Chapter Text
Even before she unexpectedly became a single mother, Tomoko always knew that she wanted a job with relaxed mornings. Mornings had never been her strong suit, least of all without a cup of coffee to get her going. The thought of waking up in the wee hours of the morning only to be rushed to a boring office job that left her unfulfilled and overworked terrified her to no end. Not a day went past that she wasn't grateful for her career as an elementary school music teacher who didn't need to arrive for class until 10 am, leaving her plenty of time to wake up, get Josuke out the door, and mentally prepare for the rest of the day.
On days such as this, however, she wondered if her time would be better spent driving him to school herself.
"Is this Tomoko Higashikata?"
Tomoko didn't need to check the number on the phone to know it was Josuke's principal, the man's nasal tone was all she needed to hear. "Yes," she replied. "What's he gotten into this time?" The clock read 9:02—he should be in first period right now. Tomoko groaned. He couldn't have possibly gotten into another fight this early in the morning, right?
"Actually, that's what I'd like to ask you. He hasn't showed up to school yet. Is he home sick?"
Tomoko felt her face turn red with rage. Getting into a fight was one thing, but playing hooky? She had some choice words for the kid. "No, he's not," she said through gritted teeth. "In fact, he's not here at all. I'll make sure he gets to school soon."
With that, she slammed the phone back on its base. He's gotten into trouble again, she realized. An occurrence that happened more often than not, these days. This was the third time this month he had ditched class. Not that she could blame him, she had occasionally played hooky when she was in high school, but three times in one month? Did he even have a reason?
As she retrieved her purse from the kitchen and took a final swig of her coffee, Tomoko recalled a few days ago when the house had been broken in by one of Josuke's "friends." How he had been able to describe him as such was absurd. For Pete's sake, he had boasted about making her horrified and drugged her! Though she didn't have concrete evidence that that was what happened, how else could she explain suddenly passing out in her kitchen and waking up in a taxi? Not to mention that he had eaten her sponge cake. Jerk.
Clearly, Josuke had found himself hanging out with the wrong crowd. If he didn't see that on his own, it was her duty as his mother to show him.
The phone rang again as she slipped on her coat. Ordinarily, she wouldn't have bothered, but she figured that letting off some steam at whatever poor soul was on the other end of the line might help ease her nerves.
"What do you want? My son's playing hooky and I don't—"
"Is this Tomoko Higashikata?"
This time, she didn't recognize the voice on the other end of the phone. The number wasn't in their address book, either.
"Yes, why?"
"We have your son with us at Morioh Emergency Hospital. As his legal guardian, you need to sign some things before we can perform any surgery."