Kaato Higashikata

"I don't have any regrets, but... That's because I'm going to take back the life I lost."

- Kaato Higashikata

Kaato Higashikata (東方 花都) is a secondary character featured in the eighth part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, JoJolion.

Kaato is Norisuke Higashikata IV's ex-wife and the mother of Jobin, Hato, Joshu and Daiya Higashikata. After being condemned to 15 years in prison for the murder of a child, she is released and determined to be duly compensated for her time spent in prison.

Kaato is a Stand User who can store things in her deck of cards with her Stand Space Trucking.

Appearance
Kaato is a 52-year-old woman with shoulder-length black hair, parted in the middle with two spiral buns on each side which end in two spiraling pigtails.

Kaato wears a long see-through dress with a layer of fringe along the waist and with playing card back designs with the Higashikata family crest across her chest and on her hips. A later version of her dress exposes her cleavage while gaining short sleeves, with the fringes parting at the front and revealing that she also wears trousers. She also wears large rectangular bracelets on both of her wrists.

Personality
"I refuse to be a woman whose life is decided by men. I'm deciding it for myself."

- Kaato Higashikata, JJL Chapter 64

Kaato is a very mysterious individual, showing different sides of herself depending on whom she's speaking with. She seems to act the most genuine around her son, Jobin Higashikata, with whom she has a special connection. Since he was a boy, Kaato doted on Jobin and would take special care to make sure he was always alright. Her affection for him does not seem to have diminished over the years, as she is still happy to dote on him even when he's an adult. She notably smiles as she sets Jobin's cuffs for him.

Kaato herself acts incredibly loving towards her children and claims to never have stopped thinking about them during her 15 years in prison. However, she is not above violently attacking them if she is disrespected, as shown when Joshu intentionally tripped her with a chair and she retaliated by making a chair appear and stab him in the chin. Kaato states that all humans are born unequal and that everyone tries to climb to find happiness. She pushed Jobin into committing to ambition to make him climb "higher". For that she was ready to sacrifice one of Jobin's bullies to cure him of the Rock Disease. Another reason for her act is that she wished to decide her fate for herself, seemingly disapproving of being the one who would sacrifice herself for Jobin's sake. Her ambition for the Higashikata Family is still present. It is visible when she chastises and slaps Jobin for being hesitant, which shows that she wants her son to be confident. She also declares that the family's good fortune outweighs any ethics. Her commitment to the Higashikata's fortune is proven when she foregoes saving her son to pass on the Rock Disease of the family onto Tooru, to finally rid the Higashikata of their curse.

Despite her horrific crime, the prison community loved her and genuinely missed seeing her leave. While relaxed, she tends to speak like Hato; elongating certain syllables.

When Kaato steps out of prison, she is revealed to be determined in being granted her due "reward" for sacrificing 15 years of her life for the family. Thus, she demands that Norisuke gives her half of his fortune for the divorce (claiming that half of the Higashikata House is hers ), and she also wants to spend more time with her children. On a more humorous note, she is also seen "breaking" into the property and treat it as if she still belonged her, watching the TV in the living room or sunbathing in the garden with some champagne.

Stand
Kaato's Stand ability uses a simple deck of playing cards. By placing objects between the cards, she can store that object in the deck itself as if nothing was there.

The size limit of objects Kaato can store within her cards is unknown, though she was able to keep a full-sized dining room chair within them, as well as Tsurugi's whole body.

Background
Fifteen years ago, Kaato Higashikata was a loving housewife to Norisuke Higashikata IV and her family. Sharing an especially close connection with her son, Jobin, she'd take special care to make sure he was safe as a child, due to his developing Rock Disease. Unbeknownst to her, Jobin was secretly being bullied by his fellow boy scouts; one of whom forced Jobin to steal Kaato's underwear and take candid photos of her in the shower. Discovering Jobin's bully situation, Kaato approached her son after he awakened his new Stand. She had Jobin accompany her as she stored the bully's unconscious body in her car's trunk.

Driving to the location of a shrine, Kaato intended to save her son's life by sacrificing the bully to cure Jobin's Rock Disease. Instructing him to "keep climbing" and leave others "at the bottom", she had Jobin bury the bully alive underneath the shrine. Five years later, the bully's corpse was found and DNA evidence was linked to Kaato and her vehicle. Saving her son once again, she was arrested and imprisoned in Morioh's Stone Ocean prison for 15 years. During her imprisonment, she was divorced by Norisuke for the murder charges. While she served her time, her fate was falsified by Norisuke to his children, being told that their mother was dead so they wouldn't have to bear the shame of Kaato's crimes.

Walking Heart, Breaking Heart
She is released from prison on time served shortly after her family's encounter with Tamaki Damo. The guards warn her that society has likely not yet forgiven her for her crimes, but they all loved her dearly. As she gets dressed in her original clothes, she retrieves a deck of cards she was allowed to have while imprisoned, which reveals a cellphone hidden within them, a result of her Stand's ability to hide things within the deck. She calls someone on the phone, who promises to pick her up at the prison, but she asks the caller to keep her release a secret from the family, as she wants to surprise Norisuke. As she hides the phone back in the deck of cards, Kaato claims she has no regrets for what she did as she plans on taking the life she lost back, and her caller is revealed to be her son Jobin. She leaves Stone Ocean prison, tossing her engagement ring from Norisuke in the air as she walks out a free woman.

Dawn of the Higashikata Household
Kaato later meets up with Jobin, who allows her into the Higashikata household. Kaato waits on the couch for several hours as her children wonder who she could be. Once Norisuke wakes up, she calmly greets him to his utter horror. She lovingly introduces herself to the family, explaining that she is their mother. As Norisuke demands to know why she is out of prison and specifically returned to the household, she swears on her ancestors that she was an innocent woman and simply wanted to be reunited with her family. She then reveals that Norisuke divorced her while she was in prison while Hato explains to Josuke that Norisuke lied to them over their childhood; claiming that Kaato had died or abandoned the family. Joshu is less enthusiastic about meeting his mother and purposefully kicks a chair into her as she goes to hug Daiya. Joshu then undresses Kaato using Nut King Call to humiliate her further. The action causes her deck of cards to fall from her bra and spill out on the floor. Kaato, feigning worry, asks Joshu to help pick them up. As Joshu flips over a card, he is suddenly struck on his chin by a chair leg that was hidden between the cards. Kaato then warns Joshu not to trifle with her ever while still reaffirming the other children of her love for them. As Jobin enters the household, Kaato politely excuses herself to her hotel; saying that she'll come back when everyone is less shy.

Dolomite's Blue Lagoon
Kaato later appears painting her nails while sunbathing in Norisuke's hammock and drinking his stash of, much to his surprise. He commands her to leave immediately while she states calmly that half of the house, and Norisuke's assets, still belong to her. After Norisuke storms off, Kaato calls Jobin on her phone, telling him that she suspects Norisuke is plotting something. She also informs Jobin of Josuke's interloping, correctly assuming that he's also working against them.

Meeting with Jobin
Some time after the events of Poor Tom's infiltration in the Higashikata household with his Ozon Baby, Kaato meets with Jobin to talk about the inevitable danger coming to the family. Jobin explains to her that his Miyama stag beetle had performed an equivalent exchange with his Hercules beetle. He shows the pot of the grafted New Locacaca branch that Josuke Higashikata and plant appraiser Rai Mamezuku had been searching for. Kaato advises against telling Norisuke about their plans and expresses her pride in Jobin. She tells him to continue growing the plant using her Stand to store a part of the potted plant in between her cards.

Space Trucking
As the Higashikata residence is caught up in Wonder of U's calamities, Yasuho sees Kaato strangely appear in the house after Tooru is hit by Josuke's profound invisible bubbles. Seeing her son's corpse, Kaato narrates how she brought Jobin's favorite Inca no Mezame cream stew over after telling her that he wanted some a day before. A panicked Yasuho warns her not to come closer, as Tooru is a Rock Human who wants to use her to perform an equivalent exchange. Tooru, in a bloodied state, stands up and points a pruning saw at her, exclaiming that a rock atop other rocks does not see anything else other than dreams and memories of the scenery. He compares Kaato to these dreams and memories, noting that her son had already died without his dreams coming true. He continues to taunt her by telling her about her arrest fifteen years ago. Hearing this, Kaato unveils her Stand Space Trucking to pin Tooru's arms and legs to the ground by storing them inside her cards, prompting Wonder of U to appear on the roof. Tooru and Yasuho both realize that Kaato does not intend to pursue calamity. Kaato reveals that she had been hiding an incapacitated Tsurugi in between her cards, who then comes in contact with Tooru, performing an equivalent exchange. Kaato reveals that a branch of the Locacaca plant had been grafted and kept in between Space Trucking's cards. The sap of the branch drops on Tooru and Tsurugi, causing Tooru to disintegrate while Wonder of U attacks Kaato. Tooru claims that because of Kaato, there will be no other plant like the Locacaca that will appear again. However, she refuses to listen, saying that he will take all of Tsurugi's illness while she will shoulder that sin. The exchange is successful - Tooru completely disintegrates into the air and Tsurugi recovers, although Kaato is revealed to have been stabbed during when she crushed the branch due to Wonder of U's ability. Relieved, Kaato drops to the ground, thinking of her family before closing her eyes. With the family curse broken, the Higashikata family attend to Norisuke, who is in an incapacitated state, while an ambulance arrives in the estate.

Trivia

 * Kaato's wedding ring has "N to C" engraved on it. If the letters are referring to Norisuke and Kaato's initials, it would suggest that her name is meant to be romanized with a C instead of K.
 * In Japanese, "Kaato" sounds similar to the Japanese pronunciation of the word "card", keeping with the names of women in the Higashikata family being based around playing cards, along with both her daughters, Daiya and Hato and her daughter-in-law Mitsuba. The only missing suit being the Spade, which Tsurugi may be, given that in some versions of the game replaces the Spade suit with Sword, which is the meaning of Tsurugi's name.