Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I just have the most amazing connection with my son right now!” Holly clutched one of her many, many photos of Jotaro closer to her chest. “Jotaro must be thinking about me.”

“I’m not thinking about you.” Speaking of the ray of sunshine, he stepped into the doorway with a bloody, unconscious teenager over his shoulder. Holly gasped in surprise. So that funny feeling by her neck did mean he was close. How neat!

She rushed over to him. “Oh! Jotaro, who is that? Why is he all bloody?” Her son bringing someone home? Very unusual. “Is he a friend?” Holly gasped with awe.

“No.” Jotaro shut her down curtly, which, in reality, told Holly everything she needed to hear. “I’m going to find Gramps.” Holly giggled, seeing right through him. She loved her son dearly; he was someone who always did what was right, even if others didn’t understand him. Before Jotaro turned the corner, he paused, turning his head to ask if she was all right. It didn’t surprise her much that Jotaro noticed she was pale. To tell the truth, she had been feeling a bit sick, but her son didn’t need to worry about her. Holly, full of appreciation of the love her son gave her, struck a pose and let Jotaro know she was fine. He rolled his eyes and ducked behind a corner.

Jotaro was such a kind boy.

—

Kakyoin wiped tears away from the corner of his eyes. Moment of vulnerability over. Beside him, the old man, who was yelling about ‘DIO’ and ‘Charisma’ earlier, introduced himself as Joseph Joestar and then his friend, Muhammad Avdol. A moment later, Jotaro came trudging back in, looking annoyed that his retreat didn’t take longer. Leading him in was a cheering blonde woman, who quickly introduced herself as well.

Surrounded by gruff grumps who were either arguing with Holly, making idle chit-chat, or brooding, it was a relief to be in the presence of someone who was kind. Kakyoin’s last few months had been drenched in confusion, blackouts, and helplessness. Getting that bud pulled out of his brain cut all of those puppet strings, which left Kakyoin to finally be free and be himself. He gently prodded at the sore hole in his head and became aware of the ache in his body that wasn’t caused by the removal of the flesh bud.

Jotaro did beat the shit out of him and he did it with a stellarly powerful Stand. Really, Kakyoin couldn’t blame himself for being intrigued by his former assassination target. Being that standoff-ish made him perfect for Kakyoin to tease even if Jotaro was definitely the violent type.

He had a remark set up, but luckily Holly did one better.

“You must be Jotaro’s boyfriend! He never brings anyone home, you must be special," she said, smiling as she made a final adjustment to the bandage around Kakyoin's forehead.

Avdol stopped sipping tea. Mr. Joestar took in a quick breath of air and widened his eyes in a panic. Jotaro, who was already hiding his face under his hat, froze. Haven’t heard that comment before, have you?

Kakyoin, for his part, didn’t say anything either for a moment. He grinned to match Holly, who seemed unaware of the deafening silence. Creating trouble was a lot easier when someone set you up to do it. Kakyoin spoke softly and earnestly, “Yes, it’s so nice to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you.” Jotaro snapped his head up so fast it was like time didn’t even pass to accommodate the movement. Did he get whiplash from that? Jotaro glared directly at him with wide eyes. They were green, but they felt like chips of ice. Kakyoin reveled in his gaze, continuing his easy smile as he kept his focus on Holly.

“Oh, I knew it! I knew it!” Holly screamed with joy, clapping her hands. Joseph shrunk back in shock—or in fear, hard to tell—and Avdol did the same, both watching the still-bloody teenager carefully. Kakyoin huffed a polite laugh at his first true impression and enjoyed the ego boost by the obvious checkmate against the awkward turn. Even better, he matched the aura of superiority Jotaro had.

Kakyoin was thankful for having a flesh bud pulled out of his head, but now it was time to remove the blindfold completely.

Holly turned to her son, who was still staring daggers at Kakyoin. Passively sitting with his hands in his lap, Kakyoin met Jotaro’s gaze evenly. “Oh honey, you should’ve told me you were dating! Kakyoin is so cute.” Aww. He smiled genuinely, caught off guard by the comment. Girls at school never called him cute, the two confessions he had ever gotten had both called him suave. He turned them both down, internally wishing some guy would call him that instead.

Meanwhile, Jotaro’s eye twitched.

“Mom.” He began, voice not tipping towards anger—rather, there was a hint of confusion and retaliation. “I’m not gay.”

Kakyoin expected that. It wasn’t like the joke was going to continue for long, but he enjoyed the time in the limelight it got. Holly, once again, did one better. “Oh sorry,” she smiled in apology and scratched at the back of her neck, “I didn’t know you hadn’t realized it yet.”

What? Huh? Holy shit?

Joseph started to cough vigorously and Avdol patted at his back, throwing his other hand up to cover his reaction. Kakyoin bit down on his tongue hard enough to draw blood, however he knew he couldn’t hide the sparkle in his eyes at the remark. Too busy focusing on not laughing and getting Jotaro to call up Fight to the Death Round Two, Kakyoin completely missed Jotaro turning out of the room in a hurry throwing out some cutting remark. Something ending with, “You’re such a bitch…”

Once Joseph figured his grandson was out of earshot he let out a belly laugh, biting onto his—holy shit—metal hand, and letting himself cry tears of laughter. Avdol gripped his shoulder and huffed, still in shock. Kakyoin briefly locked eyes with Avdol, who shook his head in disbelief.

Kakyoin wasn’t exactly looking forward to many conversations with Jotaro after that, but both of them would have to deal with it. Sighing, he leaned back on his hands before wincing and pulling back up. He rubbed at his hands and thought about his fight, as Holly chastised Mr. Joestar. Jotaro hit fucking hard. Large portions of his memory were covered in an impenetrable haze, but he did remember Jotaro’s speech.

I’ll teach you justice! With my Stand!

The determination in Jotaro’s eyes was bolstered by the power of his Stand and Kakyoin remembered feeling pleasantly surprised at the reaction, only to immediately feel like all of his bones had shattered at once. Kakyoin figured Jotaro was the type to defeat him by any means necessary, but no. Certain ideals led and won the fight, none of which were Kakyoin’s own. Jotaro may not have liked his tactics, but Kakyoin wasn’t aiming to please either. Still, he was fascinating and Kakyoin wanted to know more about him.

Beyond the fog of the flesh bud was a new start—his chance to enjoy the company of people who had Stands like him, make a friend his age, and get revenge for his former lack of autonomy.

Kakyoin didn’t see Jotaro until the next day, as predicted. Instead of going back home, as he originally planned, disaster struck the two Joestar men—Holly’s awakening Stand was killing her. With her getting sick and information being dug out of the grey sands of his own brain, they all locked onto killing DIO. Yesterday’s incident got buried by the new mission and Jotaro treated it like water under the bridge as Kakyoin let them know he was joining them. Kakyoin had a score to settle.

Unfortunately, Kakyoin’s revenge had to be put on the backburner. He dispatched Tower of Grey with vicious joy to be back to himself. Confidence got him his way through a plane crash, ordering dinner in Hong Kong, and watching a Frenchman burn alive. Polnareff didn’t incinerate though, he was saved by willing to die in an “honorable” manner. Kakyoin wasn’t sure dying by Avdol’s fire was admirable—cutting your losses seemed more practical, but those two seemed to understand each other well enough.

So he left it alone. Once Polnareff was dazed, Avdol called Jotaro over to remove the flesh bud and he accepted with a sly grin. Star Platinum looked thrilled. Kakyoin took it as a bit of a surreal experience since that was him not too long ago. However, any time he could have to reflect was ruined by Mr. Joestar squealing and gagging, telling Jotaro to hurry up as the bud’s tentacles thrashed about. Kakyoin didn’t seem to recall that reaction when it was with him, how come Polnareff got the ugly treatment? Soon enough, the thing was pulled out and Polnareff’s eyes snapped open, bright and alarmed. Mr. Joestar squatted next to him, clapping him on the shoulder and said, “Now that the flesh bud is gone, we can be buddies. Eh? Get it?”

Ugh. That was awful, but he wanted to be respectful to Mr. Joestar. It didn’t make sense to call him out for something that didn’t matter.

Jotaro didn’t have the same mindset. He visibly grimaced, sweating slightly from his effort to save Polnareff. “Hey, Kakyoin.” He rubbed at the hole in his hand, blood beading up at the surface. He then shoved his hands into his pockets. “Don’t people who make stupid puns piss you off?”

Kakyoin smiled. He thought he could be fine without friends other than Hierophant for a very long time, but now Kakyoin never wanted to lose what he had. Especially Jotaro—he could take all of the shit Kakyoin threw at him, shrug his shoulders, and ask if he liked escargot. It was great. “I don’t know, Jotaro…” Kakyoin leaned closer to him, ready to make Jotaro’s day worse. “If Mr. Joestar is getting along with Polnareff, wouldn’t that make us buddies too?”

Jotaro huffed and rolled his eyes. “Friends.”

“Partners.” Kakyoin raised, curious to where the limit was.

“Tourist and tour guide.” Wow, talk about a downgrade. Kakyoin shook his head, remembering the pure concentrated attention he got when he was talking to Jotaro about tea culture in Hong Kong. It wasn’t the only time Kakyoin had info-dumped on him so far on their journey, but it was the first indication that Jotaro actively wanted to learn something from him, rather than using his fun facts as white noise. Jotaro’s scowl and ‘go away’ to Polnareff at the interruption meant more to Kakyoin than Jotaro could possibly know. He hoped that wasn’t weird. They walked back towards the three leaving the garden, Jotaro casting a quick last look to the remains of the Magician’s Red statue.

Kakyoin allowed himself to brush shoulders with Jotaro, who didn’t tell him to back off. This trip was going to be unlike anything else in his entire life.

Chapter Text

Polnareff slid into the room, bleeding from his forehead. Kakyoin looked up from the carpet since he had nothing to add to the Stand discussion and sighed. “You’re late, Polnareff!” he chastised.

It was a bit rude, but in his defense, Kakyoin was in the middle of wondering if Jotaro was going to judge him for buying hair dye when they both got called down to Mr. Joestar’s room to discuss Ebony Devil. The longer the group had to wait, the more Kakyoin felt like he was wasting time and resorted to wondering about Polnareff's whereabouts. No one else seemed to mind waiting though, Jotaro just stared off into the distance while Mr. Joestar and Avdol talked about strategies.

Dying from boredom and sick of looking at the ground, Kakyoin tried asking Jotaro what his favorite color was. Jotaro tuned back in, met his gaze, and said, “Anything you can see through.” Kakyoin grimaced and squinted, wondering what the fuck kind of answer that was, but he didn’t get a chance to ask before Polnareff barged in.

As it turned out, Ebony Devil was taken care of by Polnareff while they were waiting. Avdol apologized immediately and sent Polnareff to take a nap in his bed while they figured out travel plans. Polnareff teetered back and forth before he collapsed into the pile of pillows, limbs sprawled out. With no obligation to be there, Kakyoin smoothed the front of his gakuran. “Well, I’m going to head out for a bit. I’ll be back for dinner.” He turned to Jotaro who was watching him carefully, as always. “Join me if you want.”

Opening the door for Jotaro was testing the waters more, but then Kakyoin eyed Mr. Joestar and Avdol and noticed they weren’t paying attention. Perfect. Calculating for the least risky option, Kakyoin considered that some teases were better suited for private banter, rather than in public, where Jotaro was less likely to play along. He swiveled back around to face Jotaro, who was gazing out the window nonplussed. Hierophant Green flashed forward and a tentacle swung upwards to hit the brim of Jotaro’s hat, attempting to pull it off. Kakyoin hadn’t seen him without the hat yet anyway, so a ‘two birds with one stone’ approach was apt. He wanted to see why he clung to the hat and learn how he could get away with messing around with him further.

Most people wanted nothing to do with Kakyoin once they found out he could be a bit of an asshole, but with Jotaro there was seemingly no limit. For someone with such a short temper, he sure gave Kakyoin a lot of leeway.

The attempt didn’t go far. Star Platinum was faster and gripped Hierophant before the tendril got anywhere near his hat. The tentacle spooled together so Star Platinum had a hand in its grasp. “Aww!” Kakyoin cooed, watching horror dawn upon Jotaro’s face as he realized what Kakyoin was doing. “Very cute of you to hold my hand like that.” For a moment they were stuck in a limbo, with Kakyoin relishing in it and Jotaro attempting to find a path out before he was caught dead. Or rather, before his very loud grandfather turned around to comment on the hand-holding. Then Kakyoin’s grip tightened slightly and surprisingly, Jotaro didn’t let go. Instead, he lowered and shifted his hand so it looked more like a handshake and squeezed.

Shit.

Kakyoin winced. It felt like an elephant was standing on his hand. He grabbed onto Jotaro’s wrist to tug him off at the increasing pressure. Star Platinum wasn’t just faster, it also could definitely shatter the bones in his hand if this kept up. Panicking, Kakyoin wrapped more tentacles around Jotaro’s hand to make him ease up. Avdol turned around and they both let go, hands snapping to their sides.

“Jotaro,” Avdol put a hand into his pocket and pulled out a deck of tarot cards, the same set that he used to name Star Platinum. “Would you be interested in a proper Tarot reading?” That was enough of a cue for Kakyoin to bail. As he left, he nodded to Avdol like there was nothing wrong, flashed a grin at Jotaro for the same reason, and waved at Polnareff who was starfished over Avdol’s bed, asleep.

Kakyoin was interested in hearing the results whenever Jotaro found him again, but that chance never came. Instead, Kakyoin made his way to the beach to sunbathe, got sick of being alone, and went back to the hotel. It was Jotaro’s loss. Kakyoin just wished that it didn’t sting as much as it did when it became obvious that Jotaro wouldn’t show up.

—

Kakyoin hovered behind Jotaro as they walked down the street. Palm trees swayed in the ocean breeze and the sun felt pleasant on his back as they meandered down the street. It was a good day for a bit of relaxation before they had to leave for India tomorrow, and for Anne—it was a good day for ice cream. “Isn’t it a wonderful day?” Kakyoin sighed slowly, like air leaving a balloon. Jotaro grunted, it was a fine day. Nothing more, nothing less. He wasn’t exactly sure what Kakyoin was getting at either, normally he’d dive into some random-ass fact about Singapore by now—not the weather.

Whatever.

Jotaro figured he’d ask anyway, just to get him talking and start a conversation with Anne, but she yelped before he could say anything. Anne’s hand around his forearm jerked away and he glanced down to see she was fine but confused. Then, a different hand slid up his forearm in the absence of her’s. This one a lot larger and lithe. Jotaro shot a glance at Kakyoin who avoided Anne’s seething glare as he stepped closer into Jotaro’s side, arms locking together.

“Really?” Jotaro huffed, squinting. Kakyoin was a bold bastard, who was smart, a bit sadistic, and latched on to a friendship like a crocodile with a lackey who pissed off a Floridian mob boss. At first, it was annoying, but Kakyoin kept being himself and Jotaro found himself enjoying his odd company. After all, who else could he complain about his grandfather to? Polnareff?

Kakyoin didn’t say anything to his open question, just smiled and dipped his head dangerously close to his shoulder. All this affection was new, but it wasn’t like it was completely unfounded. In the back of his mind, Jotaro couldn’t forget the little stunt Kakyoin had pulled with his mom. Jotaro figured it’d bother him enough to a point where hanging out with Kakyoin was going to be a giant pain in the ass. However, Kakyoin could read a room, so it wasn’t as bad as it could be. He did a lot of light teasing around the others, but nothing like that shit back in Japan—unless they were alone. Even then, it didn’t happen often and Kakyoin dismissed it afterward by bringing up rare diseases or something.

Still, playing up affection around Anne was new. Usually, it was just sly remarks that could be taken or cast aside to die around her.

Frustrated, Anne left them and ran ahead to a stall selling coconuts instead. Jotaro followed her, breaking off from Kakyoin, and ordered three. Anne tried to bargain, but before she got far, Kakyoin put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he smiled way too wide, “I got this.” After paying, he was about to put his wallet away, when a thief ran up and nabbed it right out of his hands. The other two were too busy retrieving the coconuts to see Kakyoin snare Hierophant Green around the perpetrator’s ankles. The man yelped, falling face down on the ground as Kakyoin walked over.

He dragged the whimpering man over and squatted down to his level. With a growl in his voice full of disdain, Kakyoin said, “You disgusting piece of shit, who the hell do you think you are?” Kakyoin grabbed his hair and lifted him up. “Huh? Do you think it's funny to ruin someone's date? I’m going to make you regret you were ever born!” He jerked the thief’s head forward as Kakyoin rammed his knee into his face, knocking teeth and his nose loose.

Finally catching on to where he’d gone, Jotaro shouted out a warning at the bloody scene. “Kakyoin!” His voice was strong, low, and dangerous. His friend didn’t threaten to cut off someone's head over a stolen wallet, nor would he try to cling onto his arm like those girls at school. Kakyoin was always subtle in actuality, so whatever was happening there had to have an explanation.

Kakyoin was tired.

Or possessed. Jotaro was open to interpretation. Either way, none of what Kakyoin was doing was okay.

Stopping short of throwing the thief over his shoulders and breaking his back, Kakyoin tossed the blubbering man to the ground. “You vile little cockroach dick. If you ever disrespect me or my boyfriend ever again, I’m going to tear you apart piece by piece.” The thief attempted to rise and make a break for it, but Hierophant kept him grounded. “The only reason I’m not shattering your spine right now is that I can’t make a bad impression, now can I?” Kakyoin replaced his grip and began crushing his leg with Hierophant. “Can I? Can I? Can I?!”

“Kakyoin. Get off of him.” Jotaro didn’t know where this “boyfriend” shit was coming from, but all of this was out of line. Anne recoiled back in shock, and he hoped that she wasn’t hearing most of the filthy language that was being tossed around. There was a part of him that hoped, but could never explain aloud, that Anne knew this wasn’t the true Kakyoin. Before the thief’s leg was snapped clean off, Jotaro left the coconut man and Anne to pull Kakyoin off. He shoved at his back and left arm to get him to let go. “What has gotten into you? You’re acting like a complete bastard.” The thief, wounded slightly and jaw agape, scuttled away. Jotaro watched him go and eyed Kakyoin, “More than usual.”

Kakyoin picked up his wallet and brushed off the dust from his pants. When he turned around, Jotaro noticed that his eyes were wrong. Not the wrong color or shape or anything like that, just... wrong. It bugged him more than he’d like to admit that he couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong. Maybe it was because Kakyoin’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Playful shoves are cute and all, but you should really tone it down. It’s more gentlemanly for the date to go after the stolen wallet anyway,” he cooed and shrugged, “I shouldn’t have to.”

Possessed. He was possessed. Kakyoin knew damn well that Jotaro was no gentleman. And Jotaro knew that Kakyoin liked taking things into his own hands.

“What’s wrong?” Not-Kakyoin continued, “You’re glaring at me like I’ve done something unforgivable. You wouldn’t destroy a relationship over a little tussle, would you?” Jotaro wondered if it was worth correcting the glaring error, as Not-Kakyoin sipped on coconut juice. In a bright voice, he reasoned with a sigh, “I’m just tired! Nerves must be getting the best of me, we’ve had a long trip after all. I can’t be expected to be giving it my all constantly during a date.” Kakyoin grinned with his frog-like mouth as he drained the drink.

Jotaro glared and stood his ground. “Does ‘giving it your all’ extend to beating civilians senseless?” Kakyoin glared right back, tasting the warning.

Jotaro shrugged and stepped away from the brewing threat, who tossed the empty coconut into Anne’s hands. “Old man and Avdol think it’s a good idea to head to India by train. We leave tomorrow. We’ll take the cable car to Singapore Station to reserve tickets.” Jotaro walked away, setting up his challenge. Not-Kakyoin would follow and there Jotaro could trap him in a cable car, call the others and meet up at the other side. A minute later, Anne rushed up to his side, grabbing on to his forearm once again. Glancing down to make sure she wasn’t hurt, Jotaro found her sweating, wide-eyed, and breathing heavily. Not-Kakyoin better not have scared the shit out of her. “What’s wrong, half-pint?”

She reflexively squeezed and looked back, “Nothing,” she swallowed a breath, “don’t worry.” Which obviously meant he had to worry. Jotaro followed her gaze to Not-Kakyoin standing by a tree and glaring. He’d look ridiculous, like a petulant child, if it weren’t for the fact his friend was fucking possessed. “It’s just…” Anne sighed and looked forward. “Your boyfriend isn’t acting right.”

She must’ve felt the tension submerge Jotaro in icy water, because she tensed as well, yet didn’t say anything. Christ. How many people assumed they were dating? Polnareff questioned it at the hotel earlier, before Avdol corrected him. That thief had to have thought it too after being assaulted. But that poor bastard was dealing with Fake Kakyoin, Anne had to be assuming from when they first met which meant—

Anne thought he was gay and Kakyoin’s boyfriend for an entire fucking week?

—

Half an hour later, Jotaro was pulling the Stand user who dragged him into this mess out of the water. Good grief. Jotaro was lucky to have been semi-paying attention to what his Gramps said, since it ended up saving his ass. Still—Jotaro dropped the body on the concrete—a Stand was imitating Kakyoin, not possessing him. Was that worse or better? He had no idea. But considering how he felt a tad too hot when Not-Kakyoin towered over him, possession may have been better for his own sake.

Kakyoin would not have liked to go through that shit if he was possessed though. It’d make all this teasing too real.

“Jotaro!” He looked up at the sound of Anne’s voice and pulled a new pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. “You’re okay! Kakyoin and the others are on their way.” Great, now he had to deal with avoiding questions on what happened. The information he’d beaten out of Rubber Soul was enough to keep the vultures at bay from bothering him about the fight. Polnareff was looking for a man with two right hands and now there was no doubt he’d get his revenge soon. Hopefully, they could worry about upcoming Stand users and leave Yellow Temperance behind them. Jotaro wanted to.

He attempted to unwrap the foil but found the pack of cigarettes soiled and waterlogged. Damn. He crushed it in his hand. “Anne.”

She snapped her gaze from Rubber Soul’s puffy, unconscious face warily towards Jotaro. “Y-Yeah?”

“Never tell Kakyoin about this.”

—

“Jotaro?” Kakyoin arrived a minute later, slowing down from his run to examine his soaked outfit. “What happened? Did they try and drown you or something?”

“No.” Jotaro squeezed out more water from his coat. “The opposite,” he huffed, looking away from Kakyoin’s worried gaze. Anne sat still on a stone pylon, staring a hole into the concrete to avoid eye contact. He figured this was her method of keeping her promise to Jotaro.

Kakyoin cleared his throat. “Anne told us that there was another me. I’m not easy to impersonate, so I’m glad you figured it out quickly.”

Jotaro’s face burned, so he breathed harder in exhaustion to cover it up. He was never going to tell him. Not a single soul was going to know that Not-Kakyoin’s PDA didn’t feel out of place at first and some punk looking for money paid the price for it not being caught sooner. By letting that stunt go on, he put others in danger, maybe if he corrected Anne or the Stand user at the street it could’ve been settled there—he would have found a way to keep Anne safe. He would have figured something out.

Instead, a dog died and a father and his son got traumatized. Maybe it wasn’t that Yellow Temperance was indestructible, Jotaro was just weak for having a close and unusual friendship with Kakyoin.

“Are you alright? You look pale.” Jotaro shot a glance at him from the brim of his hat, warning him to back the fuck off, before Kakyoin put a hand on his shoulder. It worked and Kakyoin paused but didn’t pull away completely. Instead, he stepped closer, now hovering with a sharp look in his eye. Jotaro hated that he was relieved that his stern eyes were familiar. “What did he do.” Kakyoin stated, steel in his voice. “Did he hurt you? Anne?”

Before his secret could be blown, Jotaro pushed his hand away, “She’s fine. She didn’t get involved.” The concern was unfortunately touching and it felt like a warm blanket thrown around his shoulders. His clothes were soaked, he was cold, and his hand still vaguely burned. A blanket sounded and felt heavenly.

A whiny voice cut the tension. “I’m right here, you know.”

Kakyoin deflated, looking over Jotaro once more like he was confirming he was there in the flesh, and turned around, “Well, are you okay?” Shit, Kid—Jotaro channeled all he could into a look of You promised. at her, over Kakyoin’s shoulder.

She stared at Jotaro, sweating slightly, “I’m good.” Anne confirmed, but then, as if a lightbulb went off, she straightened up and smiled, “But I think your boyfriend has had a looooong day.”

Jotaro grinded his teeth as Star Platinum manifested to scowl openly at her. She couldn’t see Star, but the sentiment was there.

“Pfft,” Kakyoin laughed lightly, covering his mouth. “Nah, we aren’t dating.” He leaned down further and winked, “But he wishes we were.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Star gripped Kakyoin’s shoulders, but refused to press tighter. This time Jotaro scowled at Star Platinum, but his Stand just looked at him with a hopeful look in its eyes. As if it was indicating, here, this person, Kakyoin, but Jotaro had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Star never went against his wishes. Kakyoin stiffened at the large hands covering his shoulders completely and stood up, watching Star’s staring contest with its user.

Kakyoin shook his head. “Okay, okay. I’ll stop,” he said, with a smile in his voice. Star Platinum let go of his shoulders and disappeared. “But seriously, are you alright?” With Yellow Temperance defeated and a day in Singapore wasted, Jotaro didn’t feel like talking to anyone, let alone Kakyoin at the moment. Jotaro didn’t want to let go of the casual ease they had. Rubber Soul was right, to a degree. He didn’t want to lose their friendship over a fight that Kakyoin literally had no involvement in. Besides, it felt nice. Even if he didn’t deserve it, he was willing to be greedy.

“I’m fine, Kakyoin.”

Chapter Text

“When those bastards come after us again, I swear we’ll defeat them together.” Kakyoin blinked back tears, doing his best to remain a pillar of strength. In Avdol’s absence, Polnareff had no one to rely on at the moment and Kakyoin wasn’t going to let him wallow in apologies.

Beside him, Polnareff carefully prodded at his nose, wondering if it was broken. Kakyoin hadn’t held back, so he hoped that it was. “Y’know. I’ve been thinking.”

“Have you,” Kakyoin sighed, forcing himself to remain light even though his chest felt weighed down by stone wave breakers. His voice faltered in his attempt, knowing better than to joke at a time like this.

Polnareff flashed a smile full of mirth, but it died just as quickly as it came. “I know you two aren’t a couple,” Kakyoin took a deep breath. “But if you two were… You’d be wasted by Jotaro.” Kakyoin went silent, unsure how to respond. It sounded like both a compliment and an insult and he was stuck in the brackish waters between, and wondering—why now?

“Just…” Kakyoin faltered, “put your observational skills to the test and watch our backs.”

—

The only place they could go was to find Avdol’s body. Jeep crashed in the sand, they had to walk their sorry asses in the desert two hundred meters back to town. Combined with the heat, Kakyoin and Polnareff were done fucking around, both at their wits’ end and mutually agreeing on not lashing out at each other. Polite conversation left them too, both more exhausted than anything else.

Then Hol Horse showed up.

The imitation cowboy taunted the pair, shooting his gun at glass to create openings for J. Geil, unaware it was a fruitless effort. How cute.

“It’s always better when they run.” His cigarette bobbed and he shifted his gaze to Kakyoin and flapped his hand to tell him to run along. “Why don’t you find your boyfriend, eh? I’m sure he can clean up your mess.” The comment hit Kakyoin in the heart, feeling a protective rush to defend both Jotaro and himself. No one told him what to do or who to rely on.

Polnareff darted his eyes over to watch Kakyoin simmer with rage. Disgusted by the remark on his behalf and done with his taunts, Polnareff brought out his Stand to point behind Hol Horse. “If you’re looking for J. Geil, he’s about two hundred meters that way. But he’s quite busy at the moment, carrying out his sentence in hell.”

“Hm?” Hol Horse’s stupid hat covered most of his head, but it was still easy to spot the sweat. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! You can’t fool me that easily. J. Geil won’t go down quickly, even I know not to get into a fight with that guy.” He dipped his head and raised his arms. “That wasn’t a very funny joke, Polnareff.”

“No?” Kakyoin spoke, voice razor-thin, “Neither was yours.” He stepped beside Polnareff and brought out his Stand. “You should run along back to DIO’s whorehouse, Hol Horse. You know that he only sent you here because he knew that you’d fuck it up. That’s why J. Geil had to do all the hard work.” He tilted his head slightly, “And still we slaughtered him. What do you imagine we’ll do to you?”

Hol Horse was sweating profusely now, his cigarette being torn apart by his teeth. He took a step back like the words came with a physical blow. “Uh—alright fine, I’ll go look!”

“What?” Polnareff shouted at Hol Horse, who had booked it down the street. “You’re running away?” There wasn’t a response to defend himself, he just kept running. “Shit, come on.”

“Already behind you.” Kakyoin and Polnareff chased Hol Horse and watched him disappear behind a corner, only to pop back out, sliding on his back. Stepping up to trap the shitty cowboy were—“Mr. Joestar! Jotaro!” Kakyoin breathed a quick sigh of relief and caught up. There was no escape.

Hol Horse adjusted his hat and clutched his nose. “Shit!” he wheezed, “Jotaro!”

The Crusaders surrounded Hol Horse. Mr. Joestar clenched his fists in rage, Polnareff gritted his teeth, Jotaro squinted, looking at him like scum. It’d be cathartic to beat his ass, but Kakyoin wasn’t done with what he started. He broke the semi-circle, getting a closer look at the fear on Hol Horse’s face. “You think that I can’t fend for myself?” Hierophant’s appendages curled around Kakyoin dangerously, “Why don’t I show you what I can do and you can run along to your boyfriend to clean up your failure?” Unbeknownst to Kakyoin, Jotaro quirked an eyebrow up at the comment.

Polnareff joined Kakyoin’s side. “Avdol’s death is your fault.” Silver Chariot readied its sword, “And yours, mine—!”

Before Silver Chariot struck, a girl crashed into Polnareff, toppling him over. It begged the question of how easy pushing Polnareff aside could be, but her distraction and devotion to Hol Horse opened the door for the cowboy’s escape. He yelled from the ground asking for the others to help, but the coward was already gone on horseback. None of them could catch up to him.

Kakyoin sighed, disappointed by the outcome and uncomfortable with his anger. Harsh words weren’t going to solve anything, they just stalled. Swift action was required and Kakyoin was so caught up in sharing the pain that Hol Horse got away. He hoped at least that what he said hurt. He turned away from Mr. Joestar, who was focused on wrapping the girl's arm up and walked off down the street. A moment later, Kakyoin heard footsteps following him.

By the languid pace, Kakyoin pinned it as Jotaro, and it was confirmed when large, broad shoulders brushed up against Kakyoin. It was a silent sign to let him know that he was there, and the gesture was sweet enough that it calmed his heart down slightly. They kept walking until Kakyoin paused, swaying. The fight was over, now came the exhaustion. Drifting to the side of the street, Kakyoin found a stray chair and collapsed into it. He leaned over to bury his eyes with his hands, trying to keep his emotions in check.

More footsteps. Jotaro was standing in front of him. “What did you mean by ‘boyfriend’?”

Ugh. Kakyoin sighed and pressed his face further into his hands. He didn’t want to overturn that rock, not now. No part of him wanted to think about how defensive he got over Jotaro. Though, maybe the reality was that Jotaro had at last gotten sick of the term. “Hol Horse called you my ‘boyfriend’, if that bothers you I suggest taking it up—”

“No—that’s—” Jotaro cut himself off and clenched his fists. “that’s not what I meant. You were talking to Hol Horse. Meaning Hol Horse’s boyfriend.”

Oh. Kakyoin thought back to his outburst, feeling the still-raw grief and rage subside. The word just slipped out, like it was something he once knew. Because he did at one point, didn’t he? Most of his memories under the control of a flesh bud weren’t there, and his snap at Hol Horse felt like he had dialed the wrong number and got the wrong memory. Boy, if Jotaro was actually a bigot, this would be a bad time to find out.

Kakyoin removed his hands and stared at Jotaro’s pants. “It just slipped out.” Arms bracketing his knees, Kakyoin tried to work through what he could remember. “I know my statement was true, but I don’t know who it is. I think, anyway.”

“You think?” Jotaro’s voice dipped into suspicion.

“I can’t remember.” He bit back then sighed, a desperate feeling welled within him. An animalistic need to be alone, to protect himself, to keep control of his knowledge. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Shakily, Kakyoin stood up and carefully eyed Jotaro for any reaction. There wasn’t a trace of disgust, which was reassuring, but there wasn’t any indication that he cared at all.

Was he affected at all? At any point here? Did Avdol mean nothing to Jotaro?

Kakyoin sneered. He hadn’t been that close to Avdol, yet he had still made an impact on him. A simple assurance after a tarot reading that things were going to get better, and that he didn’t have to be afraid. Avdol, unlike the rest, obviously knew he was gay. It was unexpected to hear him mention or bring it up at all, yet he did. Kakyoin felt the assurances were unfounded, since he had made peace with that fact long ago. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Avdol meant something deeper so he left that conversation feeling like his foundation had cracked. Kakyoin hadn’t stopped thinking about it.

Yet, here was Jotaro. Kakyoin couldn’t expect Jotaro to feel the same things or have the same connection he had with Avdol, but they had interacted more. Why wasn’t he more upset? Jotaro wasn’t the most expressive, but he showed more shock when Kakyoin teased him. Avdol’s death just left Jotaro with a lifeless reaction. “You found his body. Didn’t you?” Kakyoin began, barbed insults to distance himself, ready.

Jotaro felt the poison in the air. He grabbed onto his hat, but didn’t pull it down to hide. “The old man and I did. He’s alive.”

“Why don’t you—huh?” The floor dropped out from under him. “He’s alive? How?”

Here, Jotaro got uncomfortable. His face tightened and he stood up straighter. “The bullet grazed his skull, knocking him out, but it didn’t kill him. He’ll have to stay here until he can join us again.”

Several things clicked for Kakyoin. The fact he never checked for a pulse. Relief over the fact he was alive. Revenge for ever thinking he was dead. Kakyoin sat back down in the chair, dumbstruck. He was looking forward to the next time he’d see Hol Horse, the cowboy had a date with his Emerald Splash. Kakyoin licked his lips, realizing what they had to do. “Don’t tell Polnareff. Avdol will never get rest if Polnareff finds out.”

Jotaro nodded. “Way ahead of you.”

Kakyoin took in a shuddering breath, feeling lost. “You should… go help your grandfather.”

Silence. After a few moments, Jotaro stepped away but hadn’t left. Kakyoin didn’t dare look up, afraid that he’d find regret. After what felt like forever, consideration ticking loudly, he watched Jotaro shove his hands into his pockets and tail off towards Mr. Joestar.

—

Gramps left for a doctor to get his weird arm face boil checked and Polnareff was somewhere trying to impress that one girl—Nena—which left Kakyoin and Jotaro to wander around Varanasi for the day. Or at least, try to ensure that they’d be left alone for the day. Kakyoin was picking at his butter chicken when he suggested the same plan Jotaro had from the second everyone split up, “If those two come back early, I don’t want to know.” Kakyoin spoke, determined. He waved his fork around. “We both need a break, so I have a plan.”

Kakyoin was full of trivia and the kind of cultural knowledge you’d only get from a tour guide. Frankly, Jotaro couldn’t have asked for a better one too, he was eager to share stories and if he didn’t know any about the building or place or person, they’d go and find it. Their rabbit hole of a cultural adventure led them to a museum by the river. Most of the language was either in Hindi or in English, the former Jotaro didn’t know a lick of and the latter was comfortable enough with.

“This transcription is in English, could you translate?” Kakyoin tugged on his sleeve to pull him towards a small glass case with a sickle-blade inside.

Jotaro tucked his pamphlet into his pocket and read the small plaque aloud, “As the Ganges civilization grew, cattle became the focal point, leading many farms to produce wheat for them. Bronze Age scythe, circa 1300 BC.” That wasn’t hard. Jotaro leaned back, furrowing his brow. “Did you really need me to translate?”

Kakyoin shrugged, “Not really. I just wanted to hear you speak.”

“I talk to Gramps and Polnareff in English nearly every day.” Jotaro wondered aloud, walking on.

“Again, I just wanted to hear you speak.” Kakyoin didn’t meet his eyes, he seemed engrossed with the sickle. “You’re very good.”

Taking the compliment head on felt like the wrong move, but accepting it from Kakyoin felt so right. Jotaro shifted on his feet and moved away from the display case, taking out his pamphlet on boats. “My mom is American.” He kept his voice neutral as possible, trying not to sound like he was avoiding the praise. There was something in the way Kakyoin gave his compliment that bugged Jotaro. It felt too kind. Vulnerable, even. Jotaro looked over at Kakyoin only to find him in another room, his back facing him.

Jotaro idly walked towards Kakyoin as he read from his pamphlet. In poorly printed letters and smushed off to the side of an ancient boat diagram, he read that the Ganges hosted the endangered Ganges River Dolphin.

He never got compliments—he got thanks for saving their asses, but not appreciation. A fuzzy, sour feeling sank into Jotaro and he had no idea what to do with that, other than ignore it. As much as he wanted to bury the conversation, Kakyoin had opened the door. Circling around more farming tools, Kakyoin was unaware of Jotaro processing his comment to the ninth degree.

“Kakyoin—” Jotaro started and stopped. Putting it into words felt impossible, he couldn’t even understand what he was trying to say in his own head. Kakyoin was hunched over the display case like a gargoyle, staring intently at something or another. At hearing his voice he looked up, only to meet Jotaro’s strained face. His easy smile fell off.

He stood up properly, hands landing on the gold edges of the glass case. With arms wide apart, he leaned on them and crossed one ankle over the other. Jotaro felt like his mind caught fire at the sight. “Hm?”

“Never mind.” Reflexively, he wrinkled his pamphlet in his hand. Struck by shame—which, Jesus, he hadn’t felt that in years—he smoothed out the wrinkles on the side and thought for a moment. White Arial lettering taunted him. “Actually,” Jotaro took a deep breath and turned to Kakyoin, who was standing at another display case, farther in the exhibit. Kakyoin’s eyes were unfocused as he gazed at more ancient memorabilia, lost in thought. At Jotaro’s call, he glanced up and back towards the main hallway where Jotaro was, “did you know that the Ganges has its own species of river dolphin? It’s endangered due to the heavy pollutants and dam systems here.”

Kakyoin snapped out of his stupor and flashed a quick smile at him. “Really?” He pushed himself up. “That’s really cool. And sad.” The display case was abandoned as he walked towards the section Jotaro was in. To fill the quiet silence of the museum, Kakyoin started to ramble on what he knew. Apparently, India’s Bronze age was something he knew a lot about, while Jotaro was lost completely. Kakyoin seemed pleased that he got to share information though, so they walked through the rest of the museum sharing facts.

Bolstered by his grandfather's cash, they indulged without caution as their day progressed. Kakyoin leaned towards India's variety in food, including roasted and spiced bugs. The dish seemed more touristy than an actual meal, but Jotaro dared Kakyoin to eat some anyway and he did it without complaint. Much to Jotaro’s chagrin, he was actually enjoying them. Lame.

The next block of the day was spent in a cafe near the Ganges. Jotaro sat stationed there, sipping on iced tea while he waited for Kakyoin to come back from his shopping trip. Right on cue, “Jojo!” Kakyoin walked past, tapping Jotaro’s shoulder in greeting, and sat in the iron chair across from him. He put a single shopping bag between his feet and snatched Jotaro’s tea. “I think I’ve talked to too many people today. I feel socially exhausted.” Kakyoin sighed and fell back into his seat, taking a sip.

His face crumpled up like paper and Jotaro saw him suppress a shudder as he swallowed. “Ugh,” Kakyoin returned the sweating glass to the tabletop, smacking his lips in disgust and betrayal. “Ugh. I don’t get how you can drink it unsweetened.”

Jotaro eyed the white plastic bag. “I prefer it like that.”

“Get better preferences.” Kakyoin reasoned casually. He then followed Jotaro’s line of sight and pulled out the bag from under the table. “Never mind your awful taste in tea, I got something for us to pass the time.” He threw down a pack of cards, still in the plastic cover.

Jotaro picked it up and unwrapped it, crunching up the plastic and tossing it back into Kakyoin’s plastic bag. “Did you get anything else?”

“Just a few things.” Kakyoin thumbed the design on the table, “I picked up some lotion.” Lotion? His confused expression must’ve tipped Kakyoin off since he was quick to clarify. Kakyoin’s tone dropped, on the edge of defensive and haughty. “Don’t judge me. My skin likes to dry out quickly. Considering we’re heading into a desert soon, I’ll need it.” The plastic bag was kicked under the table—out of sight, out of mind—a physical hint to drop the conversation. Jotaro shrugged, shifting in his seat. Kakyoin eased up once he realized that Jotaro didn’t care and was more focused on keeping his eyes on the cards as he shuffled them.

Truthfully, Jotaro was more focused on his behavior rather than the comment. He filed the latter away and split the deck. “Let’s play War.” Without much prompt, he began with a seven of hearts and waited. Kakyoin looked at his half of the deck like it was Polnareff. Still, he dragged it over and felt the need to shuffle it. Jotaro watched, waited, and wondered if there was something actually more to Kakyoin’s behavior in the first place.

Maybe it was just because Jotaro was noticing it now, but the compliment at the museum was unexpected and the lotion thing was too. Kakyoin liked to tease Jotaro for his stone and macho nature, even though Kakyoin knew that wasn’t exactly true. It worked in Jotaro’s favor though, since it sounded like a joke to be played off. But after Avdol’s “death”, the line got blurry.

There was a careful edge to Kakyoin now, anything more effeminate on Kakyoin’s side was dismissed. It was odd since he was never uncomfortable with that, none of them were, that was just who Kakyoin was. Jotaro would never admit it aloud, but he missed the before even if the ‘boyfriend’ joke was getting old. Jotaro thumped his half of the deck against the table, sighing at the most obvious conclusion. He had to talk about it. Might as well start at the source. “Why were you so mad after you fought Hol Horse?”

Kakyoin huffed and gave a cruel smile, finally settling his deck. “You really want to talk about that?” He tossed out a queen of clubs and won the hand.

Jotaro followed up with a five of spades. “I don’t, but I think you need to.” Kakyoin went very quiet, contemplative, as they continued with their game. They traded winning hands back and forth and the rhythm was pleasant with the backdrop of the sounds of Varanasi around them. Jotaro wasn’t going to push it, Kakyoin could handle it by himself nine times out of ten. But it was the ‘one out of ten’ chance that worried Jotaro. He didn’t know how to comfort people.

Kakyoin liked to talk though. Privately, he’d complain too, but that was rare since Kakyoin seemed allergic to looking weak and he could understand that. Jotaro put down the ace of spades and Kakyoin put down the ace of hearts. Kakyoin took a deep rattling breath. “I had no idea Avdol was alive. I didn’t have as close as a relationship with him as you guys did, but the few times I did talk to him…” Kakyoin put down his three cards and flipped up the ten of clubs. “Well. Let’s just say his advice helped me out.”

“Hm.” Jotaro understood, and dropped his speculation over anything more. Avdol named his Stand and took his fortune while they were in Singapore. Nothing like a bit of introspection after Polnareff burned time. The shitty thing was that Avdol’s tarot reading implied that Jotaro and Kakyoin were going to grow closer. Polnareff interrupted, murmuring half-awake that they were already boyfriends, only to get corrected. At the time, Jotaro rolled his eyes and accepted potential friendship, but denounced being gay. But—Jotaro set down his three cards and the king of diamonds—He realized that Kakyoin hadn’t said anything on that front for himself throughout the entire trip. There wasn’t an instance where Kakyoin said he was joking.

Wait.

His mind churning, Jotaro reached out to take his spoils but bumped into his glass of tea. Before it could shatter, Star Platinum unconsciously grabbed it with Hierophant Green right behind. Even though the glass was secure, pinned in midair, Hierophant’s appendages still “caught” it anyway and brushed up against Star’s grip. A phantom brush of a hand caressed his own and Jotaro jerked back. Kakyoin didn’t seem to notice the reaction, too busy adjusting the glass. He whistled, now back to his cocky self, “Hey, are you alright?”

Had Kakyoin been flirting with him all this time? Maybe Kakyoin’s rage in his fight with Hol Horse was more protective than revengeful, no, no. He clenched his fists, there wasn’t anything to suggest that. Kakyoin even said he was upset about Avdol only. Well he didn’t say anything about that being the only thing. Shit. Jotaro didn’t know enough about flirting to recognize it though, so all of the easy smiles and teasing about being in a relationship could just be a friendship thing. Was that what that was? “I’m fine,” Jotaro snapped, way too harshly. He tugged on his hat to bury any notion that he wasn’t. He knew Kakyoin would be on his ass the rest of the day if he didn’t lay this to rest. “I’m tired, that’s all.”

Kakyoin hummed disapprovingly, which only frustrated Jotaro more. He didn’t know any of this shit, Jotaro didn’t ever expect that he had to know any of this shit. “Let’s just continue,” the phantom touch burned and he forced Star away.

Wary, with a gleam in his eye, Kakyoin accepted his suggestion to continue. The rest of the game went smoothly, but silently. Kakyoin was smart enough not to say anything about Jotaro's tension, instead he started talking about Japan. “I wonder how everyone else at school is doing now,” he tilted his head up to the sky. “Learning about literary classics? Geometry?” Kakyoin shook his head and threw down the two of diamonds. “School is so boring.”

It was a distraction and an invitation to something more casual and normal. Jotaro grabbed onto the olive branch. “Aren’t you an honor student?” Jotaro hummed, assuming.

“Yeah. But, I only learn what I need to.” Kakyoin waved a hand, “Pay attention, be respectful to the teachers, show up for class… Though, I’m not exactly doing that last one, am I?” Kakyoin laughed lightly, but it died quickly into a sigh.

Jotaro grabbed for a thread to continue, but his mind was blank so he said nothing. Kakyoin dived into the topic of different types of climate India had.

—

Paired with the humidity, the late afternoon sucked. It felt worse, trying to weave in and out of the crowds looking for the pier that Kakyoin said he was going to be at. As it was thinning up, Jotaro dipped out of the sun and into some shade by an alley. The vendor nearby began waving him over, first in Hindi then when Jotaro refused to respond, English. Jotaro still didn’t give a shit and was considering gathering his bearings elsewhere when the vendor said, “Do you need lotion?”

Jotaro sighed at the familiar word and actually looked down at the products. Haircare, combs, sunglasses, and lotion. Before they split up to try and find the others with a rendezvous at a pier, Jotaro never actually looked inside the little plastic bag Kakyoin got. If this place was near the cafe, it was likely he was running in circles then. What a pain in the ass. He shook his head and stepped back into the crowd.

“Wait!” The vender called out. “You look like the dude a redhead from earlier was talking about.”

Jesus, was Kakyoin gossiping about him to random fucking street vendors? The vendor, garbed in white and blue, turned to the table full of combs and picked out two items. A long hairpin, made of black sanded wood with a cherry blossom at the base of it. Little beads dotted the sides, clearly showing a charming handmade quality to it. The other item was a small metal comb. Or at least, it shone like metal in the sun. Intrigued to where this was going, Jotaro didn’t leave.

The vendor waved him over with the items. Jotaro didn’t move. “Your friend was talking about you and your hat. He was eyeing these items, but all he bought was some lotion. You should get these for him!”

What? Was he trying to repair their friendship or something? Jotaro squinted and remembered that Kakyoin had actually lost his pocket comb. It was common for Kakyoin to take pride in his appearance, but since the comb was lost, and Avdol’s “death”, all that talk vanished. Hm. And though the pin looked nice, Jotaro had no clue if it would look nice on Kakyoin, but by itself, it was a neat keepsake if anything.

Jotaro walked back to the vendor, “How much?”

The Ganges shimmered gold and orange under the sunset by the time Jotaro found the pier. Kakyoin was leaning up against a wooden pillar, reading a small booklet. There was a distinct lack of his grandfather and Polnareff. As Jotaro approached, question on the tip of his tongue, Kakyoin glanced up and put his book back into the white bag at his feet. “Did you get lost?”

“No.” He did. “I went shopping.”

Kakyoin looked at the familiar-looking plastic with an incredulous face, “You wanted lotion too?” He grinned, “You know we could just share. All you have to do is ask.”

His voice had a pleased tilt to it, sweet as honey, bringing a relaxed air. Kakyoin was going to be fine, but the real moment of truth was currently wrapped in tissue paper. Without wasting time, Jotaro pulled up his bag and the wrapped items, stepping closer to the wooden pillar. He grabbed onto the hairpin and the comb in his sweaty palm and showed them to Kakyoin. His violet eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. Jesus, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was just a gift between friends.

Tentatively, Kakyoin took them and examined each item scrutinously. “They’re real.” Jotaro said.

“I know that,” Kakyoin huffed, watching the detailed beads on the hairpin shine in the low light, “It’s just...” Kakyoin licked his lips and looked aghast, immediately Jotaro felt regret crawl up his back. Gifts weren’t a good idea, what the hell was he thinking.

“They’re not apology gifts,” he blurted then winced internally. “You lost your comb.” Kakyoin ran his finger across the metal teeth and admired the silver color. Then he looked at the hairpin and held it up as a question. Jotaro didn’t have an answer for that one so he just tugged his hat down to escape Kakyoin’s charmed look.

Kakyoin tucked both items into a pocket in his gakuran. “Thank you. I really appreciate this,” for a second or two they stalled, both unsure where to go from there. Switching gears, Kakyoin grabbed the book he threw into his bag from earlier. “Here, I have something you may like too.” He said, with a grin. The booklet had a thin gold spine and a fairly plain dark brown color with small text etched in. It was pushed into his hands and he read the title, Murder at the Harlequin Bar. “It’s about gay people.”

Jotaro squinted, noticing the woman author, the floral imagery dotting the spine, and the quote by Sappho on the inner cover. “It’s about lesbians.”

Kakyoin fumbled, pulling the book back. “Yeah, I uh, figured that out quick.”

The book left his hands easily and it was put back into the bag. The suggestion to read it was another tease of course, but it also made Jotaro finally realize something. That teasing wasn’t all it was. A lock turned and clicked into place. He gazed up to find Kakyoin winding a hand in the plastic bag and looking out at the river, his red lock of hair swaying slightly in the breeze. “Kakyoin, are you gay?”

His mouth twisted into a smile and an incredulous look fell over his face. A tad shocked, a tad surprised, a tad pleased. “Why, are you interested?” Jotaro openly sighed and Kakyoin just laughed. He leaned forward and squeezed his shoulder, the touch felt like electricity to Jotaro. “Come on, I couldn’t find Mr. Joestar or Polnareff and cops were crawling around our hotel when I tried checking there. Knowing them, they’re probably just outside town.” Without another word, Kakyoin kicked off from the wooden pillar and walked back to the shore with a wide smirk on his face.

That was it? He didn’t even get an answer, but apparently for Kakyoin that was enough. Jotaro felt less sure than he did when he asked. Kakyoin was already moving on so casually so maybe he should’ve been doing the same. Following silently behind and acting as an impromptu wedge for the crowds, they made their way to the outskirts where they eventually found the car. Polnareff was sobbing in a ditch nearby and Gramps hadn’t shown up yet, which left Jotaro time to pick his own brain anyway.

Was the book a genuine gift? Considering that Kakyoin was also reading it, it could’ve been a spur of the moment thing. Jotaro kicked at the ground to stir up dust considering the possibility that it was a prop. No one would get that invested reading a prop, however.

Kakyoin’s behavior was confusing, not assuring. Jotaro felt keyed up and considered stepping away to punch something. Star Platinum’s apparition even hovered over Jotaro’s fists at the tempting suggestion. His train of thought came to a stop once Polnareff stopped whining and looked over his shoulder at Kakyoin. “Oh, hey guys.”

“What the hell happened to you?” Polnareff’s face pinched up and Kakyoin immediately winced in panic. He waved his hands down. “Hey, all right, never mind.”

Polnareff returned to his sulk. “Mr. Joestar got in trouble with a Stand and the police,” he sniffed.

Jotaro folded his arms. Of course, he did. That had to be why they finally found Polnareff in the middle of nowhere. With no choice but to wait, Kakyoin stepped back to his side and together they watched the moonlight shine on the water. It was reminiscent of the sunset earlier, just a bit more morose. After a few peaceful moments filled with the sound of water lapping at the bank nearby, crickets, and Polnareff sniffing, Kakyoin sighed and frowned, “And here I thought we’d finally be able to sleep in a bed for once.”

“Maybe if the old man hadn’t screwed up, we wouldn’t be out here hiding from the cops,” Jotaro huffed.

“I took care of it,” A familiar voice called out. They pivoted towards the voice to see Gramps walking back to them, bags around his eyes. “We can take this car. Polnareff,” His voice sounded raw and he was already swaying on his feet, “you can drive.” Jotaro and Kakyoin watched Joseph toss the keys, and they landed in Polnareff’s hair. Kakyoin quirked his eyebrow as Joseph sighed. “What? Don’t tell me you’re still in shock? I was the one that got attacked by the Stand,” he started to walk towards the backseat, climbing in.

Polnareff remained still. Jotaro and Kakyoin continued watching with a sick sort of fascination. Seeing Polnareff down in the dumps wasn’t the best, it was akin to seeing a whining puppy. Entertaining for a bit, before it just became sad. “Yeah sure… but I think I’d rather have gone through that.”

Voice low so that only Kakyoin could hear him, Jotaro murmured into his ear, “Do you know what happened?”

Kakyoin shook his head and groaned slightly, realization hitting him sideways. “I should drive for tonight.” Mustering up the energy, he straightened up and grabbed the keys out of Polnareff’s hair. “Come on, we need to go set up camp somewhere.” Jotaro watched Polnareff pull himself up and stalk towards the car, dragging his feet. Kakyoin hovered behind him like a mother hen as he corralled him to the passenger seat. Once Polnareff was in, Kakyoin stepped to the side so he was next to the hood. “Are you coming?” he called. It was a bit of a strange switch from kind and comforting to snappy, but Jotaro could tell by his inflection that his question was asked out of concern. Jotaro nodded and took the seat next to his grandfather.

Kakyoin was weird, but he was a good friend and Jotaro wasn’t sure if he wanted to know if the feeling went as deep as people kept assuming.

Chapter Text

Jotaro felt a lot better after punching the shit out of Steely Dan and tossing him into a brick tower with the force of Star Platinum. The kids from earlier were gone too, which was a relief even though there was no chance the Lovers were ever going to harm them. Sweaty and bruised, Jotaro followed the path Kakyoin’s Hierophant took.

And thank god for Kakyoin.

If it weren’t for him actually being the one to incapacitate The Lovers, Jotaro knew that eventually, he would’ve killed Steely Dan, hell or high water. No one that much of a piece of shit deserved to live for long. But there was no danger, Steely Dan had no clue that Hierophant was tethered to The Lovers’ leg and that his range actually was one hundred meters.

“So that Kakyoin fellow thinks distance can weaken my Stand, eh?” Steely Dan’s swarmish grin taunted Jotaro as intended. “Charming of your boyfriend to tell you that, unfortunately, my Stand has the longest range in the world. And with him gone, there’s no one to hold you back. I wonder,” he tapped his chin and pursed his lips getting closer to a still kneeling Jotaro, “how quickly will you snap?”

When strength failed him, the only thing he could rely on was intimidating his opponent into losing. With schoolyard fights, it wasn’t hard. A few notable times, he nearly got expelled, but that paved the way to reputation, which did all the hard work on getting any jackass feeling lucky to step down. Never once did he have to rely on waiting with endurance and intimidation.

He could do the latter two. Every punch to the gut, drawing blood. Every bruised rib from kicking. Every little demeaning action that sewer rat made him do would come due in time and eventually, it did. But having to wait till Kakyoin got his revenge was torture. The sign came in the form of a gorey shot to Steely Dan’s forehead, not as much as he expected from Kakyoin, but it sent Jotaro a message that now he could truly get payback.

Karachi’s people got out of Jotaro’s way, unsure if it was his size, glare, or the blood caked to his face that scared them off. Regardless, Jotaro walked on idly wondering what Kakyoin had done with the Stand. Tear it apart like with Tower of Gray? Drown it with an Emerald Splash? He’d have to ask once they met back up. Jotaro didn’t want to talk about his side of the fight, but everything that Kakyoin wanted to share was fair game.

Jotaro heard Polnareff before he saw him. Running past brick buildings and waving his hands wildly, he cheered for Jotaro’s success. Following at a slower pace was the old man and Kakyoin. A slew of French fell out of Polnareff’s mouth as he patted Jotaro’s shoulder, unsure if it was going to get bitten off. Couldn’t say he blamed Polnareff for his tight reaction, Jotaro looked and felt like hell. The danger was most likely dead though, covered in bricks somewhere behind him, so Jotaro forced himself to relax and accept the motion. He kept his voice light when he asked, “You alright, Gramps?”

The old man leaned on Kakyoin’s shoulder, letting Hierophant wrap around his waist to keep him steady. Gramps shrugged off Kakyoin’s help with a small thank you and hobbled over to Jotaro. There was a wild spark in his eye and Jotaro realized what he was doing. No, no. Wait—In one bone-crushing hug, his grandfather held him hard enough to lift Jotaro slightly off the ground. He wheezed slightly and tried to pull the old man’s arms off. Instead, all he could manage was a measly pat, pat, pat on his ribcage. None the wiser to his grandson’s struggle, the old man continued hugging Jotaro.

“God. I knew you’d pull through!”

It wasn’t just him, he wanted to say. His gut and bruised ribs burned. Pain making his vision go white, Jotaro croaked out, “Kakyoin…”

Though he meant to give attention to Kakyoin’s role against The Lovers, it sounded like a cry for help and his unknowing savior came to his rescue. Kakyoin rounded around the conjoined pair and pulled at the old man’s locked fingers. “Let him go, Mr. Joestar.” Kakyoin insisted warmly. It didn’t take much to budge and Jotaro was let down with a heavy sigh. Jotaro bit back a groan as he was released, it felt like all the air left his lungs, but there was no way in hell he was going to show it. He vowed to never ask if Gramps was okay again as he adjusted his gakuran.

The old man may have let him down, but he hadn’t let go. His hands, one real, one steel, gripped his shoulders as the old man beamed at him. They were the same height, so any notion that it was a touching family moment faded a bit. Expecting to finally be let go when the smile got too long to hold, Jotaro nearly jumped when he felt a curl of energy travel down his spine.

Stranger, he felt the light energy interact slightly with his Stand as it washed away the ache in his body. It was way too surreal, so Jotaro backed up and out of his grandpa’s grasp. Hermit Purple’s vines twisted and curled from his real hand at his palm. Ah, it was Hamon. Jotaro rubbed his shoulder wondering how far healing Hamon could go, but he wasn’t willing to ask. Joseph hummed and let his hands fall to his hips, “Well! We need to recoup over some food.”

Polnareff swept in at that and exclaimed that he was starving as an ox. Jotaro rolled his eyes as the two drifted off, leaving just him and Kakyoin. Everyone was fine, just shaken.

Jotaro tugged on the edge of his maroon stained shirt, the one thing Hamon couldn’t clean up. It reeked of copper, but not his own. He grimaced at having that fucker’s blood on him and turned around, heading for the hotel. Food was the furthest from his mind and he needed a shower, “I’m going to go change.” Jotaro murmured. In the back of his mind, an alarm went off, yelling at him to consider how that statement could be twisted by his friend standing not too far away.

Behind him, he heard cherry earrings clink. Jotaro didn’t need to turn around to know Kakyoin had his signature shit-eating grin with his hands over his chest in astonishment to play it up. “Oh Jotaro!” He exclaimed, his voice colored with happiness, “Don’t change! I like you just the way you are.” Forget asking about his battle, he could do that later.

“Give me a fucking break.” Jotaro spat out, pulling down on his hat. He was not going to let Kakyoin see him blush or react in any way close to being flustered. He heard it in Kakyoin’s voice; the compliment was a tease and the tease was a compliment. Jotaro was used to ‘The Stardust Crusaders’ (as they called themselves) praising him, half those times being Star, but they all knew better. There was no confusion in Jotaro being an asshole, but Kakyoin was the only one who didn’t get the memo even after Jotaro laid out how much he wasn’t a good guy. Without another word, Jotaro walked away. Further from his old man, Polnareff, and away from a suspiciously silent Kakyoin.

Jotaro neglected to recognize that Kakyoin didn’t even have a comeback, he just went suddenly quiet.

After wandering further into Karachi, Jotaro slowed his pace and looked over at the bustling life living between stalls and under tarps. It felt like something was wrong with him, something sour in his heart that was just shy of being sweet, rising and falling in waves. Worse, it started to click that the feeling originated because of the closest friend he’d ever had. The more consideration went to thinking about the sourness, the more he realized it always hovered around his presence.

It didn’t explain the why, however. Kakyoin knew that Jotaro wasn’t a nice person, he just still liked him for who he was and that was terrifying. Who could accept Jotaro after knowing all that? He rushed to pull out a cigarette only to find the pack empty. Shoving it back into his pocket, Jotaro tried to move on, telling himself that Kakyoin was just being who he was. Kakyoin was joking, he liked to tease because he knew Jotaro would hate it.

Right?

—

His thoughts circled, same as his path around town, but eventually, he made it back to the hotel. In the lobby, he found Gramps, who said that they just came back from dinner and that Kakyoin was already in his room. Damn. Maybe with luck, Jotaro could simply ignore Kakyoin’s taunts and crush down any feeling that felt sour. He had spent the entire journey not minding the teases, he could hold out. It was just another test of endurance, same as Steely Dan.

Just with no one to save him.

But that was fine. He could take care of it himself.

Jotaro entered the room expecting to take a quick shower, get under the covers, and sleep until the sun or someone else woke him up. He wasn’t expecting one bed and Kakyoin sitting on the edge of it, leaning over. It almost looked like he was praying, for how his hands were clasped together, but they were only like that because Kakyoin was picking at his nails. A bad habit. Kakyoin had told Jotaro to tell him to quit doing it, if he didn’t catch it himself.

Torn between pointing it out, finding out why Kakyoin looked like he was grappling with a moral issue, and taking a shower, Jotaro defaulted to staying still and watching. He should say something.

But he had no idea what to ask.

Noticing that Jotaro had paused, Kakyoin looked up and dropped his hands. He remained leaning on his knees with worry painted on his face. Jotaro’s throat seized up. The last time he had seen Kakyoin like this was shortly after their encounter with Hol Horse. He was both avoidant and defensive at the time, wracked with grief over Avdol.

Kakyoin pushed himself up off the bed, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and locked into eye contact with Jotaro. Trapped under intense, violet eyes, Jotaro felt the pure acidic concentration of his attention. The sour feeling came back once more. “I need to apologize to you.” Kakyoin folded his hands in front of himself. “I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable with that comment earlier.”

He—hm?

Dumbstruck that Kakyoin was apologizing for the first time for his teasing, Jotaro pulled down his hat as Kakyoin continued speaking, “I’ve noticed that you were mad. Very mad. So, if the joke stopped being funny, then let me know and I’ll stop.” He huffed a laugh to keep the dense atmosphere light. “I’ll just go back to anecdotes on culture.”

Jotaro felt like he was lost and left behind, no safety net, no warning, no more teasing. The loss caused anger to tie up his throat, which didn’t make any sense. Didn’t he want this at one point? It felt stupid to lose Kakyoin’s teasing to a misunderstanding, but he’d rather be set on fire again than to explain that he was worried over his old man. He had one ugly option. “It’s.” Jotaro grit out, hand still on his hat. “Fine.”

Silence fell upon them as Jotaro struggled to find solid ground. Kakyoin wasn’t lying, but he had assumed that the lack of a kinder response was from Jotaro being fed up with his teases, because of what?—bigotry? and not because of the unknown sour feeling drowning Jotaro. It was hitting too close. It wasn’t a joke at all, because Jotaro was getting too comfortable with the comments. It was making Jotaro get attached. Kakyoin forced his hands to the side, “Is… it?”

“I don’t know!” Jotaro snapped and winced in disgust at himself for his scramble. Fighting in an internal struggle, Jotaro tried to continue. He stepped towards Kakyoin to physically force himself to explain, “You’re fine. It’s just I’m—” Jotaro squeezed his eyes shut and faltered, his mind opening the escape hatch. He felt he was in a void, grasping for a sign he existed. To Kakyoin, the sign must’ve sounded like, What am I not saying? Jotaro took a deep breath. “I’m tired. Not at that, I haven’t had a good rest.” Or a meal, for that matter.

He took another one while Kakyoin stared. Unbeknownst to Jotaro, there was an intensely curious look about him, like an investigator revisiting the crime scene at a critical point in the film. Whatever Kakyoin was looking for, he found it, and his entire demeanor smoothed out. “Oh.” He whispered. His voice was colored in awe and finality. Jotaro, refusing to deal with another miscommunication, opened his eyes and came face to face with Kakyoin.

One look at Kakyoin’s dawning realization and Jotaro understood that he fucked up.

His cards were sprawled across the table from day one to Kakyoin so in a way, this was inevitable. Kakyoin understood what he wasn’t saying, even if Jotaro wasn’t sure.

Then it got worse. Jotaro glanced at his hands to see them gripping Kakyoin’s shoulders and found that their chests were nearly touching. Dangerously close. The room shrunk to the space the two of them occupied, and Jotaro became keenly aware of every breath he took, as well as Kakyoin’s calm, steady ones. There wasn’t an ounce of fear on Kakyoin’s face, he just looked happy with a smile that crinkled the edge of his eyes.

And he was blushing.

Thrown into the ocean, expected to swim, Jotaro let go and stepped back, his brain running on autopilot. Except the plane was being piloted by his grandfather. And it was about to crash. And Jotaro was locked to the cockpit, with no way out.

“I’m not gay.” He blurted out, admiring how it felt to hold Kakyoin like that.

Kakyoin’s smile dropped to something more amused, as did his posture, “Uh. Okay?” He didn’t sound mad, just a tad confused. Jotaro’s flight response kicked in and he steeled himself so he didn’t look pathetic, squared his shoulders, forced a measured look, fixed his hat, and tried to exit the hotel room. “Wait, wait, wait, hold on!” Kakyoin grabbed his arm. “It’s okay, don’t leave.” Jotaro paused and swallowed, refusing to look at him, “I never said you were. Just—go take a shower, Jotaro. Wind down.”

“Winding down usually involves a fight.” He said, his voice raw with unresolved emotions.

“Well, you got that.” He shrugged a shoulder, “Verbally.” Kakyoin gripped his gakuran. “Don’t leave, it’s late and we’re both tired.”

The sour feeling at last, turned sweet. Jotaro couldn’t help but sag at the release of pressure in his chest. Bomb defused. Accepting the offer without a second thought, Jotaro kept his back towards Kakyoin as he moved to the bathroom. Kakyoin’s hand drifted off, reluctant, as he left. Jotaro locked the door once he was in and groaned into his palms.

Turned out his first actual Stand battle was going to be the death of him after all.

—

Jotaro spent an hour in the shower. Twenty minutes spent cooking under the hot water, hoping and becoming disappointed when his flesh didn’t slough off into thick meaty curls. Forty minutes under a spray of ice, wishing that it’d wash away the thoughts that set fire to his mind.

In the end, the shower did help him ‘wind down’. Injury wise, he needed a good rest and he was back to business, but emotionally he was seared. Burned to black.

Instead of focusing on figuring out what he wanted, Jotaro settled on deciding on what he didn’t. He didn’t want to leave their room. He didn’t want to lose Kakyoin as a friend. He didn’t want to lose their banter and snide jokes, no matter the nature of it. But he couldn’t answer if he wanted to be more than a friend with Kakyoin.

Initially, there was the blockade that Kakyoin was a guy, but Jotaro continued to strip down the argument to wants. He didn’t want to lose the potential of giving each other gifts. He didn’t want to lose the close physical touches they shared.

He didn’t want to lose the chance of kissing him.

Shit—maybe Jotaro was gay. Maybe though. It felt as though Jotaro was ensnared in barbed wire and he was waiting for someone to come along and snip him free.

Dressing down to boxers and a thin T-Shirt, he hung up the towel, turned off the lights, and faced the music. Kakyoin was already lying in bed, under the covers, when Jotaro exited the bathroom. Folded hands over the duvet, sleeping on his back as always, and wearing those stupid striped pajamas he wore constantly, Kakyoin appeared unbothered. The lamp on the side of the bed left for Jotaro was still on, casting a soft, golden glow on Kakyoin as he gently breathed.

It wasn’t the first time they’d had to share a bed, and Jotaro didn’t think it was going to be the last. Kakyoin was a solitary sleeper, staying in the same position the entire time, which Jotaro pointed out was creepy as hell. On the other hand, Jotaro sprawled. On several occasions, he'd awoken to find himself lying partially on top of Kakyoin. Luckily, he always woke up earlier, so Kakyoin never knew. It wasn’t like it was bad, but now it felt intimate. Ugh. Why did feelings ruin all things normal and turn them into an opportunity to pine and gawk at.

Jotaro glanced at the time and didn’t find it all that late. Kakyoin was a night owl, usually spending his nights reading and sharing interesting facts, regardless if Jotaro was conscious to hear it. Reaching into the white bag by the dresser, Jotaro pulled out the gift Kakyoin gave to him. Lots of things were flipped around between them, bed routine could join as well. Besides, his mind was way too active, so he’d just end up tossing and turning to fall asleep. At least this way, he could be quiet.

He slipped under the covers but sat up with the light on to continue his reading. Overall, the book wasn’t bad, but mysteries weren’t that interesting to him. The romantic subplot between the two female leads was campy but didn’t distract.

“Are you enjoying it?” Startled, Jotaro snapped his head to Kakyoin. His eyes were open, full of curiosity and his head was tilted to face Jotaro. “It has a slow beginning, but I loved the ending.”

Jotaro reminded himself of what he didn’t want to lose and remained on the tightrope between acceptance and rejection. Keeping his voice even, in contrast to Kakyoin’s honey-like voice, Jotaro reasoned, “It’s good.” Not wanting to leave it there, he grabbed for his first thought on the book, “Josie is annoying as hell though.”

Kakyoin barked out a laugh, “Right? She gets better, but wow is she cruel in the beginning.” He sighed. “Rough exteriors with a golden core. I’ve always liked those types of characters.”

“Mhn.” Jotaro returned to looking at his book, self-conscious over staring.

“Maybe you should read some aloud,” Kakyoin hummed. “Where are you at?”

The memory of unsweetened tea and the musty smell of a museum by a river crashed down on Jotaro. All their interactions were gaining a second veil, one that was making Jotaro realize how much Kakyoin was actually flirting with him. Or. Well—Probably flirting with him.

Jotaro turned the page and shook his head slightly. Was Kakyoin always this transparent? “You just like listening to my voice.” Caught, Kakyoin bit his lip. An unapologetic smile grew as he turned his head to gaze back to the ceiling. He kept his eyes open though.

After a moment, he licked his lips and smirked, “Maybe.”

They lapsed into silence then, Jotaro didn’t dare look over, on the off chance he’d find Kakyoin’s unwavering gaze on him and the two would have to calculate addressing the longing look, rather than continuing to sweep it under the rug.

Jotaro didn’t want to quite leave it there. Kakyoin seemed okay, brushing off Jotaro’s panic with cool assurance and a calm head. But he wasn’t sold that that was all there was to it. In typical fashion, Kakyoin gave an apology head-on, but it bugged Jotaro to know the tipping point was there. For all the shit they dealt, why was it there. The discrepancy pointed Jotaro to something left unsaid and under Kakyoin’s skin. Maybe Steely Dan’s fight with Kakyoin was more painful than he thought. Hol Horse kind of painful.

Jotaro kept his focus rereading the same passage, as he remembered Kakyoin’s over the top, sudden joy. “It’s not like you to use humor to cover up your pain.” Jotaro’s stern voice felt a tad out of place when it was just between the two of them, but it was comfortable speaking this way since he talked like that with others. Unpacking Kakyoin’s issues on the same night as his own emotional overdraw was about as appealing as asking Polnareff for relationship advice. So he nipped that bud of conversation and instead moved to the effect. “I didn’t help either by…” he tasted several words to try. Freaking out?—No. Panicking?—Accurate, but awful. “Scaring you. So. Sorry about that.” The ‘thanks’ was wordless, stitched in with Jotaro’s quiet and calm voice.

Kakyoin scoffed slightly, breath airy. “Take this how you will, but you don’t scare me, Jotaro.” He sounded a bit muted as he mulled over the recognition. After a few moments, Kakyoin turned it back around with the voice that said, ‘Here is my idea and you will listen’. “I think you’re scared of what it all means. But I think you’ll find a lot of leeway.” Kakyoin opened an eye to gaze at the small, sunbleached book. “Maybe read another book.”

The covers shifted slightly and Jotaro risked a glance down to see Kakyoin still lying on his back, but his head was turned away. The lone river of red hair spilled across the white sheets, the rest of his wild strands of hair framed his face like a portrait. Eyes closed and trying to sleep in the dim light of Jotaro’s shadow.

Jotaro clicked the lamp off, put his book on the end table, and laid down. Rhythmic breathing lured him to sleep, but Jotaro couldn’t help the pride swelling up in his chest. It was the kind of confidence that was comfortable to him in a fight, worn well like a hat. A deep inhale calmed him further, and for the first time in days, there was the security of safety. They’d be fine. Jotaro could use some more time, and Kakyoin had to deal with whatever was bothering him, but they’d get through this journey.

So would Gramps. So would Avdol. So would Polnareff.

So would his mom.

Chapter Text

Getting a room of his own seemed a lot lonelier than normal.

Being an only child with a loaded family—Jotaro practically got as much space as he wanted in his room back home. It made adjusting to Kakyoin’s presence a long affair full of awkward dances, but they gradually fell into a routine. Jotaro always took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, dressed down, and went to bed, while Kakyoin took fucking forever getting his hair just right before reading the night away, sharing the things he found interesting with Jotaro. One thing led to another and sometimes they’d end up engaged in arguments, like who was the best sumo wrestler, or if Jotaro had any music taste or was it just what his dad liked, till the dead of night.

It was a nice reprieve from everyone else. Even if Kakyoin was wrong about his music taste.

With Kakyoin spending his time hospitalized in Aswan and Avdol back, it meant that Jotaro was forced to share a room with his grandfather rather than his best friend. Polnareff would make decent company if he wasn’t attached at the hip to Avdol, so he spent his evenings lying in bed unable to sleep, wishing for a decent distraction. Edfu, Stand battles, the food, the culture, it all left Jotaro thinking about how Kakyoin could share another tidbit about the buildings they passed by or some shit. Anything.

Kakyoin had vacationed in Egypt, and although it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience in the end, there had to be something he enjoyed while he was here. Jotaro was starting to regret not asking, even though it would’ve been stepping onto a minefield. Life was boring without someone to poke fun at it with.

Jotaro got up in the early morning, taking his chance to have a smoke on the half-circle balcony before it got blistering hot. In the evenings, it was way too stuffy to enjoy a cigarette, but at dawn it was the perfect temperature. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who liked to wake up at this time.

The glass door slid open and Jotaro didn’t bother turning around to face Gramps. With luck, he’d try to make small talk, see that Jotaro wasn’t paying attention, and leave him alone until they had to leave. If only he could be so lucky. Gramps leaned against the railing as well, both arms perched on the metal, and looked down at the busy morning below. Jotaro kept his hat down and watched the haze of light turn the horizon green.

“The heat here makes me feel like I’m a rotisserie chicken,” Gramps chuckled, tugging on his own hat. “Still, this place is pretty neat. Wouldn’t mind coming here again, much better than India,” he grunted, tossing a hand up in exasperation. “I don’t get what Avdol sees in that place.”

Joseph was very good at leading people to where he wanted them, any tactic was on the table. Lying, cheating, flirting, playing fair, playing dirty—it was impressive, in its own way. But Jotaro saw through the old man—he could be stupidly transparent at times, which bothered Jotaro to no end. Just because his Gramps was on a trip to save his mom, it didn’t give him the right to act like they’ve known each other for years. The last time Jotaro had seen him was when he was seven and that was just to show off at Christmas. Whatever. Maybe this was just his pathetic way of making amends.

Jotaro removed his cigarette but didn’t face him. “Calcutta was interesting.”

“Calcutta was a cacophony,” Joseph stressed, gesticulating with his arms as he ranted more about India. Well, there went his quiet. Jotaro sighed after a while and considered throwing in the towel on his smoke break. Jesus, Gramps could ramble. It was in high spirits, but it was nothing like how Kakyoin went about it. Jotaro actually wanted to listen to what Kakyoin had to say, while half of what his Gramps said was just filler.

Feeling the beginnings of a headache pound right between his eyes, Jotaro sparked another cigarette and growled, “Just get to the damn point.” Instead of shutting up like everyone else did, the old man just laughed.

“Alright, alright. I came out here to talk to you about Kakyoin.”

Experimentally, he blew smoke out of his nose and considered where this was going to go. Jotaro shifted cautiously. He looked back and lifted his head so he could watch what his Gramps was doing. He was grinning like a cat that got the cream, which just pissed Jotaro off more. There was something Jotaro was missing that the old man knew, and it looked like he wasn’t willing to share. Answering everything and nothing would be enough to get what he wanted.

Jotaro took another drag and blew the smoke into the air. “Really, now.”

His smile didn’t drop. Joseph leaned a hip and his prosthetic hand on the iron railing. “Yes. Well. Sorta. I know you two are close.” Jotaro kept his face like steel at that. “I also wanted to talk about my old best friend, Caesar.”

There were a few things Jotaro could hand to his grandfather: he could outsmart anyone, he utilized his simple Stand well, he was a decent gambler and a good storyteller. Even though all his stories sounded like bullshit—sure Gramps, you launched an Aztec god into space—there were a few things Jotaro could buy: his great-grandmother, Lisa Lisa, whom he met a few times when he was a kid before she died, and Gramps’ friend, who made it into a few of his stories but was never really talked about separately. The term ‘best friend’ was thrown around a lot, but not much else.

But, it looked like Jotaro was finally going to hear about Caesar more than in passing.

Gramps turned his head toward the shops, now in full swing below. Arabic floated up to the balcony, giving a pleasant white noise to the yellowing sky chasing out the rich blue. “His full name was Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli. Grandson of William A. Zeppeli, who died to save Jonathan Joestar’s life,” His voice was strong and stable, which immediately let Jotaro know that this story was not going to end in a happy way. Jotaro noted the use of past tense as he went back to watching the sunrise. No part of him wanted to watch his grandfather get serious for a conversation like this. Not when it was clear why he was bringing up Caesar when wanting to talk about Kakyoin.

This was a warning to Jotaro.

“—Italian, if you couldn’t tell by the name. And God, he was an asshole,” his grandfather laughed, voice warm. “He gave me constant shit—wouldn’t let a single dumbass thing I said be forgotten.”

… — …

Jotaro saw Hierophant before he saw Kakyoin. Tendrils covered the ground like ivy in specific positions in the hallway leading up to his room. Jotaro didn’t bother avoiding them, he knew that the Stand excelled at sensing things out. There wasn’t a need to hide his entrance.

Kakyoin’s hospital room was fairly small, which just made Hierophant Green’s tentacles look even more like unruly vines. “What’s with the jungle?” Jotaro said, in lieu of an actual hello. Silent and sitting up straight in his bed, Kakyoin smiled wide.

“Hello to you too.” Gauze white as snow covered Kakyoin’s eyes, wrapping around his head. Small tufts of hair stuck up around the edges, making him look like he just rolled out of bed. Even his long lock, which he put more care into he would a pet, looked frizzy and unkempt. Jotaro could imagine the look of horror on Kakyoin’s face if he could see how bad his hair was. By virtue of not being able to take care of it properly, he probably knew and hated how he looked at the moment.

Jotaro ignored that for now, filing it away for something to tease him about later, and pulled out a chair next to Kakyoin’s hospital bed. As he sat down, he ran through his options for topics. More sumo? The weather? The only thing on any of their minds though was moving on toward Cairo. His mom’s fever was starting to hang over Jotaro like a thunderstorm, making casual conversation like navigating a minefield. Even Avdol was cautious. Now with his best friend stuck in recovery for god knows how long, Egypt was just fucking awful.

Kakyoin twiddled his thumbs and kept his head up and still. In a way, it reminded Jotaro of a lizard. Patient and listening intently—reactionary. Not quite though, because he suddenly groaned, exasperated, and pushed himself up on his hands, shifting to one side of the bed. It left an open invitation to sit down on the linen sheets next to him. Jotaro looked to Kakyoin at the action, expecting his expression to be easily read and commented on, but instead, he found tense, hunched over shoulders. Worse—he was silent. Kakyoin’s hair cascaded slightly over his face, obscuring his bandages slightly and it became apparent Jotaro would have to lead the conversation. Awful. It was so much easier when Kakyoin could just read his expression, but it wasn’t like he could take off those bandages now.

The open spot looked deliberately inviting. A hand flashed out to smooth out the wrinkles on the blanket. Jotaro sighed, “Do you want me to?”

Kakyoin kept his head slightly down, “I’d appreciate it.”

Without any fanfare, Jotaro got up on the bed. Lying side by side was impractical, one or both of them would push each other off the bed, damn the railing on the side. So he pulled up a knee and faced Kakyoin, one leg hanging off the side. That seemed good enough since Kakyoin adjusted accordingly—sitting closer, pressing his thigh right back into Jotaro’s knee. “Thanks. Uh, where are the others?” He sounded so timid, unconfident. It just made Jotaro realize how much he hated that tone with Kakyoin.

Jotaro tugged on his hat even if it didn’t matter. Kakyoin could hear the movement though. “They’re coming later. I decided to leave early.” A sly grin on Kakyoin’s face quickly split into something evil.

“Just you, huh?” he quirked an eyebrow, “I see you wanted to get here, get that love confession off your chest, and get bailed out by the others when they arrived. Smart. One problem,” Kakyoin held up a finger and Hierophant Green’s tendrils started to recede. Jotaro rolled his eyes then remembered that Kakyoin couldn’t see that—shit. “You’ll never be able to if a conveniently placed call interrupts you.”

Jotaro sighed again, wishing that he wasn’t so limited in his options to show Kakyoin he was paying attention. “What, are you going to call the nurse?”

Kakyoin shrugged and moved closer, folding his legs crisscross. His head was still tilted down like he was focused on a test in his lap. “Maybe. I could.”

… — …

“He insulted me in Italian until he started teaching me that, as well as some Hamon tricks. I don’t know what got him to put us on even ground, I guess he wised up,” Joseph chuckled, tapping his fingers on the railing. Greens and yellows were fading away, peach filled the sky and the sun peeked out. Jotaro watched it carefully, listening to where this was going. Hearing Gramps ramble about his best friend for what felt like hours wasn’t a way Jotaro wanted to spend his time. “Caesar saved my ass so many times,” Gramps murmured, his voice getting soft, shaky, and full of love. The feather-light fall into this state left the worst indication that his old man was just that—old as shit.

Jotaro was dreading this part because he knew this only ended one way. “Two of the bastards—Esidsi and Wammu—put rings full of poison on my heart and trachea.”

“You mentioned this,” Jotaro sighed, torn between wishing for this conversation to be over and wondering what his grandfather’s grand point was.

Joseph didn’t seem miffed. “I have, but I never told you how I got the second one off,” he pointed a finger to the sky and cleared his throat. “We had an argument—his family was extremely important to him and I was an idiot and didn’t know all that and we fought. Pissed off, he ran ahead to this mansion that had to be a trap from Wammu—and it was.” Mansion. The difference between the place that only promised harm between the two Joestars was location.

Gramps went quiet, no doubt reflective over what happened. Internally, Jotaro sighed and wondered why people felt like they could vent to him—what was it? Had to be how quiet he normally was. When random classmates started talking to them, he’d just yell at them and they’d all scatter like rats. Jotaro had no idea how to help and it wasn’t like he could either.

“I never saw him again. In his last breath, he created a bubble of blood and hamon, in it, a cure for the ring and his headband,” he rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly, timid—an uncommon position for his old man. “Now, every time I look at sunflowers I think of Caesar and instead of all the wisecracking we did, I just think about the fact I never told him. T-that I loved—love him. Though,” Gramps shrugged his shoulders and scratched at his beard. “Part of me says that he knew,” he lapsed into silence again. “I think you need to realize something, Jotaro.”

That got his attention. No longer predawn, the air was starting to heat up under the rays of golden sunshine, accenting shadows of far off dunes and saturating the pale colors of the buildings around them.

Jotaro looked at his grandfather under the comfort of his hat. Gramps stared off into the distance, down to a flower shop hosting barrages of different flora. Lilies, roses, and sunflowers, to name a few. “The people in your life who show you love can’t be ignored, it’s impossible. I’m not gonna pretend that your way of showing love isn’t…” he rolled his hand, “different, but you need to prove that you’re with them until the end. Does that make sense?”

Jotaro didn’t say anything.

Part of him dismissed all of this as a lecture, cheesy life advice he knew Gramps always and constantly gave. The tone might have been different, the delivery too, but the message was familiar. People always liked to tell him that he didn’t care, personally, he’d always thought he was too easy to read. Frustratingly stuck between thinking that he’d shown too much, while also unaware of how to give more if someone needed it. His mother never had that problem. She had more than enough love to give.

Gramps sighed, hard. “Just,” he pinched his brow, “don’t distance yourself from Kakyoin. You’re allergic to sharing things, but keep him close, okay? I’m not gonna let you stand by with your thumb up your ass—”

“Sorry?”

“—and have Kakyoin pass you by. Worse, either he’s gonna fall to the Zeppeli curse or you two are going to drift apart.” The old man turned his body completely toward Jotaro, face wrought with worry lines. It seemed like he was on the verge of grabbing Jotaro by the shoulders and shaking him to understand his missteps. “Now I know that Kakyoin won’t let that happen, but I know you. And you, you need to smarten up and confess.”

What the fuck, old man.

Jotaro glared, full of violent intent and vitriol as he snuffed out his cigarette. Joseph rolled his eyes and stood up to his full height. With Jotaro still leaning on the railing, his Gramps looked intimidating for once. Though, that was probably the desperate look in his eye, glossy and dull at the same time. The anger from before became a backdrop to regret. “Don’t make the same mistake I did, Jotaro.”

He took in a wet breath to continue, but it caught in his throat when Jotaro stood up suddenly, sunrise forgotten. Ice chip eyes silenced his grandfather. “I don’t need a lecture from you. I can take care of myself. Besides,” A rush of confidence took over Jotaro, which was quickly replaced with blind admiration for his best friend. Damn his brain, his affection was going to be the death of him. “I haven’t made the same mistake as you.”

Joseph froze up, jaw slack in shock. Then, like a card was flipped over, his mouth smiled wide and his hands drifted towards his cheeks. “Oh my god!”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” Jotaro scowled further, leaving his Gramps to his over-the-top antics and stepping back inside.

Unfortunately, his Gramps was never going to let this down. “Well, look at that! My grandson actually has game. Y’know, your mom told me you were quite popular with the ladies, but you never had an interest in any of them. I just figured you had some girl in mind—I was the same way. I also thought I hated Caesar for a while until I figured out it was just jealousy. I think they call that internalized homophobia—”

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

“—and then Midler. You were so out of your element when Polnareff told you to say those things! It’s like the thought of flirting never even got introduced to you!” The old man followed him in, nearly getting his face smashed into the sliding glass door. “Kakyoin too. No straight man uses Audrey Hepburn as a comparison to beauty like that. I knew from then,” he said, haughty.

God damn it.

… — …

Unsure where to look, Jotaro instead watched the flashes of white and green curl around the bed and brush up against Jotaro’s foot. It moved in waves. “I haven’t had to use Hierophant like this in a long time.”

Jotaro nudged one of the tendrils and brought out Star Platinum to reach down and let a set wrap up around his bicep. Kakyoin smiled at the offer, and a wash of emotion fell over Jotaro at the simple reaction. It stunned him for a brief moment for how little made him look so pleased. Finding his voice to carry the conversation, Jotaro said, “What do you mean?” Star Platinum allowed his other arm to be wrapped up and Jotaro felt the phantom warmth over his own arms.

“I can sense subtle changes in things through Hierophant. Temperatures, air pressure, weight, the way someone walks, how they breathe. I do this all the time for scouting, but when I was a kid I could train myself to differentiate between who was who based on all that.” In a way, the method reminded Jotaro of N’Doul, a stellar opponent who relied on his cane to sense movements. Both blind, both worked for DIO, both whom Jotaro enamored—though for different reasons. “I kinda grew out of the extreme habit, but I guess I may have to relearn it for now.” Tendrils moved to the bed, Star Platinum hovered behind Jotaro—patient, and Kakyoin fiddled with his striped pajama shirt.

He spoke in soft tones as he explained it, like all the other countless times Kakyoin shared a personal story with him. It felt precious not to be taken lightly, and to be heard. And more importantly, responded to.

Jotaro hummed, wondering what warranted use of the technique when Kakyoin was just a kid. Based on all the times Kakyoin had told him that Jotaro and the others were his closest friends, he was willing to bet it wasn’t for a happy reason. It was no use to bring down the mood further though, so Jotaro looked for a distraction.

Clutching the hem of his hospital attire, Kakyoin remained still in the tense position. The story didn’t break the ice, only solidified it, and worry about not being able to ease tension choked Jotaro. Star Platinum’s arms, which were acting like a trellis for Hierophant, dropped and his Stand disappeared. The void caused Kakyoin to jerk, head nodding up in the vague direction of Jotaro. Kakyoin’s hands wrung his button-up further, making permanent creases in the fabric. A knot like smile crossed Kakyoin’s face briefly. “Can I—?” Hierophant sprawled across the bed, touching Jotaro, but not actually committing to it. Hanging just above, like a haze, sensing things out, but he looked nervous.

Jotaro wasn’t sure what Kakyoin wanted to do, but he seemed so frustrated that Jotaro might as well have allowed Kakyoin to do anything to him. Fight him, tease him, steal his notes, force Jotaro to read aloud, anything really was fair game when Kakyoin looked like he could use help. “You can,” Jotaro affirmed, cautious about what his best friend was going to do.

The most likely thing was a rant. Wouldn’t be the first time Kakyoin had asked if he could. Unexpectedly though, Hierophant Green’s coils dropped into his lap, like suspension strings holding the Stand up had snapped. They slithered, wrapping around his chest and back acting as an odd lumbar support device. Jotaro suppressed shiver after shiver because the movement was just enough to be—“Ticklish?” Kakyoin murmured.

Jotaro bit back a smile, even though Kakyoin wouldn’t be able to see it anyway. “Just caught off guard.” A brave tentacle smacked the back of his head, right on the border between his hair and hat. Unprepared for that, Jotaro reached back and held onto the tendril. “What the hell are you doing?” He glared, with no bite, and let it go. There was some room for Kakyoin’s antics more than usual, since he couldn’t see after all. But Jotaro wasn’t going to get smacked around for no reason.

“Like I said. I can sense things, but,” Kakyoin shook his head and hunched closer. Cherry red hair covered his face and Jotaro wasn’t sure where to look. “I can’t see.” From his lap, he lifted up his hands and placed them steadily on Jotaro’s rounded shoulders. He pressed his nails into his thick gakuran. In the next breath, Kakyoin wondered aloud, “You’re like a blank slate. I know your breathing patterns, the way you walk, your constant huffs to let me know you’re there and listening.” Goddamn. “But I don’t know how to decipher it at all. I can’t…” He groaned and removed his hands. “I’m sorry.”

Before his hands could retreat back to his lap, Jotaro grabbed them and held them in a secure grip midair. Kakyoin was very good at reading Jotaro. His inflection, his speech patterns, how he slouched, how he glared, Kakyoin proved that Jotaro was an open book, even if no one else seemed to understand that. The more time they spent together, Jotaro gradually figured out Kakyoin too. The way he’d rub at his fingers if he had something on his mind, how he’d fix his hair if he was trying to be gaudy on purpose, and his smile, which always brought warmth to Jotaro’s heart.

At the moment, Kakyoin had little way of reading Jotaro like he normally did. But that stipulation didn’t extend to Jotaro, who figured Kakyoin was so frustrated because he was lost. Hands still collapsed together like a shitty handshake, he gave Jotaro what could be called a quizzical look. It was difficult to tell, but with his face downturned and his expression covered up with hair and gauze, he took a shot in the dark. With stuttering movement, Jotaro gently brought Kakyoin’s hands up to his own face.

Admittedly, not a smooth move. Jotaro saw it once in a soap opera his mom watched, the lead woman had her eyes closed while her lover caressed her cheeks. What made Jotaro groan and head back to his room was what the dude said, “Your smile feels just as beautiful as you look.” Disgustingly sappy. Besides, for his purposes, allowing Kakyoin to touch actually had merit. Though, seeing one’s facial reactions and feeling them weren’t the same.

Jotaro just hoped that the burn he felt on his cheeks wasn’t noticeable. “Oh,” Kakyoin said, awed, “You’re blushing.” Well shit, that was out. Kakyoin’s head nodded up with a wide grin. Jotaro let go of his wrists and allowed him to completely cup his face. It was reminiscent of Jotaro doing the same thing when he was removing Kakyoin’s flesh bud. Only, there wasn’t a threat of death here.

At least, not for him at the moment. His mom, sitting alone with foreign doctors back in Japan, on the other hand...

Thumbs pressed into his cheeks and Jotaro was brought back to Aswan. He waited patiently for Kakyoin to finish exploring. Soft caresses outlined the bridge of his nose, his strong jaw, and the corner of his eyes. Hierophant eased up on his grip as Jotaro tried to not get his eyes poked out.

They were just sitting on a hospital bed thousands of miles away from home, with the threat of a timer hanging over them—no worries.

Jotaro tried to relax when Kakyoin’s fingers gently massaged the tendons in his neck, meeting wild black curls. His hands traveled upwards, palms at Jotaro’s ears and fingers locked into his hair, upending his hat slightly.

Fingers curled and—holy shit.

The movement caused a ripple of pleasure down his spine, originating at the base of his skull. A small gasp escaped Jotaro, no doubt heard and felt under the secure hold of Kakyoin and Hierophant Green. Worse, he couldn’t hold back a shiver either. How the hell did running his hands through Jotaro’s hair feel so good? It barely felt like that when he did it himself to pull back his curls to fit under his hat.

And speaking of that.

Hat knocked slightly ajar, one of Hierophant’s tendrils snatched it off his head. Immediately, Star Platinum was out and holding onto the hat and preventing Hierophant from moving. “Oh come on!” Kakyoin scoffed, palms shifting down to his cheeks and fingernails leaving rivulets of bliss in its wake. “Just let me wear it for a bit. I can’t even see if I look good in it.” Star Platinum tightened his grip slightly before easing one finger off. Hierophant tugged on his hat gently, “Which means you’d have to tell me if I do,” Kakyoin simpered with a smile.

After staying in silence to not let Kakyoin know too much, Jotaro spoke. The weight on his face felt a little unnatural, “I could lie.”

“But you’ll do it?” Kakyoin grinned, tugging on the hat more. “Besides, you say you could, but you wouldn’t, considering that you’re wrapped up in a lie detector. I’ll know.” His hands slid further down to Jotaro’s jaw before rubbing back up to his cheeks. “Come on, relax.”

Relax?

There was no way to relax, even with Kakyoin’s sultry teases. The comment hit a cord of disconnect and Jotaro came back once more to the realization that he didn’t have the luxury to fuck around, not when they only had two weeks before his mom was dead. Kakyoin may have gotten seriously hurt and had to spend his time safely in a hospital, but Jotaro and the others had to leave in an hour.

Shame or anger flared within him and Kakyoin must’ve felt it since he let go of Jotaro’s hat. Jotaro didn’t move. Star Platinum put his hat back, Kakyoin held his cheeks, and his brow pinched up as he waited for an explanation. When none came, Kakyoin stepped in to take the torch. “Talk to me. I keep trying to cheer you up and you ease up, but then the door suddenly slams shut.” A bit lower, he started to thumb the corners of Jotaro’s mouth. “I don’t know how to help you.”

Jotaro sighed. Shit.

Shit, he felt awful and lost. Jotaro made a promise to himself to not get distant, to get back to the teasing and the playful huffs and sighs. And they did that, but it became really fucking hard to continue when his best friend had his corneas sliced and promptly passed out from the shock and blood loss. The problem shifted from getting distant to getting attached.

The weight of carrying Kakyoin’s unconscious body in his hands acted like a wax seal to his problem. Jotaro gripped the knee that wasn’t digging into Kakyoin’s thigh. “Could you… distract me?” He murmured, confident Kakyoin could hear his soft tones.

“Distract you?” Kakyoin bobbed his head in thought and hummed. He didn’t seem so sure he could do it, even though that was exactly what he was trying to do before. “Okay?” Yeah, Jotaro had just asked him to do the exact same thing he was just doing.

Jotaro shook his head at his own incompetence, doing it gently so as to not shake off Kakyoin. “I mean—I don’t know how you can help me.” Jotaro leaned into the hands gently holding his face. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” Kakyoin leaned forward in return with a soft smile. “You don’t have to apologize. If anything, I should be the one to.”

Jotaro straightened his back so he was no longer falling into Kakyoin’s orbit. “What do you mean?” He wanted to follow up with assurances, but he needed to let Kakyoin speak.

“I lied earlier.” Jotaro’s mind raced to find what the hell he was talking about. Only to find out that could mean goddamn anything. Kakyoin shared a lot of information over the weeks, if he lied about some part of it then—why? The only thing that would be worth lying about would be something serious. Kakyoin’s discrepancy sank its teeth into Jotaro’s flesh as his nails dug into his school uniform. They didn’t have deep conversations often, and now Jotaro felt more unsure about the prospect of opening up. But what did Kakyoin lie about during the few times they did?

“I didn’t find out that the book was about lesbians until, like, halfway through.”

Jotaro’s mind felt like he missed a step on the stairs. There was a physical lurch in too, back into Kakyoin’s sphere of influence, as he realized that he was talking about Murder at the Harlequin Bar. A smile split across Jotaro’s face, before biting his lip.

Fuckin’ Kakyoin.

He then huffed at the absurdity.

A sharp chuckle escaped Kakyoin as he pulled Jotaro back in. “There! A smile, I got you to smile.” His hands were glued to Jotaro’s face the entire time so Kakyoin got the privilege of feeling his joke land. Based on Kakyoin’s dopey grin in return, it was definitely worth it. “Hey, your smile feels beautiful too.”

The line was a tad too close to that sappy shit his mom watched, so Jotaro couldn’t help himself from laughing. Unaware of the coincidence, Kakyoin laughed along while gauging if Jotaro had dimples with a gentle touch. Self-conscious, Jotaro cut off his own laugh with a pleased hum and dipped his head down. The brim of his hat nearly hit Kakyoin’s eyes before Jotaro held himself back.

The distance between them was nearly non-existent. Jotaro’s knee had to be painfully digging into Kakyoin’s thigh with how far he was leaning forward into Kakyoin’s polite position on the bed. But he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, based on how he was tugging ever so slightly on Jotaro’s face the lean in was meant to be intentional. Subtle, aren’t you? Jotaro wasn’t complaining, he didn’t mind either.

Kakyoin’s grin faded slightly to a sweet smile, sighing from laughing so much. His head was up and alert at last—he knew what he was doing. In the breaths taken carefully between them, Jotaro considered where he had last felt this kind of comfort from Kakyoin. It was built from implicit and earned trust, even when Jotaro was on a crumbling foundation at the hotel. There was a hope to return to normalcy, which was earned. Kakyoin went back to his teases shortly after and Jotaro even tried his own attempts to snark back, but they always seemed to land weird. Kakyoin was incorrigible at his terrible humor and sincere attempts, so he laughed dearly anyway. Stand battles brought them further together and Jotaro gradually got more comfortable with the assumption he was Kakyoin’s boyfriend. It wasn’t true—it wasn’t—but Jotaro was open to letting that happen.

...soon. Eventually. It hadn’t set his heart right yet and he knew exactly why. There was no way he could handle the stress of any kind of a relationship at the moment, let alone with Kakyoin. Against the inner reason of his heart, Jotaro listened to his brain.

He lifted a strong calloused hand up and cupped Kakyoin’s jaw, holding him in place. His skin was fairly soft for being roughened by desert wind over the past few weeks. That lotion worked. Patient and pleased, Kakyoin waited. It was clear that he knew exactly what Jotaro was aiming to do, and his excitement could nearly be felt under his skin. Though, that may have been just Hierophant’s energy. Hands still cupping Jotaro’s face, Kakyoin tilted his head to mirror him exactly.

A kiss seemed so obvious Jotaro knew he had to force an explanation out. “Kakyoin. I…” Words died somewhere in the back of his throat from uncertainty, and because his voice was never meant to get this soft. Yelling or keeping silent was his two modes, with bitching being the in-between. Still, he swallowed his old habits and confessed, “I really like you. A lot.” Jotaro let go of Kakyoin’s jaw and the mirror reflection no longer lined up. The chain on Jotaro’s gakuran clinked loudly in the quiet room, as he pulled away from Kakyoin. Getting physically close was a bad idea, it only tugged Kakyoin on to the wrong conclusion.

The sudden distance wasn’t far enough to force Kakyoin to drop his caress of Jotaro’s face, but his hands drifted off anyway. They settled in Kakyoin’s lap as he straightened back up. He was clearly listening, but his brow was furrowed. In the absence of the hands’ heavy warmth, the chill of the hospital room burned Jotaro’s cheeks. “I don’t know how I can do this. I don’t think I can be who I want or need to be to…” Jotaro looked away. Saying it aloud seemed like it’d hurt more, no part of this had a clear execution. A rejection had always been easy to Jotaro, getting it to stick sometimes was a problem, but now for the first time, he actually cared about the recipient. “I guess I could use more reading material.” Daringly, he looked back up and just saw Kakyoin clicking his jaw shut.

Kakyoin gave a wry smile, a mix between disbelief and politeness. He licked his lips, “I, uh, think I can do that for you. I don’t have anything at the moment though.” Kakyoin brushed his lock of hair behind his ear to only have it fall back down in messy strands. They lapsed into a distorted silence. Hierophant continued to wrap and writhe around the bed, Jotaro sat still as possible, scrambling for a cleaner explanation, and Kakyoin rubbed at the thin hospital blanket in thought. After a moment to ruminate over Jotaro’s confession, Kakyoin dispensed advice, “You know, a scholar can read all about the Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu, but they’d never truly appreciate the beauty of the real thing without visiting it.” Jotaro bit his lip at that, filing away the metaphor.

One hamfisted half-confession and definite rejection, Jotaro wondered if the end to their conversation could’ve gone better. The answer, of course, was yes, dipshit. Somehow his brain and mouth disagreed when it came to this shit, and now Jotaro had to sleep in the bed he made. Now it was just awkward. Now he had to fix it, no matter how sloppy his attempts always seemed. Jotaro watched Kakyoin carefully, “Next time… I owe you that kiss.”

Kakyoin’s head snapped up, one eyebrow raised before he hummed. “Really now?” The lead was obvious, but Jotaro wasn’t sure what to follow up with. His original follow-up was going to be a promise, then leave to meet Polnareff and his Gramps outside. But, Kakyoin did one better. “I’ll hold you to it, Jotaro. For now, you should really go to meet the other two. They’ve got to be here by now.” Kakyoin snarked.

Jotaro huffed, reached out to briefly squeeze Kakyoin’s warm hand, and left without another word.

… — …

“Well, how was the kiss?” Polnareff was shaking with excitement. Jotaro didn’t dignify any of his old man’s teases and Polnareff’s questions with a response. But remaining stone-faced as always didn’t even seem to do anything this time around, unfortunately. The questions didn’t stop, even Avdol was curious.

Was there tongue?

Was he good?

How’d he react?

I hope these two didn’t impede your confession, Jotaro.

Are you two dating now?

I can’t wait to see Kakyoin for a whole new reason now.

Right? Wait—oh my god, did you use a pick-up line? Please tell me you used that one fish pun.

Wait, Pol, what’s the fish pun pick-up line—

The thread snapped and Jotaro snarled, “Shut up! Get the hell out of my business!” He never should’ve told Gramps anything. The constant reminders of what he could have felt like needles slowly pressing into his skull. If the others knew the full truth, Jotaro knew they would riot—shouting at him for not taking the golden opportunity he had. The golden opportunity Jotaro knew he had, with Kakyoin literally in the palm of his hand.

But rushing was worse. Instigating a relationship with Kakyoin was the only thing where there wasn’t a timer. Kakyoin was patient, that was clear, but as he said in Aswan, Jotaro had to make a decision soon. For now, with the stress of a vampire cursing his family, Jotaro needed a clear mind to finally start anything with Kakyoin.

Once DIO was taken care of, Jotaro could put his focus on him.

Chapter Text

Jotaro didn’t get to give his promised kiss the next time he saw Kakyoin. Returning just in time to join the final fight against DIO, Kakyoin came back with a sly smirk and a new pair of shades. Polnareff and Joseph were all over him, while Avdol expressed his pleasure at seeing both him and Iggy returning with a firm squeeze on the shoulder. Jotaro eventually made eye contact with him, after Polnareff finally let go.

It was like the world around them went silent, and they were standing in the limelight of a stage with the audience holding their breath and waiting for the music to climax. Jotaro had every intention of fulfilling his promise before, but with the rest of the Crusaders watching the two of them, the concept didn’t seem as comforting. It didn’t really matter, however, as Kakyoin threw himself forward to tackle Jotaro in a hug. Face buried in his neck, Kakyoin sighed and whispered privately, “After this. It’ll be a victory kiss, yeah?” He pulled back, leaving Jotaro dazed and warm from the unexpected embrace.

Jotaro nodded and swallowed, “Yeah.” After DIO. After his mom was okay. Once he could put his efforts into learning how to be tender with his Stand rather than punching the shit out of his problems. That seemed like something worth putting his time into after it all.

Thing was, Jotaro never saw Kakyoin again.

Well—he never saw Kakyoin in Egypt again. Only when Kakyoin had been transferred back to Japan was he able to find the time between him being conscious and when his parents weren’t hounding their son.

Before, the times when Jotaro did see him, he refused to call them visits. Kakyoin just looked like a body on a steel table to him, so many wires intersecting over each other—Kakyoin was more machine than man. Skin pale and cracked dry, despite the IVs dripping him fluid. Hair in even worse shape, with the iconic and meticulously kept red color fading away to brown. It wasn’t him. It just wasn’t the same person who successfully convinced Polnareff that birds and bees were genetically related enough to potentially produce offspring as the idiom implied.

It felt so wrong, Jotaro wasn’t sure what would be a worse experience to witness first hand. That or the direct aftermath of DIO punching a hole through Kakyoin, blood, guts, shattered spine, and all. He had spent the last few weeks in Egypt waiting for Kakyoin to wake up from the coma they put him in by pacing and punching walls after DIO disintegrated. All Jotaro wanted to do was forget that time. When he was able, Jotaro and Joseph left for Japan to get back to Holly while Avdol and Polnareff stayed vigil.

So Jotaro was not willing to entertain a real visit until Kakyoin was better.

Three months for the grand extent of Kakyoin’s injuries wasn’t a long time, but not even knowing him for that long left Jotaro in a vacuum for Kakyoin’s company. It was jarring to return, his mother was back to normal, except she had a Stand now. School was the same shit as always, just somehow more boring. Tokyo was the same too—it was almost like the past fifty days didn’t happen, even Gramps decided to finally leave once Holly ‘convinced’ and ‘reassured’ him that he could return to America. Without anyone there to make fun of the worthless little punks who tried starting fights with him, Jotaro was alone.

Or rather, lonely. Holly caught on to this new flavor of his reclusive nature and made him his favorite meals often. Fantastic, but it wasn’t a cure. Her next attempt hit the nail on the head, though—she brought news that Kakyoin was awake in the hospital and well enough to see visitors. Even better, but knowing the fact that Kakyoin never told his parents about his trip and that they were worrywarts in general, he wasn’t going to be seeing Kakyoin privately any time soon. Still didn’t guarantee how he’d look for being in a coma for that long either.

Jotaro didn’t want to visit a frail imitation of a body called Kakyoin, he wanted to see Kakyoin.

Two weeks of constant pestering from his mother later, Jotaro gave in. The last three hours of visiting hours would be ideal for Kakyoin’s dad to visit, which made that block of time impossible. No doubt Kakyoin’s mother would flock around opening hours with breakfast and Jotaro was unsure what time would be good for lunch in a hospital. Kakyoin had had most of his intestines replaced, which meant a strict diet and strict schedule. His best bet would be past lunch, but before any chance of Kakyoin’s parents staying. School during those hours wasn’t a problem, Jotaro was skipping most of it anyway.

Before he left for the hospital, he found a convenience store. The employee there was some underpaid, scrawny, twenty-something year old who crumpled under Jotaro’s stare. Timidly, he registered the packet of cigarettes Jotaro grunted to and a tin of mints that was thrown in at the last minute. A cigarette calmed his nerves on the way there, but he put it out before entering. He wasn’t that much of an asshole to walk into a hospital smoking.

Jotaro signed his name as Qtaro in the visitor book and headed for the 8th floor. The hall where Kakyoin was being monitored was quiet and secluded from most of the other parts of the hospital. Jotaro assumed this was the Speedwagon Foundation’s doing. Getting your midsection replaced was a test on new technology, and Kakyoin had to be monitored around the clock for his condition. Still, hopefully, that left some privacy for Kakyoin’s own sake and Jotaro’s to visit.

Besides timing, his second disadvantage was that Jotaro had no idea what Kakyoin’s parents looked like. So long as any middle-aged couples weren’t flocking around Kakyoin’s room, he’d be in the clear. The elevator doors opened and Jotaro scanned the adjacent hallways to anyone matching the vague description. Just nurses and what looked like a classmate. At least Jotaro wouldn’t completely look like a fish out of water here.

He trudged on, keeping his shoulders tucked in to try to remain as inconspicuous as possible. At the end of a hallway, he found the room and peeked through the wire glass window.

Late afternoon sunlight, sectioned by the blinds, shone down the edge of the hospital bed. Machines were hunched over the head of the bed, flashing colors and numbers which Jotaro had no hope of understanding. Taking a deep breath, Jotaro finally looked at Kakyoin.

Compared to his state in Cairo, Kakyoin actually looked healthy. While most of his body was tucked under baby blue blankets, it was still plain to see the loss of muscle definition on his arms and chest. The gowns they had at hospitals weren't a good look on anyone, but it bunched like a sheet on him. His hair was combed, but still split and wavy. Guess he couldn’t manage to get all that hairspray in here. The true giveaway of Kakyoin’s health was the fact his hair had lost a lot of its bright red color. It was dull, a mix between red and brown. Huh.

Before anyone called Jotaro out for creeping outside someone’s room, he double-checked that Kakyoin was the only one in there and entered quietly. The hum of machines keeping Kakyoin alive crowded the room, but between the harsh clicks and beeps, Jotaro heard Kakyoin’s soft breathing. Thank god. And shit—he was asleep. Moving quietly to not disturb him, Jotaro moved to the foot of the bed and picked up the thick chart of information on it. Star Platinum scanned it and memorized the most important information before putting it down.

Cybernetic implants, medication for life, unlikely to walk ever again, restricted diet for the rest of his life. The highlights.

Jotaro pulled out one of the two cushioned chairs in the room and put it right next to the bed. He sat down with a huff and stared a hole into Kakyoin’s paler than usual face. Jotaro could sit for the next thirty minutes ruminating over his mistakes on what happened, but he’d been doing that since the second DIO’s body turned to dust. Talking to himself wasn’t going to cut it, and he had a promise to keep.

He reached out a hand to his shoulder and patted it gently. “Kakyoin,” Jotaro called, evenly. Kakyoin’s face pinched up and his nose wrinkled, but otherwise didn’t stir. Jotaro tried again, leaning closer, “Kakyoin.”

Finally, he groaned and began to slowly rub at his eyes. “Hmmph?” Jotaro spotted a plastic green cup on the table by the window and had Star quickly fill it with cold water in the bathroom and return it to Jotaro. Kakyoin blinked to keep his eyes open, but it seemed clear he wasn’t quite conscious yet. He did see the water, however, and took it with a hushed ‘thanks’ and drained it. “Augh. Mom…?” Kakyoin rubbed at his temple and followed the cup taken out of his grasp. Realization dawned on him slowly and sweetly, just like the actual sunrise. “Oh, Jotaro.”

Despite the water, his voice sounded raw from not enough use. Rough as it was, it couldn’t hide the pure pleasure in Kakyoin’s voice and it drew both parties to smile. “Hey,” Jotaro opened, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Hey,” Kakyoin continued smiling as he sat up more with a heavy sigh, twinged with pain. “My memory has been pretty foggy as of late, so I don’t remember you visiting me yet.”

Oh. “This would be my first visit.” Jotaro adjusted in his seat and tried not to stare at how pink and raised Kakyoin’s eye scars were. “Sorry that I haven’t come yet.”

Kakyoin hummed. His whole body was reclined in the soft pillows and Jotaro knew his movement was going to be heavily limited. “It’s okay, I’m happy you did come though. You have no idea how boring this place is without you,” Kakyoin rolled his eyes. “My parents won’t stop hounding me for questions on where I went. I lied when I told them of course, but they haven’t stopped fussing over me. I hate it here,” Kakyoin frowned and eyed his sheets before releasing a slow breath. “Sorry. You’re not here to listen to me rant.”

Jotaro subtly shifted his chair closer. If Kakyoin wasn’t so out of it, he would’ve caught his eagerness and teased him for it. “It’s okay,” Jotaro affirmed, then smirked and tipped up his hat, recalling a memory of plaque and novel readings. “I like listening to you speak,” Jotaro laid his hands on the bed, one hand near his pillow, the other by Kakyoin’s hand, being careful not to touch. He kept it there as an invitation.

“Pfft,” Kakyoin smirked, “Now that’s some better flirting. Keep that up and you might be able to win me over.”

“Wasn’t aware it was a contest. Also—” Jotaro took a deep breath. He had been looking forward to this visit despite everything, no more pussyfooting around it. It was time to get Kakyoin back with a successful tease. “I’ve already won you over.”

Kakyoin quirked an eyebrow. Fingers reached out and brushed up against Jotaro’s knuckles. “Oh yeah?” His voice lowered. “What makes you say that?”

“Many… things.” It was hard to put it into words because truthfully, Jotaro was thinking of all the times Kakyoin had won him over even if he didn’t realize it at the time. To cover up his lackluster continuation of Kakyoin’s flirting, Jotaro tugged on his hat but didn’t break eye contact. Might as well skip straight to the main course. “Be my boyfriend.”

Kakyoin’s eyes went very wide, very fast. “W-what?” Didn’t expect me to commit to it, did you? Jotaro smirked at his stunned silence and sealed the deal by grabbing onto his hand. The heart monitor on his finger got a bit in the way, but he just adjusted his grip so he was palming his hand rather than entwining it. Once the surprise faded, Kakyoin smiled and rolled his head back to stare at the ceiling. “I can’t believe it. Here I thought I’d be the one to ask after an intense kiss that was really timid underneath. But look at you,” Kakyoin gave a light squeeze back. “Just a few months ago, this was just a daydream.”

One of the machines crowding the bed beeped rapidly a few times. Jotaro gazed up to see that Kakyoin’s heart rate had accelerated. Ha. It worked. Looking back down, he saw Kakyoin with burning cheeks, trying not to meet his eyes.

“Jotaro,” Kakyoin began, a frown touching his face. “I’ll be honest, I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.” On a dime, Jotaro went from pleased to serious. Even though he was practically leaning over Kakyoin now, Jotaro still hid under the brim of his hat to digest the information. “I’m on a lot of painkillers. I can’t feel most of my body, including my lips. My memory is still a bit screwed up. So I’m having a rough time reading you at the moment.”

Briefly, he considered pulling the same trick twice. After all, it worked to have Kakyoin hold his face like he did back in Aswan. But it wouldn’t help anything. Jotaro sighed, “I’m not joking—”

“—I figure you aren’t.” Kakyoin murmured, rushing to explain. "But, let's wait until I'm more lucid."

Jotaro just clicked his tongue and leaned a bit away from the pillow. “Okay. Let’s just talk about it later.” On his next visit, Jotaro would be more prepared. Polnareff and Avdol were supposed to be sending a letter soon, taking that to Kakyoin seemed like a good conversation starter. Unfortunately, he had no letter at the moment, and not even a thread of an idea of what to talk about.

Kakyoin yawned and winced. “Uh. Since my parents don’t know about you guys… how is everyone?” Oh. Internally, Jotaro smacked himself.

It was literally only two weeks ago Kakyoin was finally conscious again and Jotaro wasn’t trusting the Speedwagon Foundation doctors to tell him what happened with his friends. It had been three months since Cairo and while Jotaro was in recovery and going to school, Kakyoin had only been in either surgery or in a fucking coma. Guilty over not coming over when his mom told him to, Jotaro delved into everything Kakyoin had missed.

There wasn’t a lot to cover, but Kakyoin was excited to hear every single detail and with sleepy joy, he asked more and more questions. Most of which Jotaro didn’t know the answer to, but he could cover the basics. Once Kakyoin was out of the ‘touch and go’ phase after Cairo, Avdol and Polnareff took Iggy to the island where they encountered Cameo. Apparently, they went all the way back for the chickens. Then, they left for Polnareff’s hometown in France. Jotaro didn’t know any more about them, other than they promised to send a letter soon.

Holly was fine. She could control her Stand now. Nothing on names yet, but he was planning on talking to Avdol about that later. The only noticeable ability so far was that the vines brought a calming effect to those around her. The old man eventually left back for New York with a promise to visit again and to have Jotaro come over and use the spare bedroom at his skyscraper apartment.

Around touchier subjects, Jotaro refused details other than the bare minimum. Besides, Jotaro was no doctor, he wouldn't be able to tell Kakyoin how exactly he managed to survive. Frankly wasn’t sure why he wanted to know, either. Kakyoin was alive and breathing, there wasn’t a purpose in looking at the how.

Kakyoin slowly blinked at Jotaro’s dry dismissal to tell him about how he made it out alive. “Fine. I guess I have to go with the story that Hell rejected my soul.” Jotaro hummed. Whichever way he put it, his near death experience wasn’t going to be funny.

They lapsed into another bout of comfortable silence. Kakyoin took deep, slow breaths and his eyes started to droop a bit. Jotaro wasn’t willing to step away from his position of nearly crowding Kakyoin on the bed to check the watch in his pocket, but he knew this trip was taking more time than intended. “I should get going.” Jotaro murmured, watching Kakyoin trace scars on Jotaro’s hand with his pinkie.

“Mhn. Before you leave, I do remember a promise you made to me.” Right. Jotaro had been psyching himself up for this part. And daydreaming. He didn’t have much to go off on for expectations for a first kiss, just that it was supposed to be a pivotal moment in a teenager’s life. Even though, ‘pivotal moments’ seemed trivial to the fact he had killed a vampire who stopped time.

To start, Jotaro leaned further in. Ideally, this would’ve happened in Aswan, or where they were watching a sunset, or visiting his favorite aquarium, but a promise was a promise and Jotaro was not going to postpone this anymore. Even if Kakyoin looked dead tired and his lips were pretty chapped. Kakyoin adjusted his head, but couldn’t do much to meet Jotaro halfway since he was confined to the bed. It didn’t matter though, since Jotaro was willing to kiss him.

Kakyoin had a dopey smile as Jotaro got closer, his violet eyes shining bright. To not get it too awkward, Jotaro closed his eyes and closed the gap.

His initial reaction was—huh. The movies overplayed a first kiss to extraordinary amounts. There were no fireworks, no sweetness, no sigh of released tension. Instead, Jotaro noticed how Kakyoin wasn’t moving his lips much at all. There was practically little response, or maybe it was better to call it confused. It felt like Kakyoin was adjusting his side of the kiss at random, not in response to Jotaro.

Still, he pressed on, curious. Licking Kakyoin’s lips and into his mouth had to be a component—Jotaro did it to the nurse Kakyoin possessed when they first met, to get Star to bite down on Hierophant's head. That was a part of it, probably, so Jotaro ventured out to take control of the kiss by trying to deepen it, but just as he did so Kakyoin abruptly reared his head back and pushed at Jotaro’s shoulders. An awful sound came out deep within Kakyoin’s throat, some ugly cross between a choke and a hiss. It sounded strained, like a dying animal.

Oh shit.

Jotaro took his hands off the bed, terrified he was accidentally hurting Kakyoin. Yet, the only part of his body that was touching him was his lips a second ago. Confused, Jotaro turned to Kakyoin for answers only to come face to face with the most surprised and disgusted look on Kakyoin’s face. It was like something had crawled up and died, his entire face looked withered. “What?” Jotaro pressed, pushing down on his voice furiously to not sound angry. That couldn’t have been that bad. He had a goddamn plan for this kiss!

“Y-You—” Kakyoin’s voice shook.

“What.” Never mind not trying to sound angry. This was just beyond frustrating. He had no idea what he did wrong.

“You need to stop smoking cigarettes,” Kakyoin swallowed down a grimace and rolled his head back to face the ceiling. “I’m serious, you taste like a chimney,” Jotaro sat back down completely in his chair, leaning back. He ran a hand over his face and he looked to the ugly ceiling tile too. Mints. He had fucking mints in his pocket. He bought them for this exact purpose and he fucking forgot. Kakyoin yawned, “That was something, I don’t know if I’ll remember it, considering I feel like I’m floating.”

Wiping shame off his face, Jotaro steeled himself and went back to his hovering position, taking note to not breathe directly at Kakyoin. “I should’ve fucking done that in Aswan.”

Kakyoin shook his head, “Oh… you’re fine, here. Come here.” Exhaustion was blatant on Kakyoin’s face, his hands reached out to tug on Jotaro’s uniform to get him close, as they were just before they kissed. “Don’t worry… we have time. Also—” Kakyoin smashed his clammy lips to Jotaro’s cheek, “Stop smoking.”

Oh, god. His first kiss was awful, but it seemed like he’d be the only one to remember it, which brought a strange comfort. Maybe Jotaro would tell him about this when Kakyoin was better. Or never. That was also fine.

Behind him, a door opened followed by idle chatter before the sounds stopped dead in their tracks. Jotaro froze and realized with pounding tension, exactly what time it was. Peeking out from under the brim of his hat, Jotaro saw the shocked faces of Mr. and Mrs. Kakyoin. They stood in the doorway silent, no doubt taking in the sight of this 195cm man hovering over their injured son, clearly in a position where they were kissing—fuck. Or maybe it looked like he was stealing something off of Kakyoin. Either way, it didn’t look good.

Hoping to salvage this, Jotaro leaned back to a more casual distance and looked to Kakyoin to help lead the conversation. The most Jotaro knew about his parents was that they were uptight and wouldn’t approve of their friendship, let alone relationship. Jotaro wasn’t one for introductions, let alone trying to introduce himself to people he actually had to be nice to. Simply put, he was way out of his league here. Whispering, Jotaro hushed out a call for help. “Hey, Kak—I mean, Noriaki.” His face fell when he found his supposed savior completely unconscious and snoring slightly. Shit!

“Who are you?” Mr. Kakyoin held on to his wife, who passed the state of shock and went straight to staring daggers at Jotaro. Dammit, he should’ve used The World when they opened the door and pulled a Joseph.

Jotaro tugged down on his hat and reclined back in his chair. No part of him wanted to be nice, he just wanted to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. But the least he could afford was trying to introduce himself in a non-threatening manner. “Uh. I’m a friend of your son. From...” Jotaro scrambled to connect sensible dots together. “School.”

Mr. Kakyoin’s face went dark and he stepped back. So much for being non-threatening, Noriaki’s dad looked like he would call the police if he was able to. “Our son has only been to school in the area for one day,” He grabbed onto the door’s handle—he wasn’t going to—? “The same day he was kidnapped.”

Jotaro gritted his teeth. He was going to ream Ka—Noriaki for telling his parents he was fucking kidnapped. Brooding, pissed off, and under the already dim lights in the hospital room, Jotaro probably looked like a serial killer going to the funeral of his fourth victim. And the parents holding on to each other felt that. They slammed the door and screamed for security.

Jotaro turned to Kakyoin, who was peacefully unaware of the commotion and the trouble he set up for Jotaro. He would just use Star Platinum's The World to help him leave the hospital, but his description would lead back to the Kujo residence eventually. Soon, both he and Holly had to be fielding questions from the police, and there would be no way to get back into the hospital now. Trying to memorize Kakyoin’s peaceful, content face, Jotaro sighed, “Fuck hospitals. I’m taking you on a date next time.”