat on the blanket of sand. Mrs. Kujo's breath stirred in her throat, and all Jotaro could do was hide his chest behind crossed arms. Jolyne, after stretching her limbs, exclaimed,
"Now, the reason why Reimi is back in Morioh...is because Rohan Kishibe has a daughter!"
The vine stopped swaying in the breeze.