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A faint red glow passed through the man’s eyelids, and a steady, rhythmic beep came from behind him. Bright light flooded his vision as he opened his eyes. As his pupils adjusted, he observed the room around him. He was sitting cross-legged on a bed surrounded by various grey and white machinery. A bespectacled man perched on a stool next to him, long red hair tied back in a ponytail save for a wavy lock that hung over his face, and dark circles ringed his eyes. He wore a white lab coat over a dark green turtleneck sweater. A pen was clipped onto the breast pocket of the coat, next to the words SPEEDWAGON FOUNDATION embroidered in capital letters.
Where was he? He wasn’t sure—it was too open and empty to be a hospital—perhaps a laboratory of sorts?
The man on the bed looked down at himself, his eyes catching on his right forearm, which was covered in scabs. Were those… letters? JOLYNE, the scabs read. Jolyne… the name was so familiar. Who was it? Judging from the sense of love and protectiveness that swelled in his heart as he thought about that name, it must have been somebody important to him. It was only then that the man realized he wasn’t even sure what his own name was. He looked up at the other person in the room, meeting his violet eyes through rectangular frames. This man, he was somebody important to him as well. He knew that he deeply cared for him, but not in the same way as with the person named Jolyne. He racked his brain for any clue on what his name could be—it felt as if it was at the tip of his tongue, yet he didn’t even have a syllable to start it with.
“Who… are you?” he whispered faintly.
The other man looked at him with a gentle, pained smile of bittersweet relief, “Most people call me Dr. Noriaki Kakyoin.”
“Doctor… Kakyoin…” he tested the name tentatively against his tongue, still not raising his tone above a whisper. It was a familiar movement of muscles, possibly a name he had said many times in his life.
“But you always called me Nori,” the doctor’s voice resonated in his mind, its tone and timbre giving him a sense of deep comfort.
“Nori…?” warmth erupted in his chest as the name left his lips; it felt right. “Nori,” he spoke louder, this time.
The corners of the doctor—Nori—’s eyes crinkled as he heard the man say his name. He blinked, eyes sparkling. “Do you know what your name is?”
“No,” he responded simply, “I don’t.”
“You are Dr. Jotaro Kujo,” he thought he heard Nori choke slightly as he spoke.
“Mm… Jotaro Kujo…” a sense of ownership came with the name. “Yes, that’s me…”
Nori smiled warmly, wiping the corner of his eye with his coat sleeve.
“Nori, who is Jolyne?” he began to whisper once more.
“Jolyne is your daughter.”
“My daughter…” he echoed. A wave of emotion came upon him, memories but with no image or sound, only a complex range of feelings that he wasn’t sure how to pick apart. Love, fear, worry… worry. “Is… is she safe?”
Nori’s expression turned grim, “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
There was another question that lingered in his mind, the one that would naturally follow after one was told they had a child. “Do… do I have a lover?” he half–hoped that it would be Nori, as it would explain the way that he felt towards him, but considering that he was specifically told that his daughter was his and not theirs , he deemed it unlikely.
The doctor swallowed, “No, not at the moment. You divorced your wife ten years ago.”
“Oh. I see,” Nori must have just been a friend, then. He studied the man, following the contours of his face and torso with his eyes. He was rather handsome, even with the shadows beneath his eyes and a few days’ worth of unkempt stubble covering his chin. His sweater outlined his lightly–defined chest, and as Jotaro’s eyes trailed downward he noticed metallic ankles below the hem of his pants. He paused, gaze lingering there for a few extra seconds.
“Checking out my legs?” the other man chuckled.
“Huh?” Jotaro whipped his head back up to meet his eyes again.
“You noticed, I assume,” he reached a hand down to pull up his pant leg, revealing a metallic calf composed of a three-dimensional web of thin aluminum tubes.
Jotaro nodded once, but didn’t press so not to be rude.
Nori must have read his mind, though, “I lost both my legs a long, long time ago.” he explained without being prompted, “you were with me in that battle, actually.”
Battle, the word lingered in his mind. Although he had no memories, he knew that he had an ability, something that allowed him to fight differently from an average person. As he concentrated, he felt a ghostly presence manifest from him, its humanoid shape floating above his head. “Star Platinum,” he said reflexively, surprised that the name came out of his mouth so easily.
Nori’s eyes lit up as he saw the Stand appear above Jotaro. A green figure manifested and hovered above the doctor. He wasn’t sure what its name was, but he could sense the connection between their Stands– two souls that were always in tune, Stands that fought side by side many a time. “Hierophant Green.”
A spectral purple hand reached out towards Hierophant, resting its hand on the other Stand’s cheek. He tensed, afraid how Nori would react to the unexpected touch. An amused look appeared on the other man’s face, as he looked up at Jotaro’s stand.
“Oh, Star,” he murmured, “I missed you.”
They stayed that way for a moment, a shared silence that was comforting rather than awkward. Jotaro had a feeling that they used to do this often, just enjoying each other’s presence instead of trying to fill it up with words; sometimes conversation wasn’t always necessary. But right now, Jotaro knew so little that he had to ask some more questions. “Nori, why am I here?”
The doctor’s gaze returned to meet his own, and he closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. “I… I’m sorry, I can’t say. I wish I could, but it’s just not safe.”
“Please tell me. I just need to know if she’s okay. Tell me what’s going on,” he pleaded.
Another deep breath. “Okay,” he paused for a moment to craft his words carefully. “You lost your memories and your Stand in the form of discs to an enemy Stand user. Your daughter managed to retrieve your Stand disc and get it back to us, which brought you back to consciousness. She’s smart and strong—she gets that from you, you know. We’re doing our best to make contact with Jolyne to get your memories back.”
“I have to help… she can’t face them on her own,” tears formed at the corner of his eyes as he spoke. “I need to protect her.”
“Jotaro,” Nori spoke gently. “You’re not in any condition to fight right now. You have to rest here, until we get your memories back. Jolyne and her friends—they’re very capable. I trust that they can hold their own until you get strong enough to return.”
He nodded slowly. As much as he wanted to leave right now, he knew that the doctor was right—and although he wasn’t exactly sure what Nori was supposed to mean to him, he gingerly reached out towards him, resting his fingers on his palm. He knew he would be comforted by the other man’s touch. “Come with me.”
“Of course I will. I always have.”