Work Text:
Not Like You (Jotaro + Josuke)
~Jotaro never felt this happy in years. He laid back on the grass and brushed it gently against his fingers.
Everything was perfect. The birds were chirping and the sun was out helping everyone keep warm. He heard the distant sound of children laughing in the park. He looked over to his right and found a teen with a bright green uniform reading a novel next to him with one hand, and with the other, he leaned against the ground.
Kakyoin smiled as he turned his face away from the book and towards Jotaro.
"It's been more than ten years since we defeated DIO huh?" He asked. Jotaro nodded as Kakyoin continued. "It only feels like yesterday I had no one and now, I have some of the greatest friends a guy could ask for." Jotaro couldn't help but agree.
Not only Kakyoin, but Polnareff and Avdol understood who he was. He didn't need to keep the mask he wore in front of them.
Jotaro got up from the grass and leaned himself against the tree behind him. Kakyoin shut his book with a soft slam! Jotaro blinked.
"Kakyoin? Is there something wrong?" Jotaro tensed ready to summon Star Platinum.
Until he couldn't. The purple Stand didn't appear next to him.
Huh? Is the work of a Stand user? Jotaro swore. One day. ONE DAY he would like to go through a peaceful day! The sound of the birds and children suddenly stopped around him. The clouds started to cover over the sun as Kakyoin's lavender eyes darkened.
"It's also been eleven years since you left Mr. Avdol, Iggy, and I to die." Jotaro stood up with the sudden change in tone.
Kakyoin's shining green uniform blended into a disgusting yellow, leaving only a green belt with a heart in the middle.
Jotaro knew those clothing from anywhere. It was the clothing of the person (or vampire) responsible for his friends' death.
"DIO!" Jotaro yelled. Kakyoin's red hair turned blonde and he smiled deviously.
"Jotaro, how nice is it to meet you here!" DIO said in a mocking tone. Fuck. So this must be a dream then? I killed this bastard under the sun and saw him die right before my eyes. Jotaro noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual white coat but instead, the old uniform he kept at the back of his closet. The old uniform he refused to take off when his grandfather told him to change out of when they were travelling to Egypt. The old uniform he wore despite walking in the sweltering deserts.
Oh how he wanted to take it off right now.
Jotaro tried to summon Star Platinum again but it was of no use. The Stand wasn't coming. DIO smirked as he crossed his arms. The surroundings turned dark except for a single lamp. A lamp one would use in the 1800's.
"Come now Jotaro. Let's not be hasty. All I wanted to do was chat! Sit down! It's awfully rude not to sit down when the chairs are provided." DIO said in a mocking tone as he too, sat down and crossed his legs. Having no choice in the matter, all Jotaro could do was sit and wait patiently to punch DIO's skull so hard it would break into pieces (again).
The two went silent. Jotaro 'tsked.'
"Why are you here DIO?" Usually Jotaro didn't have dreams like this. He would dream of his friends dying right before his eyes and the list kept increasing. First it was only the Stardust Crusaders, then it was his wife and daughter, Jolyne, and now he dreamt of Josuke and his friends all being defeated by the only villain that actually managed to almost kill him, DIO.
"You should be asking yourself that Jotaro. It's your dream after all." Well this was going fucking nowhere. As if DIO heard his thoughts, he began to speak again.
"It's been eleven years since you killed me. Since your friends died. Why is it, do you think you defeated me?" DIO didn't turn towards the Marine Biologist in training. As if he was disgusted to even look at him.
Jotaro just wanted to get out of this dream as fast as he could. It was like all the air was being sucked out of him every second that passed.
"Because you wanted to live. Just like me. You left your friends to die as long as you lived. It's something that I would have done a long time ago." Jotaro's fists clenched in his lap. It was the one thing he feared.
Being similar to the monster he defeated.
"Why do you think [The World] and Star Platinum are the same type of Stand? The Stand is the manifestation of one's soul, meaning, if you have the same type of Stand as someone, your personality would more or less match up with-"
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Jotaro cut off the vampire before he could say anything else. DIO's eyebrows raised and he put a hand to his chin.
"Oh ho?~ Denying it are you? No wonder Star Platinum's gotten so weak. Only a one second time stop? Don't make me laugh." DIO said in a bitter tone.
"If you admit it, you won't feel guilty of it anymore. Who knows?" DIO shrugged. "Maybe Star Platinum would be able to get it's ability back to it's full potential. But imagine how disgusted everyone would feel like if the hero Jotaro had the same personality as the villain, DIO?" The lamp was slowly starting to lose light and Jotaro was afraid to be alone in the darkness. Even if this was the case, he didn't reach towards the floating lamp. Only one thought was fixated in his mind.
"I- I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU, DIO! I... I'm nothing like you." Jotaro tensed up as he felt a sudden touch on his shoulder behind him.
"But you are." The light in the lap went out. Someone leaned into Jotaro's ear and he shivered. "It's alright Jotaro. Embrace the darkness. It will always be waiting for you."
***
Josuke never knew that the spare key he swiped the last time he went to Jotaro's hotel room would be useful. He only kept it in case of an emergency. You never know when someone needs a quick healing from Crazy Diamond and couldn't get to the door!
He had a lead about Yoshikage Kira from Rohan and the first thing he thought was to tell his nephew. (Yeah. He got used to calling Jotaro that even though it was weird as Hell saying it out of context.) But when Jotaro wasn't opening the door he couldn't help but be worried for the Marine Biologist in training.
"M-Mr. Jotaro?" Josuke opened the door quietly. Please don't get made about this! He thought desperately. There was no one in sight except for a figure in the bed. There was a white hat lying on the night table. The said person was talking in his sleep.
"I'm not like you DIO. I didn't want to leave my friends to die." DIO? Josuke remembered his Old Man telling him stories of how Jotaro defeated the vampire but he didn't know that he would still have nightmares over it. It must have been a fierce fight.
Josuke came closer to the adult who didn't notice his presence and knelt at the bed. Jotaro was shaking in fear in his sleep. It was the first time Josuke saw such a look from Jotaro. It didn't suit him.
"Mr. Jotaro?" Josuke shook him gently. "Mr. Jotaro!" He said a bit louder and shaking him more. Jotaro's eyes snapped open. Star Platinum came next to him and their fist was ready for a fight.
"Whoa whoa!" Josuke held his hands up in surrender summoning Crazy Diamond to do also. "It's me! Josuke Higashikata! I'm not DIO! You're not dreaming!" Please please don't punch me! Josuke pleaded mentally. His hair would get all ruined if Jotaro did! Jotaro visibly relaxed and Star Platinum left the room.
"How much did you hear?" Well that was fast and straight to the point. Nice to know Mr. Jotaro's back. Josuke scratched hte back of his neck nervously.
"Um, until the part where you were telling DIO that you weren't like him?" Josuke was genuinely curious to see why Jotaro would say something like that. He and DIO had nothing in common! If they did, well, Jotaro would have probably killed him by now then! Jotaro grabbed his hat and pulled the rim towards his eyes.
"Yare yare daze." He said in a frustrated tone.
"Mr. Jotaro?" The worst Jotaro would do is punch him in the face and ruin Josuke's hair. But Josuke had a feeling he wouldn't do that. His mom always said to talk to someone when they had a nightmare that way they could see that it was fake all along.
"Why were you saying that you were the same as DIO?" Josuke never knew DIO so he could have no input but he was the villain of the story! The final villain of the video game! How could the hero be the same as the villain?! Jotaro stared blankly at the teen.
"Did the Old Man tell you that DIO could also stop time?" Jotaro asked. Josuke nodded. So what did that have to do with anyt-
"Don't you know that Stands are the manifestation and representation of one's soul?" Jotaro really liked getting straight to the point. But Josuke still didn't get it. Jotaro must have noticed as he said,
"DIO's [The World] and my Star Platinum were almost equal in match. Our range and accuracy were the same. Wouldn't that mean that DIO and I are almost the same? That I let my friends die like that?" Oh. Oh. That's what Jotaro meant.
Well shit.
Now what was he supposed to say?
"Even if you were the same, you chose a different way than DIO." Josuke got reminded of Angelo and what he said about killing. If Josuke killed Angelo, he would be the same as him. Revenge really meant nothing because killing was killing. If Josuke killed Angelo right then and there, Josuke could have never let it down.
"DIO wouldn't have done and saved his Mom or out his trust in his friends. Hell, he wouldn't have come and helped us in hunting down Kira now would he?" The sixteen year old didn't really have that experience to make a long speech so he could only hope that it would have reached Jotaro somehow.
Jotaro was only a year older than him when this all happened to him.
Jotaro leaned on the bedframe crossing his arms deep in thought. Josuke sat criss cross on the carpet waiting for him to speak again.
"I... I guess your right." Jotaro said. He put a hand on his face. "A friend told me the same thing but for some reason, I couldn't really believe him." Josuke wondered who the friend was. It was a feat to be friends with the Jotaro Kujo after all.
Josuke smiled.
"If you need help again, your good ol' Uncle is here to help you!~" He said playfully. Jotaro play punched him.
"Didn't I tell you not to say that?" He said firmly but had a warm smile.
Jotaro had a lot of problems that Crazy Diamond couldn't fix but he was still living. Josuke wanted to help him overcome them.
If you can't fix something completely, you could always use glue to attatch the pieces together again. It may not be perfect but it's whole.