Because I rarely see anyone doing actual family portraits of their own characters... it's as if people created characters without a DEEP sense of family attached, or none at all! What gives y'all? There some kind of psychological barrier at play here or what? :P

I actually have alot more going into this (like a bunch of CRAZY details and stuff in the outfits and all) but I found myself sitting here nitpicking at the thing SO much that I felt like if I hadn't submitting something of this now? I wouldn't ever show it off from a possibility of 'getting bored' with it or whatever. Trying to keep a consistency of actually getting work done so here it is.

I'll most likely update this in the near future.

Anyhow... so here's Juju's direct family depicting, himself to the far left, his father next to him, Haiyuka Hakuda, sister Betsuko and the little man who frequents around his presence, his brother Jini.

Now to clear things up-- Juju was adopted into this family. Where's the mom you might ask? She died a long time ago... just to put a little explanation out there-- Betsuko is older than Juju by at least six years and lost her mother at childbirth.

Since then, Haiyuka (the father) never thought about remarrying, but he did have moments of passion with ladies long after, hence why Jini is around (he's an illegitimate son of passion he is).

Hey guess what? There's a story behind this one too!

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"Come on son we've got alot of work to do. If mom comes home--"

"I knowww! I know. If mom comes home and finds out we haven't cleaned up she'll get all sorts of bitchyyy--"

Juju quickly slapped his son up the back of his head and strode past him while his son clasped the back of his head, hunching over slightly.

"Yiiiikes!"

"Don't talk about your mother that way." Juju commanded sternly.

"Er, sorry dad..."

"Hard-headed... haha, just like me at your age, Kei." Juju responded to his son's apology.

Kei and Juju were busy moving and cleaning random displaced books in an office room they'd both promised to clean up but had put off for too long which caused a particular lady of the household to finally erupt from distraught and irresponsibility on both their heads that caused them to come around to organizing it back to order. Or else.

Kei reached for an old photo album he'd never looked into before nor really felt the desire to open up and glance into until a single photograph from the book's worn sleeves shuddered away onto the floor. Kei blinked from the instantaneous displacement of the photo and set the large, leather bound book down and bent over to pick the photo up.

Kei barely recognized the faces but felt a deep connection with the picture. The picture was reminiscent to classically set photographs of distant relatives which seemed canon for certain families, especially Juju's, to mimic. He looked back at the rigid, composed postures of three standing individuals plus a distant fourth who subtly set himself abroad in his stance with a delicate smile on his youthful face.

"Kei, come on let's--" Juju paused when he noticed his son's enamored gaze into the photo he had in his hands, curious as to what it might be.

"Kei?" Juju asked, putting aside a set of dusty old books onto a nearby office chair and approached his son.

Kei broke away from the photo to glimpse at his father then back at the photo as he turned himself towards his father.

"Dad...? Is... this you?" Kei presented the photo, handing it far reached towards Juju as Juju carefully took the small photo and saw an organized family portrait of himself, his father, sister and little brother from what felt like a lifetime ago now.

Juju's heart sank then flurried into a typhoon of emotions recalling rich memories of adventure, mystique, intrigue and fascination despite the rigid, seemingly plain outsource of this photo. Juju felt a murmur of tears sting the corner and bottom lids of his eyes but he refused to let them fall and winked his eyes a few times, rubbing them as he turned away from his son slightly.

"Damn this dust..." Juju faked, sniffling as to clear his nose from the conjuring waterworks his emotions were about to unleash.

"Dad?" Kei asked concerningly.

"Yes." Juju averted straight forwardly, turning back to his son with a bright, forced smile on his face and wagged the photo in one of his hands before holding it taut in both hands carefully again.

"That's me when I was your age-- along with grandpa, your aunt Betsuko and uncle Jini." Juju replied.

"Whoa- what?! Wait--" Kei quickly stood next to his father, peering closely at the picture as Juju brought it into a single ray of light that poured into the room and smiled down at it as Kei inspected.

"THAT'S aunt Betsuko? She looks WAY different in there than she does now!" Kei exclaimed surprisingly.

Juju chuckled while nodding his head, "It's what over twenty years past living now can do to you, son."

"Wowww, and that's uncle Jini when he was... how old was he in there?" Kei asked, pointing over the photo at where Jini was.

"Jini had to have been fifteen or so at the time we took this photo."

"Man, and granpda looks so awesome! Why don't you wear that thing he has on, dad?" Kei asked.

Juju laughed giddily while he looked at his soon and nudged his shoulder into his son's, "Kei this whole photo was just a favor to sate grandpa's traditional values."

"That why you're all standing there all stiff and everything?" Kei asked.

"We'll be all taking a photo like this soon ya know?" Juju hinted.

"Ah man... well... if it means surprising my own son or whatever many years later just like I am right now, it'll be worth it!" Kei exclaimed.

Juju couldn't help but feel proud of his son's enthusiasm as Kei reached out and took the photo, Juju allowing him as he released it and watched Kei wander some inches away gazing deeply into the photo. Kei needn't say more as Juju could tell Kei was completely taken in to a shred of memory Juju could never live again but would remember for the rest of his days.

Suddenly the tears came back, Juju turned away, sniffled shortly and rubbed at his eyes as he did his best to take his mind off the loving memories, and in doing so decided to go back to work though it was little he could do to shift the overwhelming emotion coming over him.

Kei heard one of his father's stifling sniffles and watched him put a large section of books away, reaching for another and could see from the look in his father's face that he was hit by some powerful emotion and wondered if he'd accidentally brought up some awful tragedy of a memory.

"Dad? Did... something bad happen back then that you didn't want to remember? I'm sorry if--"

"No." Juju cut him off, forcing another smile though tears were now more apparent in his eyes and his running nose more audible as Juju did his best to pretend his candor.

"It's just... this damn dust. My sinuses are goin' crazy in here." Juju lied along his smile.

Kei smiled back, looking into his father's eyes he sensed a more delightful truth to the matter. A needlessly explained truth that did not need an answer as he sensed that his father was recalling a surge of memories that touched his heart and, especially, his soul.

"Okay." Kei replied simply, turning away as he went back to the old photo album he'd set aside earlier, knowing his father was lying deliberately to him but he would let him have his delighted ruse. He knew his father had no sinus issues at all, that in this room even if it were ambient with dust would not sneeze or shudder in response to agitated senses-- but again, he would let his father live his memories within him, for him.

Kei opened the photo album briefly, slipped the old photo album in and picked it up but took a moment to himself, thinking about what other possible photos and memories his father had never told him, as Kei had never asked, and looked back at his father who remained busy with putting books away.

Kei looked down at the photo album, set it back down on the desk, slid it far aside to a corner where he'd remember to pick up after they'd finished reorganizing the office-library room and returned to work with his father who met eyes with him once again and both of them sharing the same bright smile, reflecting back at one another as they continued on.

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I have a feeling, that many years from now, this won't be some silly story of mine that I made up, but that I can actually live this very moment with my own son in some way :)

Course, I'm just being a romantic in that sense...