Work Text:
It wasn't supposed to rain. Especially not this hard.
Jotaro stood under the awning that covered the entrance of his workplace, agape at the massive downpour that had picked up. He had only taken out the trash a little under an hour ago, when the rain was but a slight drizzle, and now, there was no way he was going to get home without all of his clothes and belongings getting soaked through. Especially since he had neither a raincoat nor an umbrella. Just the hat and jacket of his school uniform. He pulled down the brim of his hat, took a deep breath, and cursed under his breath before stepping out into the downpour.
As he started down the street on his usual route home, Jotaro felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He ducked into the doorway of the nearest building and pulled his phone out of his pocket to find a text from Kakyoin.
nori: hey man, you off work? was gonna ask if you wanted to come over. totally cool if you can't though
Jotaro had never been more thankful for an invitation from his friend. Kakyoin's house was much closer than his, anyway, but would still require walking through the downpour. He typed out a response before setting off again.
On my way now if that's okay.
Just five more minutes, and then I'll be inside and dry. Jotaro nearly stopped dead in his tracks at that thought. He realized that he didn't have any dry clothes. What the hell was he going to do now? His house was at least ten minutes away from Kakyoin's, and even if he did stop at home to get some dry clothes, there was no way he was going to get back out in this weather to go visit the redhead. Letting out a huff, he pulled the collar of his jacket up higher, shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, and picked up his pace. He could feel the rain dripping off the brim of his hat and hitting his face. The front of his shirt and the bottoms of his pants were completely soaked. The sneakers he wore for work were nearly ruined from all the water, and his socks squished every time he took a step. Thank God that he was about to round the corner onto Kakyoin's street, otherwise he might have had a small pond in each of his shoes by the time he got home. His heart did a small flip when he walked up the drive to the doorway; his friend was standing by the window, watching for him. A pang of anxiety shot through Jotaro as he stepped onto the front porch; he had been here so many times before, what reason did he have to be nervous now?
Jotaro raised his fist to knock on the door, but couldn't even get a single knock in before the door hurriedly swung open. Kakyoin looked Jotaro up and down, his brow furrowed. He let out a small chuckle and cocked his head to the side. "Did you not know that it was supposed to rain today?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the soaked man standing on his doorstep.
"No, and I don't need you to lecture me on it either. Will you let me in already?" Jotaro was starting to shiver, but he wasn't going to stand there and complain about it. Kakyoin moved aside so that he could enter the house. He was dripping water everywhere, and didn't know what he could do about it. He hated coming here on such short notice and, on top of that, making a mess all over his friend's floor.
"Stay there, don't move." Kakyoin darted down the hallway, probably to the bathroom, Jotaro presumed. He stood there, shivering, gazing at the various photographs and paintings that adorned the walls of the sitting room. He had been here so many times before, and yet never took the opportunity to look around, since he was always dead-set on getting to Kakyoin's room as soon as possible because his parents were fucking scary. He hadn't seen their car in the driveway, nor had he heard their voices in any of the nearby rooms, so maybe they weren't here? Jotaro's cheeks flushed, though they were already red from the cold. He never got to spend time alone with his friend; even when they were able to be by themselves in either his room or Kakyoin's room, one of their nosy-ass parents always had to check on them every fifteen minutes, sometimes less. His thoughts were interrupted by Kakyoin speed-walking down the hall with a large towel and what seemed to be a small pile of clothes in his arms.
"I came straight here from work, so I don't have any dry clothes-" Jotaro could barely finish his sentence before Kakyoin tossed the towel right at his face, which ended up knocking his waterlogged hat off his head.
"Start drying off out here. I'll leave the dry clothes on the table, and they should fit you, but let me know if they don't and I'll get you something else," At this point, Kakyoin realized that he was rambling. He took a deep breath and continued. "Just leave all your wet things on the floor and I'll take care of it after you change. Which I will be in my room for. You changing, I mean." His cheeks flushed, and he turned and started down the hallway to his room.
Jotaro stood there for a moment, confused as to why Kakyoin was acting so... off. He was never this awkward around him. Maybe he was just stressed about something? Who knows with him, Jotaro thought to himself. He began peeling his wet clothes off, starting with his socks and shoes. As he unbuttoned his pants, he silently hoped that his underwear hadn't gotten soaked too. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found that his boxers were indeed dry, and then finished taking off the wet clothes and began to dry off. After laying the towel across his shoulders, he inspected the pile of clothes that the redhead had laid out for him. Surprisingly, it was all his size... then again, Kakyoin did like to wear baggier clothes while he was at home, especially following his injury from a few months ago--it left a massive scar that he had grown to be fairly insecure about--and they weren't too far off from wearing the same size clothes anyway. He laid the towel on the ground, grabbed the plain gray t-shirt and put it on, followed by the black sweatpants. He started to walk down the hallway to Kakyoin's room, then stopped. Jotaro felt bad just leaving his wet things on the floor, so he went back, placed everything except his hat and shoes on the towel, placed his phone in the pocket of his shorts, picked up the soaked bundle, and made his way to Kakyoin's room.
The door to Kakyoin's room was slightly cracked, and from where Jotaro was standing, he could see the redhead sitting criss-crossed on the end of his bed, hunched over and mindlessly scrolling on his phone. Jotaro noticed that Kakyoin was idly playing with his hair, and quickly pushed the thought of wanting to run his fingers through it out of his mind. Friends don't do that. He would think that I'm weird, or something. He knocked softly before pushing the door open. Kakyoin's head raised up to meet his friend's eyes.
"Oh, you could have left your clothes at the door-"
"I didn't want to just leave them there, they're soaking wet," Jotaro interrupted, moving to pull his hat over his eyes, then realizing that it wasn't on his head, but rather laying at the front door. Instead, he cast his eyes downward. Kakyoin pushed himself off of the bed and held out his arms.
"I've got it. Just make yourself at home." Jotaro reluctantly set his wet clothes in Kakyoin's arms, and after the redhead left the room, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mortified that his friend was having to handle his clothes. He took a seat on the floor and leaned against Kakyoin's bed, then pulled out his phone to text his mom.
Hey mom, I'm at Nori's house. I'm safe and out of the rain. Wanted to update you. Love you.
Jotaro set his phone on the floor and laid his head back, ignoring the vibration that let him know that Holly had immediately responded. Between working all day and speed-walking through the rain all the way to Kakyoin's house, he was exhausted. He rolled his head to the left and glanced out the window; it was still pouring, but he could tell that it was going to get dark soon. Staying over at his friend's house for the night was an option, one that he secretly hoped would pan out, yet wasn't sure if the other boy felt the same way. Jotaro and Kakyoin had been growing closer over the past few months, even more so now that school was out for the summer and they both had time to actually see each other. The dark-haired boy had more recently found himself looking for any excuse possible to hang out with the redhead, but merely chalked it up to the fact that they were best friends, in lieu of coming to terms with the real reason he wanted to spend time with the other boy. Jotaro began to doze off, the exhaustion beginning to set in.
In the laundry room, Kakyoin had just started up the washing machine. He shut the lid and let out a sigh, the release of his pent-up anxiety masked by the sound of water filling up the chamber. How are you already going to make a fool out of yourself within the first five minutes that he's here? Get it together, Noriaki. His crush on Jotaro had already been festering for a couple of months, and yet he was too scared to act upon it. What if Jotaro didn't feel the same way? Was he really going to risk losing his first and closest friend over some stupid feelings that probably weren't reciprocated? Kakyoin ran his hand across the back of his neck, took a deep breath, and returned to his room.
When he got back, he saw that Jotaro had fallen asleep against the side of his bed, but was immediately woken up by the sound of the door creaking open. Jotaro raised his head off of the bed to look at Kakyoin, his eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Hey," he said groggily, slowly getting to his feet and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Kakyoin's cheeks turned pink. Shit, he's cute when he's sleepy, he thought to himself.
"I know you're tired, but since it's still pretty early, I was hoping we could play some Mario Kart? I'm in the mood to kick some ass," grinned Kakyoin, already on his way to turn on the TV and game console.
As tired as Jotaro was, he couldn't pass up some friendly competition. "Bring it on, asshole."
"Dude, what the fuck?!" The two of them were sitting side-by-side on the floor, both hunched over and focused on the screen in front of them. Kakyoin's racer had just been hit by a blue shell, which in turn let Jotaro's racer pass him. The dark-haired boy let out a triumphant laugh, and the redhead in turn smacked his shoulder with the back of his hand. Jotaro had just taken first place (something that hardly ever happens) and Kakyoin was pissed. And yet, he couldn't help but grin at Jotaro's success--which was soon to be short-lived--and how excited he was about it.
As they rounded the corner of the final lap, Kakyoin, in second place, finally used the red shell that he had strategically saved for this moment. It made contact with Jotaro's racer, and Kakyoin passed him and crossed the finish line, letting out a whoop of victory while doing so. This was the seventh consecutive race that he had won--Jotaro got very lucky in the first race, since Kakyoin had been literally bombarded by items by the computer players for a good ten seconds of the race--and while he could keep playing all night, he glanced over at the other boy, who was starting to get fidgety (a sign that his social battery was running low).
"You seem ready to call it quits," said Kakyoin, bumping his knee against Jotaro's.
"Oh, um, sure. Doesn't really matter to me," Jotaro replied. He was getting fidgety, yes, but it didn't have anything to do with his social battery. He met the other boy's eyes, refusing to look down where their knees had made contact. His skin felt like it was on fire from that one simple touch. Why did he want more? He knew why, but also knew that he couldn't say anything about it.
"Okay, um, we could at least check on the weather? If it's still pouring, you can always, uh, stay the night here if you want to," Kakyoin refused to break the eye contact that the two of them were holding; it was a rare moment, given the fact that Jotaro did not make eye contact with people unless he had to. In order to not make it weird, though, he stood and went over to his window, pulling back the curtains to peer outside. Just as he suspected, the storm had not let up, and it was much too late to ask Miss Holly to come pick Jotaro up.
"That would... actually be nice. If you're fine with it, of course, I don't want to be any trouble." Jotaro started messing with the joystick on the controller, now extremely nervous. As many times as he had visited Kakyoin, he had never stayed overnight. He glanced up at Kakyoin, who was still peering outside the window; what Jotaro didn't know was that his friend was doing his best to hide his elation as well as his anxiety.
"No, no, you're not any trouble at all!" Kakyoin suddenly whipped around, his cheeks glowing bright red. "I-I'd love for you to spend the night."
Jotaro's heart did a flip. He watched his friend rake his fingers through his own hair, and a glimpse of a smile crept onto his face. Kakyoin moved away from the window and began to power down the TV and game console. He walked over to Jotaro and held out his hand, silently asking for the controller that the dark-haired boy was still holding. Jotaro met his eyes, and set it in Kakyoin's palm, his hand lingering against the other's for a moment too long. As he let go, he let his fingers brush against the redhead's before folding his hands and setting them in his lap. Kakyoin simply stoof there for a moment, astonished. The other boy's cheeks flushed, and he couldn't bring himself to meet the violet eyes of his friend. He heard Kakyoin set the controllers on the TV stand, and then flop onto his bed with a sigh.
The two boys sat in silence for a few minutes, not knowing what to say to each other after that small bout of tension, yet both of their minds were racing. Jotaro didn't know what this feeling was, nor why he was compelled to intentionally brush hands with his friend. Kakyoin, on the other hand, was trying to come up with a way to 1) confess his feelings to Jotaro, and 2) figure out if his friend even liked him back. Surely that brief moment of physical contact wasn't a fluke, right? Surely it was intentional, and yet it threw Kakyoin completely off guard. He let out another sigh and sat up on his bed, crossing his legs.
"Hey, you ready to go to sleep? You look exhausted."
Jotaro turned around to face Kakyoin, finally looking him in the eyes. "Yeah, that's fine."
"Okay. Um, there's plenty of room in my bed, if you're comfortable with that, but otherwise you can sleep on the couch or on my floor. It's up to you."
"I think I'll sleep on the floor in here," Jotaro said instinctively. There was no way that he'd be able to get any rest with sleeping in the same bed as Nori, and he was sure that the same could be said for the other boy. Kakyoin smiled and gave a quick nod.
"I'll go grab some pillows and blankets for you." He quickly left the room to grab some extra pillows and blankets from the laundry room, also taking a minute to calm himself down. When he returned, Jotaro was on his phone, presumably updating his mom on the current situation. Kakyoin began to lay out the blankets and pillows for Jotaro, when the other boy finally spoke.
"My mom said she's fine with me staying here. And she wanted me to tell you hi." Jotaro rolled his eyes at his mom's request, but Kakyoin noticed a hint of a smile creeping across his lips. He knew that Jotaro really did care about Miss Holly, even if he was reluctant to show that to others. He finished setting up Jotaro's sleeping arrangements, and sat back against the bed right beside the other boy; Kakyoin didn't realize how close he had sat to Jotaro--their sides were touching and it would be so easy for him to just lay his head on Jotaro's shoulder--but he didn't mind. He only hoped that his friend wouldn't mind either. They sat in silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other's company.
"Hey, Noriaki?" Jotaro spoke softly.
Kakyoin's breath hitched. It wasn't too often that Jotaro called him by his first name, but it still caught him off guard every time. It was such a special thing to him, to hear the boy he cared about so much drop the formalities every so often. He exhaled the breath he had been holding, and turned his head to face his friend.
"Yeah, Jotaro?"
The other boy did not meet Kakyoin's eyes. He messed with the seam on the hem of his shorts and swallowed. Then, he lifted his trembling hand and gently set it on Kakyoin's thigh. Jotaro spoke in a more hushed tone than he had before.
"Thank you... for- um, for taking care of me earlier. You, um, didn't have to do that." Jotaro finally looked up at his friend, their gazes locked.
Kakyoin was completely taken aback by such a blatant show of gratitude and even physicality from the stoic, reserved boy. Maybe... maybe Jotaro actually did have feelings for him? His eyes traveled down to where the other boy's hand was resting upon his thigh. Kakyoin's eyes darted back up to meet the other's, and he slowly moved his hand to rest it atop Jotaro's, but the dark-haired boy's eyes shot downward, and once he realized what Kakyoin was trying to do, he pulled his own hand back into his lap. It wasn't out of rejection, but out of fear. He didn't want to risk messing up something that was already so good.
"Well... I guess we should go to bed," Kakyoin mumbled. He tried not to sound disappointed, although he was. At the same time though, how could he resent his friend for not wanting that physicality reciprocated, when he didn't even know if the feelings were mutual? That's so selfish of me, he thought.
Jotaro curtly nodded, and scooted over to where Noriaki had set up a makeshift bed for him. The redhead stood, pulled back the blankets, and turned off the lamp before crawling into bed.
"Goodnight, Jotaro."
"Goodnight, Kakyoin."
A pang of sadness pierced through Kakyoin. Back to the formalities, huh? You really fucked this one up, Noriaki.
The boys laid in silence for what seemed like forever. Both were laying on their backs, not daring to look at or speak to each other. Both of their minds were racing, their hearts pounding. Neither one could get comfortable enough to fall asleep, not with the amount of confusion and tension that needed to be cleared up. Finally, Kakyoin broke the silence.
"Jotaro?"
"Yeah?"
"I can't sleep."
"Me either."
Kakyoin chuckled. "Well, maybe we could talk for a bit. It might help us get tired."
"Yeah, sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know. What if we played 20 Questions? I know it's stupid and something that kids do-"
"Hey, I don't give a shit what we do. Just-" Jotaro sighed. "Just talk to me."
Kakyoin folded his hands behind his head and sighed. "Okay. I can go first. What's your favorite color?"
"You would guess black, since that's mostly all I wear, but it's actually purple. And you?"
"Take a wild guess." Kakyoin smirked. Jotaro already knew that his favorite color was green, so there was no point in asking.
He was then greeted by a pillow smacking his face. Kakyoin sat up quickly, grabbing the pillow and launching it back at the other boy. He then laid back down on his side in order to face Jotaro, who was now sitting upright.
"Yeah, okay, jackass. My turn."
The two kept asking questions back and forth, eventually losing count. They asked about each other's favorite animal, least favorite food, biggest fear, among other seemingly pointless topics, gradually opening up to each other and presenting a sort of comfort and vulnerability that neither had shown to the other before.
"Okay, okay, my turn," Kakyoin said, after recovering from a bout of laughter that the two of them had. "What was your first impression of me?"
Jotaro leaned back onto his arms and slightly tilted his head back, thinking deeply about their first meeting.
"Well, if I'm being honest, you came across as this nerdy, quiet artist type. You never really talked to anyone. Which, don't get me wrong, isn't a bad thing. You just seemed like someone who..." he trailed off.
"Go on."
"You seemed like someone who would never want to be associated with me."
Kakyoin was so taken aback that he began to ramble. "Wait, what? Jotaro, I thought the same thing about you! You usually keep to yourself and yet you are just so cool and I was always so scared to talk to you. You're really fucking intimidating, you know that, right? You're someone who all these girls just constantly fawn over, and I- and I thought I could never compete with them!" As soon as that last sentence was said, Kakyoin immediately shut his mouth and looked down at his lap. What the fuck is wrong with me, did I just out myself to him?!
The room grew deathly silent in that instant. About a minute later, Jotaro spoke.
"My turn. Can I sit up there with you?"
Kakyoin nodded, but did not raise his head. Embarrassment was clouding his thoughts. Jotaro climbed up onto the bed and sat himself directly in front of his friend.
"It's my turn, isn't it?" Kakyoin glanced up at Jotaro. Although they were in the dark, the glow of the streetlights shone through the window and illuminated part of Jotaro's face; he was blushing.
"Yeah."
Kakyoin took a deep breath, and sharply exhaled.
"And what do you think of me now?"
Jotaro paused. "I think that you're my best friend."
That's it?
He shifted and looked away from Kakyoin. Something's bothering him, the redhead thought.
"How do you feel-" Jotaro stopped himself. He couldn't ask that yet. "What do you think about me?"
"You want me to be honest?"
The dark-haired boy nodded, finally turning his head to look at his friend once more. Kakyoin wrung his hands together and begun to speak slowly, careful to not unpack too much of how he truly felt about Jotaro.
"Well... I'm really glad that we became friends. These past few months have really been incredible. I... I find myself looking for any excuse I can to spend time with you. I'm not sure when that started, but I don't regret it. I never really had friends growing up, and yet you--of all people, you--are now the person that I cherish most. Somehow you've come into my life and just... turned it on its head. And despite everything, despite Egypt, despite my injuries, I wouldn't trade it for anything. You mean that much to me."
Well, he was in too deep now. No turning back.
"A lot of times, I find myself thinking about you. Isn't that weird?" Jotaro did not respond; he was thinking No, it's not. I do the same thing. But words failed him in this moment.
Kakyoin glanced down at his own lap and continued, speaking softly. "I think about how good I feel when we have these fleeting moments of contact. A brush of our hands, you bumping my shoulder when I say something stupid-" Jotaro chuckled. "Your hand on my leg earlier..."
Four words, Noriaki. Say them. 'I like you, Jotaro', the thought kept racing through Kakyoin's mind, but it wouldn't leave his mouth.
"I think that your eyes are the most striking thing about you." He hesitated, then brought his hand up to Jotaro's cheek, gently resting it there. The other boy flinched, then relaxed into the touch. "There's so much behind them. Dedication, kindness... sadness too."
He started to put the hand that was touching Jotaro's face back in his lap, but before he could, Jotaro quickly grabbed it and laced their fingers together. Kakyoin's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. Was this really happening? He felt like he was in a dream.
"Jotaro, I know it's my turn to ask a question but I'm forfeiting my turn."
"W-what?"
"Ask me what you were going to ask a few minutes ago."
Jotaro gulped and looked down. He had to ask. He couldn't put it off any longer. He needed answers and so did Nori.
"How- how do you feel about me?"
Kakyoin smiled.
"I like you, Jotaro Kujo. I have for a while, I just could never find the right moment to tell you. Plus... I was scared that you didn't feel the same way. But now-"
Jotaro leaned closer. Their faces were only inches apart now.
"Nori."
Kakyoin couldn't stop his eyes from staring at the other boy's lips.
"Jotaro?"
His eyes traveled to Kakyoin's lips as well.
"Your turn."
A heavy wave of silence washed across the room for a moment.
"Can I kiss you?"
"Yes, you ca-"
Kakyoin didn't let him finish. In an instant, his arms were wrapped around Jotaro's neck, and Jotaro buried his hands in Kakyoin's soft, red hair. Their lips crashed together, and it was frantic, messy, wonderful. Finally, their first kiss. They held their embrace, only breaking apart to bring their lips together once again. It soon devolved into something more tender. Their kisses were soft, full of tenderness, and laced with thoughts of Please don't let me go. Eventually, they broke their embrace and simply looked at each other; both boys were breathing heavily and their cheeks were flushed.
"So... what now?" Jotaro piped up. Kakyoin grinned and ruffled the other boy's curls.
"I say we figure that out tomorrow. We're both tired."
"Noriaki, I have one more question."
"Yeah?"
"Can I sleep in your bed with you?"
Kakyoin nodded and pulled back the blankets to let Jotaro in. The two boys got settled in, and Jotaro wrapped an arm around the other's side and kissed his cheek. Now that the looming cloud of tension had dissipated, surely they'd have a much easier time getting to sleep than before.
"Goodnight, Noriaki."
"Goodnight, Jotaro."