Chapter Text
Who knows when you’re going to hold a baby for the first time. Some may carry their own baby for starters. Others may lift a friend’s child, their niece, one of their siblings, or any member of their family, really. Some will spend their entire life baby-holding free. Anyway, Yoshikage Joestar-Kira never thought the first newborn he’ll hold would have been found on the ground.
The incident occurred on a Sunday, in the Japanese coastal city of Morioh. The sun was way too bright for a February and Kira hadn’t brought his sunglasses, so his eyes were practically shut down in order to see without pain.
The baby weighted around three kilograms and was sound asleep. It was wrapped in a cream-colored sheet, and dressed in an orange romper. Our Kira grimaced at the sight. The pink of the newborn’s hair really clashed with its outfit.
"What are we supposed to do with this tiny tot? It’s so cute I wanna eat it." said the old man accompanying him. He placied his arms below Kira’s, probably as an offer to carry the baby. To this, Kira took a step backwards and held the newborn closer to his chest. Better safe than sorry.
"You just fell, old man. Maybe you should go to the hospital instead and leave me alone."
"Weren’t we heading there in the first place?"
He had a point.
"What was a baby doing on the sidewalk anyway?"grumbled the older one. "Was it a prank to ruin people’s asses?"
Old people’s asses, corrected Kira in his mind. No one would ever miss that huge bump in the pavement, and his grandfather was wearing glasses. How badly can one’s eyesight worsen?
Kira looked at the baby, ignoring the following nonsense the fossil was blathering.
But come on, what was a baby doing there? Kira and his grandfather, Joseph, were heading towards the hospital to pick his mom up. She had been working hard for the past two weeks and hardly spent time with her family, so they wanted to surprise her. Well, Joseph wanted to surprise her. Kira, on the other side, was removed from his lovely flat by a loud and excited elderly and was forced to tag along.
And now they were dumbfounded on the sidewalk, a baby on their hands and a literal pain in the ass.
The two men were very close to the hospital, so it was only logical to think the baby came from there. Judging from his fragile state and mushy head, it was most certainly born three days ago max. But why, why was it there? The ground had looked soft and was wrapped around the newborn, forming some kind of tar blanket. Kira didn’t know the pavement could bend like that. Hopefully, Joseph had stumbled over whatever that was. It was such a relief that his constant flow of words was interrupted, Kira had thought, grinning in his head.
"We will take this baby to the hospital and check the maternity records." stated Kira in a monotone.
"Great! Shizuka was just a mere disturbance in our journey to the hospital!"
"Don’t name it."
The hospital was full of people, even at this hour. Of course, no illness or condition had the courtesy to stop affecting its victims during the evening. Joseph went to take a leak and Kira asked to see the records. Shizuka in his arms, he almost looked like he was notifying that he was leaving with his baby. "Don’t name it", he thought.
"I’m sorry, Mr. Joestar-Kira, but I can’t tell you this. This is confidential, only the midwife can see those documents." she raised an eyebrow. "But I don’t think it’s going to be a problem."
With that, she looked over Kira’s shoulder and shook her head. Holly was there, looking very concerned. Kira never thought he would ever see her this agitated and wanted nothing but to soothe her. She had that kind of power on people.
"Mom, this is not my baby, don’t worry."
"What? Why would I ever think that?" she squealed. "Don’t ever come to me with a baby and say such things, Yoshikage!"
Kira was never a master at communication, but if his mother wasn’t worried about that, what was the reason?…
"I’m so glad you found the baby! I was worried sick. Come here."
She grabbed her son by the wrist (impressive, given that he was carrying a newborn) and ran to an empty hallway, therefore leaving Joseph alone in a bathroom. Holly then whispered:
"Ms. Donatella Una gave birth to this baby yesterday."
So that was it, thought Kira. No need to be this alarmed. All they had to do was giving the baby back, then eat at his mother house, and then come home at least. Holly sighed heavily.
"The baby got lost so I panicked. Where did you find her?"
"She was on the pavement." he simply responded. "Everything is fine, she’s here now. Let’s give her back, Ms. Una must be worried sick."
He really hoped that last sentence would calm his mother. His whole world was weird when she wasn’t cheerful and smiling, so she had to get better quick. Maybe it was selfish of Kira but right now he didn’t care. Holly looked at him straight in the eyes. After a sharp inhale, she stated:
"There’s no easy way to say this. Donatella Una, the mother… she’s dead."
Kira didn’t know how to process the information his mother gave him. What did she meant by "she’s dead?". He shrugged. This was a stupid thought. Another less dumb question crossed his mind.
"Where is the other parent then? She didn’t make this alone." he remarked. With that, he glanced at the newborn in his arms. Holly gave him a look of disapproval.
"Don’t refer to her as a ‘this’, Yoshikage. She’s a baby."
Kira knew that. He was a doctor too, after all. He had seen plenty of babies in his career. But this one was surrounded by mystery, and he didn’t like that at all. The only thing he wanted to do with the newborn was to leave her somewhere so he could return back to his life. His mother should hurry and tell him about the whereabouts of her other parent so he could be done with it. Holly looked like she was choosing her words carefully. This whole situation was delicate in more ways than one.
"She came to the hospital alone. When I asked, she said that the father won’t show up and that we didn’t have to worry about it."
Great, thought Kira. This was perfect. He replied quickly:
"What’s the father’s name then. Where are they now."
Holly knew what Kira really meant with this question, she could sense the irritation in his voice and eyes.
"His name is all I’ve got, and that’s not much. Also, they don’t even live in Japan so it might take a while before we…"
"Let me be clear with you." countered Kira firmly. "I won’t in any way get involved in this."
He wouldn’t let his mother get the best of him, not this time. As for Holly, she didn’t bother to acknowledge what her son just said. She had learned over time that it won’t get her anywhere.
"I’ve informed the hospital that I would take care of the baby until we can contact her father. Ms. Una’s parents passed away years ago so it’s our only option for now."
Why was she like this. Why was she always the nice and considerate one, when all Kira wanted was to be left in peace. At least Holly was back again, with all her nonsense and over-the-top kindness. He shut his eyes and inhaled, then carried the baby towards Holly with all the care newborns need. She took her gently with a smile.
"Dad is going to take care of her, don’t worry. You’re not even around the house that much, it won’t bother you."
Kira was not convinced by that. This situation was way too strange and it could only mean trouble. The sooner they would get in touch with the father, the better. If Kira was to find them in the city, he’d tell them a word or two about how the bastard should never mess with the Joestar-Kiras ever again.
Holly finally informed him that the other parent was called Solido Nero. Donatella Una had met them in Italy when she went there for her studies. She was born and raised in Morioh. Kira couldn’t care less about this info dump, and thus barely listened to her.
"She had a condition for many years. I thought that she would be okay, I really did, but…" she paused, eyes full of guilt. "The least we can do is taking care of her baby for a while."
With that, Holly began to walk back to the hallway to find Joseph. He gave them a warm smile and shouted:
"Holly!! Why did you left me alone in this big hospital? I almost got lost. And what are you doing with Shizuka in your arms?"
"Dad, you already gave her a name?" Holly responded and giggled. "That is so like you!"
The three of them exited the hospital and agreed on going to the baby store to buy basic stuff. Holly did try to borrow some from the hospital but she didn’t get anything unfortunately. They had no car, because Joseph would rather walk to the hospital with his grandson, so the three of them were now waiting for the bus.
Kira was very tired about this whole...thing that was happening. What bothered him the most was that Shizuka was found on the floor next to the hospital, hidden in what looked like soften sidewalk. It didn’t really make sense. And as for the baby disappearing in the first place… He shook his head both sides to let go of those thoughts. There was only one thing that could explain all of the strange things happening here, according to him, but… he didn’t want to think about it. He decided to focus on the conversation his mom and grandfather were having.
"...knew you would love her immediately!" said Holly to Joseph. "But don’t grow attached, it’s only temporary. We’re doing what we can to find her father. Right, Kira?"
Was she taunting him? Now was not the time, he was so pissed. He decided to annoy Joseph to calm his nerves.
"By the way, what is her legal name? We can’t call her Shizuka forev-"
"ACK!" interjected Joseph. "You’re right! But I liked this name. It was in reference of this one singer that Holly liked when she was younger."
Holly smiled at that and Kira knew that they were going to be all ‘affection showing’ for at least 5 minutes. He glanced at the baby whose name was still unknown, asleep in Holly’s arms. Everything about her was so small, it looked like she could break into pieces at any moment. Her breathing was barely noticeable. Kira grimaced when he recalled that she was found on some dirty ground. This was awful, no baby should ever go through this. Sure, he despised that newborn for gatecrashing in his life, but... this wasn’t her fault, he figured. Kira hated being mad at someone for no reason. There had to be a cause for him to be angry. So he spend all of the bus trip watching her as a sorry, complimenting her in his head. Somehow it helped him relax.
They arrived at last in the shop. Kira stayed outside and watched them come out with at least sixty-eight bags of feeding bottles, clothes, pacifiers, teddy bears, diapers, powdered milk, baby creams, and even a portable crib. Well, maybe there were a few less that sixty-eight bags but it looked just as troublesome. Joseph gave his grandson his credit card back with a sheepish smile and Kira sighted. Holly was now carrying the newborn in a black baby sling.
The entire evening was spent unpacking some of the stuff they bought and attending to the baby’s need (feeding her mostly) inside of Holly’s house. They set up the crib in Joseph’s room who assured them that he would wake up whenever she’d cry. Both Kira and Holly raised their eyebrows at that but Holly agreed because her father looked happy to do it.
So they put the baby to sleep, under the roof of her temporary house, and Kira left right after that, in spite of Holly’s complains. He was exhausted but also relieved to finally get some quiet time in his home now. From now on he’ll just have to pretend he’s busy whenever his annoying relatives would ask him to come over. He always did that anyway.
Everything was back to normal! It felt nice. He decided to walk home instead of taking the bus. The air was a bit cold but he didn’t mind. Somehow the sight or Shizuka didn’t left his mind for a while. No, that wasn’t it. Her name was Trish, his mother had told. He didn’t know which name he disliked more. At least it wasn’t any of his business anymore. He smiled. He was relieved.
The next morning, Kira was in Holly’s kitchen. He cursed himself for being this obliging when it came to her. His mind just couldn’t bring itself to say no, no matter how hard the man tried.
It was around seven thirty in the morning and Holly was about to go to work. The hospital couldn’t give her a day off, even if they knew about her situation. She was worried sick about Trish and therefore had asked for her son’s help. She swore it was a one-time thing, a way for her to be sure that Joseph fully understood the things he had to do. Joseph was outraged. Did his baby girl turned out anything but fine?
"Thank you Yoshikage, you’re a life-savior" she repeated for the third time. "You don’t have to go on any ship trips soon, right?"
"Mmh." he said to his cup of tea.
Kira was a marine surgeon on boats that accosted in Morioh. He liked his job but it was Holly who encouraged him to pursue that career. When he wasn’t on boats he worked as an on-call doctor at the Morioh hospital like his mom, so he wasn’t always called there. Today, for example, was not one of those days. Unfortunately.
Holly left in a rush and Joseph woke up at the same time. Something about his face was proof that he had kept his word and did woke up to feed Trish this night. This was actually kind of impressive for an eighty years old. Kira sent his grandfather back to sleep and accompanied him to the bedroom. This way Kira could check on Trish at the same time. Joseph slid in his bed while his grandson bent to give the baby girl a look.
A smell. She smelled like... like shit, in fact. He was delighted to take care of that right after eating.
Taking Trish with as much care as he could, Kira exited the room with disgust all over his face. The pink-haired baby (how weird was that, honestly) was now awake and yawned. Kira almost fell for that. Babies are cute, he’ll give them that. But he quickly remembered where he was taking her and thus refrained from smiling. Nicely done, Yoshikage. You are nailing this.
Kira changed her diaper with care. He put her on a folded towel on the bathroom table, in a lack of a better changing area. Then he washed his hands carefully, while humming some song. He removed her used diaper and put it in the trash bin, and then cleaned her. During this process, Trish was moving her arms and legs slowly and her eyes were locked on Kira’s face only when he was close. The latter didn’t know exactly what part of that situation was making him feel uncomfortable. He had changed babies in the past, he thought while putting some cream on Trish’s bottom.
"Oh", he realized. He never did this in such a familiar place with a baby he didn’t knew. Kira had a little sister, Kyo, who he used to take care of from time to time. But this situation was completely different. Kira figured that he should accept the fact that this baby was, in a way, a part of his life now. He shivered and got this thought out of his mind. Kira put a clean diaper on Trish and washed his hands a second time. He was still humming during the process. He couldn’t help it.
Trish was then brought to the couch with him. Kira put her in a baby bouncer. Hopefully the neighbor had one so Kira didn’t had to pay for it like everything else. Thinking of the shopping they did yesterday, he really should ask for a refund as soon as possible. Maybe he’d ask for a bit more since he was also babysitting her.
Kira had an entire day ahead of him, so he decided to fight those feelings of uneasiness.
Kira was a man who liked when things were predictable and stick-in-the-mud. He always had a tendency to feel things really strongly and he hated it. Keeping every part of his life under control was a way to limit that. He didn’t like to be bothered, nor to feel needed. Holly was the only person he could bent some of his rules for. With some time, he had learned to say ‘no’ to more and more requests from his mother. Apparently, refusing to take care of a baby while she was out wasn’t one of them.
It was only logical that he felt the need to understand his emotions right now, in order to control them. As usual, he tried for two minutes and inevitably realized that it couldn’t happen. So he tried his second great technique: avoiding his feelings completely. It was a great solution, really. Hopefully, in this situation, his medical studies helped him focus only on the baby’s needs. Taking care of her was a task and nothing more. On top of that, Yoshikage Joestar-Kira was a good person. At least that’s what he kept telling himself, he was not really sure. Either way, good people took care of babies, so that’s what he’d do.
It was almost ten now, and Joesph was still sound asleep. Maybe he was a bit old now to attend to a baby’s needs. Kira was a bit alarmed about that, he thought on the toilet. He tried to finish his business the quickest way possible as to not leave Shizuka alone for too long. Trish. Screams were heard while he was flushing the toilet. So that was it, huh. Kira had really reached a point in his life where he had to run at full speed to soothe a baby found on the ground, pants barely on? He sighted. When he arrived in the living room, he was panting. Our Kira was happy nobody was here to see that.
Wait, he didn’t wash his hands. He turned back and run towards the bathroom. Trish’s and her siren-like screaming could’ve sunk boats if any were around, and Kira would bet the windows were this close to shatter. A loud noise, on top of all the crying, was heard.
"If the baby has fallen I’m dead, if the baby has fallen I’m dead, if the baby has fa-"
Kira must’ve seen things blurry, because there was no way his eyes were giving him correct information on in surroundings right now. The living-room ceiling was melting. It was deflating like a bouncy castle in the evening. The floor was melting too, and was beginning to engulf the baby. A smashed TV was on the floor, and Trish’s yelling became more and more intense.
So she really did have a stand.