Chapter Text
It wasn’t that Kakyoin didn’t have any presence. He did. He wasn’t exactly small (though he was compared to Jotaro, everyone was), and he wasn’t quiet either. It was just that his presence didn’t annoy Jotaro at all.
He didn’t make much of a hassle when they got into the hotel room, quickly showered and changed into his pajamas and was now blow-drying his hair in front of a mirror, all while not bothering Jotaro in the slightest.
The door to the balcony was opened and Jotaro was leaning against the railing, cigarette between his fingers, eyes on the skyline. The sun was slowly going down, dripping the city in golden hues. It wasn’t that looking out enjoying the sunset was that he ignored Kakyoin, it was impossible to ignore him when the sound of the hairdryer was in the background.
It blended in with the sound of the bustling city, the cars, and the light hum of the wind against Jotaro’s skin that it was rather pleasing.
The air dryer stopped and the sound was followed by Kakyoin’s footsteps approaching Jotaro at the balcony of their hotel room. "Did you need the dryer too, Jojo?" Kakyoin asked him.
Jotaro took a drag from his cigarette and glanced over to his roommate for the night. Kakyoin’s hair was a shade darker than his usual bright red, still a little bit damp from the shower. He took off his earrings before showering as well, it was unusual to see him without them.
"No," Jotaro said. He’d just wait for the air to dry it.
Kakyoin nodded. "Okay," he said instead and settled right next to Jotaro. There was a gap between their bodies as they were both hunched over the railing. Kakyoin didn’t say anything, he was just staring out as well. The rays of the sun were now casting light on him as well, making his usually pale skin glister golden. "Are you going to bed soon?"
Jotaro shrugged. He wasn’t that tired yet. It was one of those days where they were lucky enough no stand user had attacked them, and he wouldn’t fall in bed completely exhausted and just passed out before having some quiet hours for himself.
"Would it bother you if I watched the TV?"
"No." Jotaro let the cigarette burn out and tossed it into the ashtray the hotel had provided. Kakyoin left him and went back inside the room. Jotaro followed him and sat down on the bed next to Kakyoin’s. There was a small gap between their beds as the room was pretty small, they couldn’t exactly be picky on this trip. Kakyoin gave him a short glance when Jotaro let himself fall on his bed, it answering with a squeak under Jotaro’s weight. There was a slight smile on Kakyoin’s lips before he turned to the room’s TV, zipping through the channels. Jotaro didn’t know the language and he assumed Kakyoin didn’t either but also Kakyoin seemed to know a lot more than he did about the countries they were in. Maybe he understood it, who knew. The other male hadn’t exactly revealed much about himself since they’ve been traveling and Jotaro wasn’t one to ask him about it either.
He didn’t care.
Kakyoin in the end settled for a music channel playing songs Jotaro had never heard of in his life in a language he didn’t understand either. It wasn’t that bad though, he guessed.
"Do you want to watch something else?" Kakyoin asked.
He wouldn’t understand it anyway, Jotaro thought but he didn’t say it. "No," he replied. There wasn’t much said between them for a long while but Jotaro didn’t feel like it was uncomfortable. He could tell when other people disliked the silence between them; Jotaro wasn’t much of a talker and he was annoyed easily by people who were just too much. But he also hated it when the other person just shut up even though he could tell they hated the awkward silence and wanted to say something. It wasn’t the case with Kakyoin, he just genuinely seemed to not mind and just listened to the music.
Jotaro grabbed for a magazine on his bedside table which he had bought earlier as they had passed by a street shop and opened it. After a while of reading about the deep sea, Kakyoin turned off the TV.
"I think I’ll head to bed," he said.
Jotaro let out a , "hmph."
"Is it okay if I turn off the light? You can still use the light on the bedside table to read," Kakyoin said.
"Feel free to."
He thought Kakyoin would get up to turn it off but instead, Hierophant Green emerged from his body to touch the switch next to the door. Jotaro stared at Kakyoin.
"Oh. I’m just used to using Hierophant," Kakyoin explained. "I always forget you haven’t had Star Platinum for so long."
"Do you always do that?"
"When I’m alone," Kakyoin said. "It’s not exactly normal for the switch to suddenly turn, right?" He smiled. Just as much as Kakyoin forgot that Jotaro got his stand only recently, Jotaro would often forget that Kakyoin had his for way longer.
"How long have you had him?"
"All my life," Kakyoin explained but it didn’t sound like he wanted to talk anymore. Jotaro was fine with that. He put the magazine on his bedside table.
"You didn’t have to go to sleep just because I was," Kakyoin said. "Unless I snore and talk in my sleep?"
Jotaro scoffed. "No, you’re not like the rest."
Kakyoin laughed. "Hm, most of the time it’s not that bad," he said. "When I pass out. But sometimes…"
"They talk too much," Jotaro says. "And Polnareff snores, while jiji grinds his teeth in his sleep and tosses too much."
"Abdul isn’t that bad," Kakyoin defended their fifth member.
"He once talked in his sleep."
Kakyoin raised his eyebrows. It wasn’t completely dark yet, the sun might have gone down by now but Jotaro could still see his expressions. "Really? What did he talk about?"
"Couldn’t understand."
Kakyoin pursed his lips. "Oh, I would’ve thought you would know all languages."
"Why would I?"
"When the people talk to you, you always look like you understand what they’re saying."
Jotaro huffed and turned away to face the ceiling. He didn’t want Kakyoin to see his expression and he didn’t have his hat on, so he couldn’t pull it down to hide it. "I pretend I understand them."
Kakyoin laughed. "Really? That’s hilarious."
Jotaro clicked his tongue. "Do you?"
"No, I have no idea what most of the time they’re talking about either. I know a few words here and there, but that’s about it," Kakyoin said. "Abdul never talked in his sleep when I’ve roomed with him."
"Couldn’t sleep all night."
Kakyoin gasped. "I think I remember. The next day you were in an even sour mood than usual."
Jotaro was surprised Kakyoin was able to tell. He thought he had acted like always. "You don’t talk in your sleep," he just said.
"I sure hope so. I have no idea what I might say and that would be embarrassing," Kakyoin agreed jokingly. "You don’t either. You don’t snore or grind your teeth either."
Jotaro turned his head to look at Kakyoin. The other male had his body turned to Jotaro and they were now looking at each other from their beds. Kakyoin had a tired smile on his face. "How about we always room together when we get the chance?"
"Okay," Jotaro said.
Kakyoin’s smile widened. "Okay."
It was a pretty good arrangement. Whenever they were at a new hotel and had to pick rooms, Kakyoin would just take one of the keys and say that he was sharing one with Jotaro because ‚they were both students‘ and nobody questioned it. They both had quiet and peaceful nights without Jotaro’s annoying grandfather or Polnareff talking too much.
Jotaro learned that he liked Kakyoin’s presence, it wasn’t just that he wasn’t annoyed by him. He learned a little bit more about Kakyoin during the times before they went to bed as well. They went into a routine in which Jotaro would shower first and Kakyoin would follow, and then they’d watch TV if the room had one and if they didn’t, they’d read one of the magazines together that they bought.
"What is that?" Jotaro asked one day after they both showered and changed their clothes. Kakyoin was holding a little book in his hand and he smiled.
"I bought it today," he said and raised it so Jotaro could see the cover. "It’s a dictionary. I thought we could learn a little bit before sleeping, so we don’t have to always rely on Abdul. He’s not always here."
"We?"
Kakyoin frowned. "You don’t have to," he said. "I just thought…"
"No," Jotaro quickly said. "I want to." He hadn’t thought of it before but when Kakyoin’s face lit up and a smile appeared on it, he was sure he wanted to learn every single word in that tiny book.
"It’s mostly just vocabulary that is necessary for tourists," Kakyoin told him. "Like Hello, and Thank you, and how to ask for directions. All that."
Jotaro hummed and Kakyoin hesitated. "Not sure how good it would be if I just read it out like the other magazines since they used a different alphabet…"
In response, Jotaro scooped to the side of his bed a bit. It took a few seconds until Kakyoin understood and he got off from his bed and sat down next to Jotaro. The bed was spacey enough for both of them to fit in it, it was one of the fancier hotels they’ve encountered since their journey started. Still, Jotaro was huge, which was why there was no space between their bodies. Their shoulders touched and Jotaro tried to not focus on their thighs almost touching as well. Jotaro’s legs were longer than Kakyoin and almost reached the end of it.
Kakyoin didn’t say anything about the proximity of their bodies and just opened the first page of the book, tilting it so that Jotaro could see as well. "I’m learning a whole other language," Kakyoin mumbled more to himself, "even though I should actually do homework."
Jotaro scoffed. "Always the honor’s student."
Kakyoin pursed his lips. "I don’t think an honor student would run away from home."
There was a heavy silence between them for a while. Thinking about Japan was always painful. His mother was still in critical condition, and who knew what was going to happen to them? Would they still even make it home safely? School was the least of their concerns.
Kakyoin just shook his head, leaned back, and started reading out loud. Jotaro was glad for it and leaned over, closer even to Kakyoin, to get a better look at the dictionary.
Everything went smoothly for a while until they were in a run-down guesthouse with not enough rooms.
"What’s the problem?" Kakyoin asked.
"They don’t have double rooms," Abdul answered. "Four of us would have to share beds."
"I’m taking one for myself," Jotaro answered immediately.
"I think Joestar-san should get the single one. He always tosses around in his sleep," Kakyoin said.
The other agreed and Joseph grinned widely, happy to know he wouldn’t have to squeeze himself in a bed with other full-grown men. Jotaro sighed.
"Good grief," he said and pulled down his hat. "I’m sharing with Kakyoin."
"No! I’m sharing with Kakyoin!" Polnareff shouted.
"You want to share with me?" Kakyoin was surprised.
"You’re the smallest out of us," he explained. It was exactly why Jotaro had immediately called for Kakyoin as well. "It’ll be too small otherwise."
"No," Jotaro said firmly.
Abdul cleared his throat. "You two have shared a lot most of the time…"
"Oh, not you too. You want to share with Kakoin too, don’t you?" Polnareff cried out.
Kakyoin held up his hands. "Wait a minute, don’t I get to have a say in this?"
"No, not now. I’m not gonna share a tiny bed with these giants." Polnareff pointed at Jotaro and Abdul. "Let’s draw straws." He was determined and Jotaro wasn’t one to back off either.
"No," he repeated.
"C’mon! You always get to be with him in a room! What are you, his boyfriend?"
And before he could think more about it, Jotaro replied with, "yes, I am."
The split second in which everyone was shocked by his blunt answer, Jotaro grabbed one of the keys on the hotel desk. "Are you coming?" he asked Kakyoin who seemed to be just as in shock as everyone else.
The other male nodded, mouth still slightly open in shock, and followed Jotaro to their room.