Omake 28: Unique Bond (2)

“Can I ask you a question about… that sword?”

Kate’s ears twitched at my words, her attention shifting at me as she looked away from the book she had been reading until that very moment. It was one of those rare moments where we were the only ones by the ‘living room’ wagon. With Bhediya taking his turn to train Bloody in Hamon while Zephy watched with caution, and Robert and Derek took their private smoke time, it was just the two of us in that precise moment.

Orange eyes met orange eyes.

“What about it?”

“I don’t think you ever said if it was something that was made by your father or that he just had in his possession since it was in his family for a while. I was just curious about this detail.”

She blinked, her head tilting slightly on the left as she pondered over the explanation.

“I don’t really… know for sure,” The young woman admitted with a genuine tone. “I know that it was in the Aryoko Clan’s possession for a long time but… father never told me about its full story, only that he had been entrusted to keep it safe.”

I could imagine the normal Japanese hermit, the kind of man that just accepted isolation as a solution to his troubles and his own personal peace. A man that was still open to help others, but also involved himself in issues all for the sake of making sure those were fine and well. I also imagined little Kate and… the sight felt a mixture of adorable and deeply amusing. Still, I maintained a calm expression as I knew the subject of our conversation wasn’t particularly joyful due to the man’s demise.

“He was a good man from the way you’re describing him,” I commented, knowing that I was treading on some troubling ground in that very moment due to the topic.

“He was kind, understanding and… he tried his best to prepare me for what is life,” Kate added while nodding. “To the beauty of it and to its dangers.”

“Sounds like an interesting fellow.”

“He was...” She replied fondly. After a while, her expression morphed to one of curiosity as she regarded me with a fascinated look. “Since you asked about my father, would it be fine if I returned the favor?”

Slowly nodding, I could tell that Kate was just interested to know the man behind ‘Dio’ but… which of the two? And should I be worried about giving too many details at once? Truly difficult questions to answer on the spot, but I hoped that it wasn’t going to be the case.

“You mentioned you had a photo with you about your family. Can I… see them?”

That was something I could do without any issue. It took me just a moment to reach out for my bag and retrieve a few pictures I had stored in a secret spot within it. The one I brought forth was one the entire Joestar family took when I had just made 16. It was me, Jonathan, and George.

“This is George Joestar. He was the one that took me in as a ward first and then adopted me as his son,” I started to list out. “He is a good man, quite traditional at times but it’s just… proper from a nobleman of his status.”

“You two are close,” Kate affirmed, noticing my genuine happiness in speaking about him.

“While he wasn’t one to make emotional displays in public, we had our moments in private. He is… he is my father, there is no reason for me to think otherwise,” I commented with a small smile, indirectly praising the man himself.

With that first figure out of the way, I shifted the focus on the third individual in the picture, my smile twitching in clear amusement as I remembered a few interesting bits about Jojo when I first met him. Something about… helping him with Math and other subjects.

“This is Jonathan, he gets called by many as ‘Jojo’ due to the full name being Jonathan Joestar,” I continued with fondness behind each word. “He is my younger brother and I still remember how he behaved back when he was younger. A little brash, kind of unruly at times when it came to etiquette but… I guess he had a gold heart from the very start.”

“Oh? Is he the kind of brother that looks up to the older sibling?”

“You would be surprised by how many times I had to help him during the time we were homeschooled,” I replied with a small smile. “He is smart and I can say that now he could easily do some complex calculations on his own but… a few years ago, he just detested even trying to study mathematics and other logical subjects. Mostly because it felt very senseless for him.”

“But?” She asked, picking up that I was withholding something really entertaining about the topic.

“I showed him part of the paperwork that father would usually have to go through in the early part of the day. Since the Joestar Estate has ties in the trading system, which is where most of its income comes from, the papers are generally filled with numerous numbers tied to costs, gains, estimations and real exchanges,” I explained with a growing grin on my face. “He was pale for a while, but he seemed to change idea quite quickly as soon as I reminded him that it was going to be his job once he was given hold of the family’s expenses and income.”

The blonde carefully had her right hand over her mouth, holding back a chuckle as only a snort left through her lips. “I-I suppose it was truly terrifying to handle that there wasn’t much of a choice on that.”

“He was quite compliant to learning and doing extra homework to make up for any issue he had on the topics we had to handle together,” I answered with a giddy tone. “Still, he did just fine. He is really competent when he really wants to achieve something.”

The woman nodded and there was a brief pause that followed just after my answer. I took a moment to think if it would have been for the best to just let the conversation finish there or continue it somehow and, as I thought about it, I realized that there was actually something that I wanted to discuss with her.

“By the way, speaking of family...” I commented quietly, having thought about this for a while but, never finding the moment to actually entertain this thought into something a little more meaningful beyond mere friendship. “I’ve studied a couple of Japanese words since I’ve met you. I had a couple of books that helped studying both Chinese and Japanese, so I gave priority to the latter.”

Eyes narrowing with intrigue, the young woman nodded and I decided to go for it and hoped to not make this more awkward than it sounded in my head.

“If I was to call you my sister, would that mean that in Japanese I should address you as Imouto or Onee-san?”

If before Kate’s focus had been absolutely guarded upon me, the very moment the question entered her brain… something changed within her expression. Surprise, amusement, confusion and… interest- all those visibly shook her to the core and eventually gained a response out of her.

“I-I think Imouto is incorrect since it means ‘younger sister’.”

Instead of just nodding, I carefully frowned, trying to make it look like I was just clueless on the matter and doubtful about this response.

“But… aren’t you younger than me?”

Her jaw dropped at this, and she eyed me for a long while. “I’m… how old do you think I am?”

“As a gentleman, I can’t answer that question without feeling ashamed,” I replied truthfully, way too accustomed to how that was a big rule in some circles in this time period. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.

“I’m… older than you. And I think Onee-san would fit accordingly.”

…

“What if I mistakenly call you ‘Imouto’? Would that be impolite and unpleasant for you to hear?”

She sighed. “Dio, do you want to call me ‘Imouto’?”

I blinked. “I don’t recall making that comment-”

“But you’re implying it with that silly scenario. You aren’t stupid enough to mistake two different ways to address someone,” The blonde flatly remarked. “So, do you want to call me ‘Imouto’ and… why?”

“I just feel like it would be fitting since you look younger than me,” I answered honestly. “But I will not push it if you don’t want to.”

…

Another sigh. “One condition.”

“Uh?”

“I will accept this… for one condition,” Kate elaborated with a surprisingly serious tone. “I refuse to call you Onii-san or anything remotely close to that. It’s either Otouto or Dio.”

…

“Deal?” I answered confusedly, actually grasping at another element that I hadn’t considered due to this unexpected development. “Did we just… become surrogate siblings?”

Her mouth opened, then closed. Confusion flared in her eyes as her expression morphed into one of incredible surprise at this comment.

“I… I think so?”

…

“I guess it’s fine,” I muttered, my mind failing to grasp how this actually happened. It all started with the idea of merely setting up the plans to eventually head pat her but… this actually failed successfully. In fact, this was… a little better? Awkwardly so it felt like that.

We spent the rest of the quality time trying to get hold of this situation and… I guess it worked? It was awkward at first, but then we started to work things out properly and-

‘A few centuries later...’

A small smile was on my face as I braced for a little blond boy leaving the side of his parents, and running up to me with a giddy grin on his face. I caught him with ease and he giggled as I tickled beyond the little layer of white fur with black stripes.

“Uncle Dio!”

That’s how it would then develop.