Chapter Text
One final blow and that was it. The rooftops of Cairo returned to an eerie quiet as the streets below blared with sirens. Emerald green waved in the wind along with red hair. The first signs of morning began to creep up the buildings around him. Soon DIO’s body would be dust and everything would be over.
Kakyoin had done it. He had put an end to the Joestar’s century long torment; it was the least he could do, allowing them all to rest easy. Sending out Hierophant to scour the scenes beneath him, Noriaki let out a shaking breath. This wasn’t good. Concrete streets dyed with red surrounded him. Amongst the red; 1, 2, 3 bodies lie. Still. Lifeless. How had it came to this? Entering DIO’s mansion all six of them were sure they would return, Kakyoin lets out a cynical laugh. How wrong they were.
Slumping against the legs of a water tank, Kakyoin looks up at the morning sky. How the hell is he going to get out of this one? Mr. Joestar was the one with the connections to the Speedwagon Foundation, not him. How was he going to contact anyone? Tell them that DIO’s dead and he’s the only surviver. How would he break it to Holly that not only had she lost her father, she had also lost her only son. Slumping over, head in his hands, ‘it should have been me’, Kakyoin thought before blacking out.
‘What the fuck is that noise?’. An incessant beeping pulls Kakyoin out of the depths of sleep.
“Hey Jojo,” he grumbles “Turn off that fucking alarm!”
There’s no response. Grumbling he begins to turn round, ready to wake up the behemoth of a man himself.
“Oi, Jotaro! I said turn it off-” Noriaki bolts up. Jotaro isn’t next to him, he’s on his own in a hospital bed. That beeping isn’t an alarm, it’s a vitals monitor. “FUCK!”
Panic sets into Noriaki’s veins as he starts rapidly detaching himself from the hospital machines. How did he get here? Where even is here? Why was he so stupid! Clinical white lights started to blind him, he needed to contact the Speedwagon Foundation urgently. The room door bursts open as a response to the vitals machine going haywire, two men in white coats try their best to hold him down.
“HIEROPHANT GREEN!”
Constantly in fight or flight mode, Kakyoin doesn’t even give himself the chance to see the “SWF” patches on the men’s coats until he’s suspended them both in the air with his stand’s tendrils. A bizarre cocktail of panic and relief sets into him. On the one hand he doesn’t need to find a way of contacting the foundation, on the other he currently has two of its stand-less doctors resembling bats hanging from a ceiling. Gently putting the men down he apologises,
“I am so sorry, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. The last thing I knew was, I was in Egypt trying to contact you. Then I woke up thinking my dead-” Kakyoin cuts himself off and turns to face the room’s bay window, It looks as though it’s about noon. “Where are we? How long have I been out?”
One of the men steps forward and clears his throat. He’s the smaller of the two and has short black hair that’s perfectly in place except from one stubborn lock. God that looks too familiar for Noriaki’s liking.
“No need to apologise, Kakyoin-san. We completely understand how on edge you must be right now.”
‘how could they possibly understand?’
“Around 4am one morning, police in Cairo became inundated with panicked phone calls from the public, all of them reporting a supposed serial killer. Streets were covered in blood and bodies were littered around a local restaurant and its surrounding areas. Luckily the Speedwagon Foundation caught wind of this before the local police department started dealing with it.” The man paused to take a breath, “There was a SWF helicopter sent to survey the area, that’s where we found you on a rooftop, slumped against a water tower. You were lucky, Kakyoin-san. You were barely alive when they found you, if they had arrived even 5 minutes later I don’t think you would have made it.”
The doctor stops speaking and Kakyoin can feel him staring at him, fruitlessly trying to gauge a reaction from the back of his head. A sour taste fills his mouth. He shouldn’t be here. He should be dead along with his other companions. Along with his only friends.
This time the other doctor pipes up, he has blonde wavy hair and almost towers above Noriaki; another feeling too damn familiar for him. “We’re back in Japan, have been for about 3 weeks. Obviously while the Foundation has a rough idea of what’s happened, they still want to talk to you to help them fill in the gaps.”
“Very well, if that’s the case I want discharged immediately.” Kakyoin states. Both Doctors start to object but he cuts them off, “If my heads not going to fall off then I’m fine. I’ve just spent 50 days hunting an immortal vampire, I think I’ll be ok with a couple of scratches.”
The men look at each other, the shorter of the two sighs. “If that’s what you wish, we can arrange that, on the condition that you come in for weekly checkups.”
“Of course!”, Kakyoin turns around to face the doctors and agrees with a reassuring smile, but he knows he’s never stepping foot in this place again, and so do they.
Being surrounded by the calm streets of Tokyo once more almost feels insulting to Kakyoin, as though the world is making a mockery of what he’s just gone through. Gone are the hustling streets of India and Pakistan. Gone are the never-ending battles in the middle of the blistering desert. Gone is everything from the last month and a half. Gone are his friends, the closest thing he’s ever had to true family. Once again, it’s just him and Hierophant. As Noriaki’s thoughts spiral, he doesn’t even notice his brain’s autopilot until he’s standing in front of the Kujo residence gates. Time stands still, as though DIO has just used The World.
‘What am I doing here? I’ve got some fucking nerve showing up here after everything I failed to do.’ Kakyoin’s thoughts spiral. ‘I am the last person Miss Holly would ever want to see, the same probably goes for Mrs. Joestar too. Imagine losing your husband or your father and son, and the bastard who is partly to do with it just shows up at your door, bold as brass and-’ There’s a thud from the other side of the gate.
“Kakyoin? is that, is that really you?”
All the blood drains from Noriaki’s face. Hell he’s faced a Major Arcana’s worth of stand users and came face to face with death numerous times, yet seeing Holly Kujo stood in front of him, is what knocks him speechless. Ignoring the basket of washing she’s just dropped, the blonde haired woman rushes towards the gate to unlock it.
Noriaki braces himself for a punch, he’s seen first hand her Joestar genes, he knows not to underestimate her strength, but what he doesn’t expect is for her to fling her arms around him. Holly’s on her tiptoes but is giving Noriaki a hug only a true mother is capable of giving. He’s a deer in the headlights.
“It’s ok.”
The two words are whispered in his ear over and over again like a mantra. As though if Holly says it enough, it’ll become true. Noriaki’s motionless, flooded with so much emotion all at once, yet feeling nothing at all. The blonde woman pulls back and forces him to look her in the eye.
“Kakyoin.” she says his name like she’s scolding a child, “It’s OK.”
Something snaps inside of him. Maybe it’s because he’s had the weight of the world on his shoulders for what feels like forever. Maybe it’s because he’s seeing Mrs. Kujo alive and healthy. Maybe it’s because her eyes are the same shade of ultramarine that he hasn’t seen in far too long. Legs giving out, he crumples to the floor before sobs start to rack through him. Kneeling next to him, Holly reassuringly grasps his shoulder,
“Come on, Let’s go inside. I’ll make us some tea.”
Pulling himself together, Noriaki stands up. It bothers him that Holly’s acting almost robotically, but he can think about that later. Right now he needs to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and walking back into the Kujo house. Back to where it all started.
Nothing in the house has changed, to an outsider you would think two people still lived here. The genkan had an untouched pair of slippers situated below a heavy black coat with an obnoxious gold chain. Noriaki keeps his eyes forward, not allowing himself to really think about what he’s seeing, not allowing himself to focus on the coat’s obvious knife sized rips.
Holly hands him a mug of green tea and sits opposite him. They sit in silence for a few minutes, something Noriaki hasn’t had the luxury of doing for a while.
Is he supposed to wait for Mrs. Kujo to break the silence? No that would be rude. She’s invited him into her home, he’s not being a polite houseguest by sitting here not making conversation and slowly sipping the tea he’s been given. He’s making a fool of himself! But what would he even say? ‘Sorry half of your family is dead because of me.’, ‘Sorry I survived but your own son didn’t.’ God, why am I here! I must be the last person Holly would want to be sat across from just now!
Mentally, he puts his head in his hands.
“I can see your brain reeling, Kakyoin.” Holly states in a knowing tone.
Kakyoin looks up, not realising he had been staring at the wooden table, catching her small smile.
“I-, you can?” it was a stupid response but it was all his brain was capable of putting together. Chuckling, Holly sets her mug back down on a coaster.
“Yes, I know you’re sat wondering why on earth I would want you in my home after everything that has happened,” Kakyoin’s stomach drops, “or you’re wondering why it was you who survived the battle, and not Jotaro.” All Kakyoin does is nod his head, he can’t trust himself to open his mouth in case another sob escapes.
“I thought so,” Holly picks up her cup and takes another sip. Setting it back down she starts, “I’ve always been good at reading people. My father had this amazing ability where he could predict someone’s next sentence before they said it! It was his party trick but I guess intuition must be one of the many bizarre Joestar genes.” Although she’s smiling, Noriaki can see a small glimpse of sadness across her features.
“Jotaro was terrible for internalising things. He wasn’t a man of many words as you know so I guess it’s a blessing I was gifted with good intuition.”
He’s aware he’s just staring at Holly, not saying anything back, but Kakyoin’s brain is stuttering at the use of the past tense. It makes it all too real. Staring at the contents of his cup, Kakyoin finally manages to say something.
“How are you feeling now, Miss Holly?” his voice is meek and he knows his subject change is obvious, but at this point he finds it hard to care. He just needs to talk about something in the present tense.
“I’m much better now, Kakyoin. Thank you for asking.” She’s smiling at him. She does look much better, like the woman, no mother, who brought him some first aid supplies when his flesh bud was removed by- nope, not finishing that thought.
“You know Kakyoin, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.” Noriaki’s attention is grabbed by that, “You wonder why I’ve not spat in your face and thrown you out, but I’ve been given a second chance at life because of you.” He’d never thought of it like that.
“But, surely you would rather it be your son who was sat across from you right now? Surely you would rather he was the one who granted you another shot at life?” Kakyoin didn’t mean to say it out loud, he more so meant it to be a thought he would ponder over for days to come.
“Hmmm,” Holly’s look turns pensive for the first time and Noriaki’s ready to bolt. She looks at him, cerulean eyes staring at him with such intensity he begins to feel claustrophobic. “That’s a very tough question to answer. I know that you know I would love Jotaro to be physically sat at this table with me, but I can’t change fate. I can’t create a reality where he is sat with me, and I need to come to terms with that, so do you.” Noriaki feels like he’s being scolded, but he knows Holly just has his best interest at heart.
“If I was sat here, drinking tea with Jojo, I wouldn’t like that reality either.”
Kakyoin prides himself on being an intellectual man, but he has absolutely no idea what Holly means, “I’m sorry if this comes across as insensitive but, why wouldn’t you like a reality where you were sat with your family rather than me?” He’s aware he’s looking at her like a rabbit in headlights, but he’s genuinely perplexed by her statement.
Warmly smiling at him, she places her hand over his. “Well, because if I was sat here with Jojo, that would mean you would have taken his place in this reality.”
He can’t stop the tears spilling from his eyes, it would be futile to try to anyway. Holly’s looking at him with so much sincerity and compassion, looking at him like he’s her own son. He’s been selfish to think only about himself, he hasn’t stopped to think about how lonely Holly must be too.
They’re both messes, neither of them need to say anything to understand how the other is feeling, and Noriaki likes that. Trying to put together a simple sentence would be akin to rocket science for him right now. The rest of the tea in the pot has gone cold, so when they’re finished Kakyoin takes the cups to the sink and starts washing up, contrary to Holly’s objections. He’s in the middle of drying them when there’s a knock at the door.
Always on edge, Kakyoin continues his task but calls forth Hierophant and has him trail behind an unknowing Holly as she makes her way to answer the front door, just in case.
He dismisses his stand when Holly walks back into the kitchen, followed by a man holding a briefcase with SWF printed on the front. At least this time he’s avoided attacking another innocent foundation worker.
Although he already knew why the man was here, he faced him with a smile and asked, “To what do we owe the pleasure?” hoping it sounded lighthearted.
“Ah, I was hoping you would be here Kakyoin-san” The man responded in a gravely voice. Interesting, Kakyoin didn’t expect him to sound like that based off of his appearance; the man’s a little scrawny looking and has curly chestnut hair, but he should know better than to make assumptions.
“I was told by the doctors at the hospital you were discharged earlier this afternoon, they didn’t know where you had gone but one of them noticed you started in the direction of the Kujo house, and here you are!”
“Here I am.” he mused back. “I’m guessing you’re not here for a pleasant chit-chat with me and Miss holly are you?”
“Unfortunately not,” the smaller man states matter of factly, “The foundation needs you to help fill in the gaps about what happened in Cairo. We obviously have the very basics, but I imagine they’re only the tip of the ice berg.”
“Very well,” Kakyoin sits down and motions for the foundation worker to follow suit. “Where do you want me to begin?”