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17 (PRE DIO FIGHT)
Jotaro doesn’t know how to deal with feelings. He’s bad at expressing himself and he hates to talk about his emotions, but he knows he likes Kakyoin and he knows he’s got to tell him before they finally battle with Dio, because who knows what will happen?
Noriaki is mentally preparing himself to confess his feelings to Jotaro, knowing that if Jotaro feels the same he will more than likely not say anything, so it’s up to him. He has to do this before Dio, because he’s planning to put his all into this battle and if he dies in the process without telling Jotaro, he would not have done everything he wanted to do.
It’s one chilly night that they both finally go for it. Jotaro is on the balcony of their shared room, blowing smoke into the air that bites at his nose and ears, reddening them.
Noriaki is sitting on his bed, trying to work up the courage to tell him. It’s just them, it’s quiet, they’ve already defeated the stand user around here so they needn’t worry for a while, at least. It’s perfect.
Funnily, it’s Jotaro who speaks up first, his voice oddly low.
“Kakyoin. I can tell you have something you want to say, so spit it out. Are you actually still working for Dio or something?” He doesn’t bother to look over, and then a second later there’s more smoke being breathed into the air.
“What?! No! I would never willingly work for- no. Sorry for yelling. I just…”
The rustling of cloth tells Jotaro that his companion is standing up, and soon he is joined on the balcony.
Still not looking at him, Jotaro takes another drag of his cigarette and then mumbles “nice night.”
“Hmm. Jotaro, can you look at me? Put out that damned cigarette too.”
Reluctantly, the taller man put out his cigarette, and turned his gaze to Kakyoin, the beautiful man who he had fallen stupidly in love with over such a short amount of time.
“Jotaro, I… I have to say this before we fight Dio because if I die without telling you this I won’t have accomplished all of my goals for this trip. So don’t talk, kay? Just listen.”
“Just say it, damn.”
“Hush. Look. I’m just gonna… I’m in love with you, Jotaro. I’ve fallen hard and I understand if you don’t feel the same but I couldn’t die with my feelings being a secret, I’ve kept so much hidden for so long and I-“
“Shut up! Goddamnit Kakyoin. You’re not going to die so stop speaking like you are, idiot. I’m… geez, I’m in love with you too. I was going to tell you tomorrow morning.”
“What…? Are you for real? You love me back. Like actually. This isn’t some stupid joke that-“
His voice cut off. He was being pulled closer to Jotaro by the collar of his uniform.
“Shut the fuck up, idiot.”
Jotaro smashed his lips onto his, effectively shutting him up.
And Kakyoin kissed back.
17 (POST DIO FIGHT)
Jotaro’s head was reeling. Kakyoin was dead- no. Not dead but close to it. What if he died. He couldn’t lose him.
He couldn’t help the tears that spilled down his cheeks, the broken sobs that ripped through him, the way his shoulders shook as he hugged his coat closer to his body, trying anything to comfort himself.
He loved Kakyoin so much. It hadn’t been long since they’d made their whole thing official but he could confidently say he was the one. So this hurt, more than anything.
All his friends and his gramps were hurt. But Nori was hurt the worst.
His breaths started to get short and he staggered back against the hospital wall, sliding down it and also into a full blown panic attack.
Joseph came out of the room Avdol was being monitored in at this moment, and he stopped short at the sight of his usually calm and collected grandson sobbing and hyperventilating on the hospital floor.
“Oh my god! Jotaro?!”
“F-fuck off gramps!” Jotaro choked out.
There was a pause.
Then Joseph was sitting beside him, and just sat there until the panic attack subsided.
The silence is broken.
“I know how you feel, Jotaro. Its hard. But you have a chance that he’ll survive, I didn’t get that blessing.”
Another pause. Jotaro was still crying, but less.
“…what?”
“Did I never tell you about Caesar? He was my first love, and the only boyfriend I’ve ever had.”
“Boyfriend. You had a boyfriend. You’re…?”
“Bisexual. Yes. Anyway, I met Caesar in 1938. We actually hated each other at first, but we eventually warmed up and started a romantic relationship pretty much immediately after. He was… he was my light, my sunshine. My Caesarino.”
“…okay… and then what?”
“He… we had this stupid fight one day, I said some stuff I shouldn’t have said and he got upset. Went off to try and battle our enemy alone… He…”
Joseph’s eyes filled with tears that he blinked back before continuing.
“He got killed. Crushed… he died immediately, and my only wish is that I had followed him straight after he stormed off, maybe I could have saved him.”
Jotaro looked down at his shaking hands.
“So you’re saying I’m lucky, because mine can be saved.”
“Sort of. But I’m also saying you’re lucky, because even if he doesn’t make it, not that I’m saying he won’t! But IF… you get to tell him you love him, one last time.”
Footsteps interrupted their moment of sentiment.
“Mr Joestar? Mr Kujo?” A soft woman’s voice made them both look up.
It was a doctor, clutching a clipboard tightly.
“Mr Kakyoin will be… okay. After a while. He’s been given the best care possible, courtesy of The Speedwagon Foundation.”
“After a while? Only okay? When can we see him?” Jotaro’s questions came out more desperate than he intended.
“He’s been put into a medically induced coma. He will live, but his future will involve a lot of pain, he’ll be on medication for the rest of his life. Medical checkups every month, he’ll have to use a cane, or a wheelchair depending on how bad his pain gets. So while he can still have a somewhat normal life, it will be a never-ending medical hell.”
“Oh.. I.. So he’ll be in pain.. forever?”
“Yes, unfortunately. Anyway, you can see him now. He’s stable enough.”
Jotaro felt his tears start again.
Noriaki was going to live the rest of his life in pain, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He felt sick.
18, 19(It goes downhill)
Jotaro was going to university. In America. Without Kakyoin, who would be staying behind to go to a university better accessible for him.
The goodbye was bittersweet, ending with the both of them sobbing and promising to keep in contact no matter what.
Kakyoin didn’t leave his room for days afterwards.
At first, they called every single day for hours on end.
Then it dwindled down to every other day, then once a week.
Then one day it stopped, and Jotaro texted him something that sliced through him like an ice cold blade, shattering his heart in the process.
“This isn’t working. We should break up.”
Yet again, he didn’t leave his room for days.
On Jotaro’s side of things, he felt awful. He adored Noriaki but seeing him, and hearing him, in so much pain, hurt him.
He didn’t want to hurt him more by not coming back to Japan, or simply having his existence closely connected with Kakyoin’s.
He thought just- running… would be the best option. Stupid boy.
20, 21 (and it gets worse)
Kakyoin got a letter, his name written on the front in a scratchy italic he knew so well.
From Jotaro.
What the fuck. They haven’t spoken since the sudden breakup when they were 19. And now he’s getting a letter.
He’s crying before he even opens it, because he never truly got over Jotaro. That love would never go away.
He rips it open, not knowing what to expect. An apology? A request to start over? A letter telling him he’s coming ro visit? A…
A wedding invitation.
Jotaro Kujo and Taylor Russo, to be married July of that year. In Japan. At the Kujo residence.
He was invited to his ex boyfriends wedding.
After two years of not talking.
He ripped up the invitation, because fuck that. Fuck him. Stupid asshole.
21 (July, Noriaki’s new least favourite month)
Kakyoin actually showed up to the wedding. For Holly, because she asked him to come and he actually liked Holly.
It was one of his bad days, unfortunately.
So he arrived in his wheelchair, and the first person he saw was Jotaro. And when Jotaro saw him, he felt his breath catch in his throat.
He was so, so beautiful. How did he manage to get so much more attractive?
“Kakyoin… You came?”
His heart skipped, he hadn’t heard that voice in so long.
He tried to speak but no words came out, so he just nodded.
“…bad day?”
Another nod.
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d want to see me after…”
Finally, words came.
“I’m here for Holly. Because she didn’t abandon me, and then rip my heart out over text. But congratulations.”
He wheeled himself inside, and went to find the only people he could stand. Holly and probably Joseph.
What he didn’t expect, is for Polnareff and Avdol to be there, holding hands and talking enthusiastically to them already.
Holly noticed him first, and smiled brightly.
“Oh! Noriaki! You came, how lovely!” She rushed over to him and showered his face in kisses.
Chuckling, he said “anything for you, Mrs Kujo.” Then turned his attention towards the other three men.
“Mr Joestar! Good to see you! Avdol, Polnareff! It’s nice to see that you finally got over yourselves and confessed your feelings, I mean how much more obvious could you have been already?” he grinned cheekily.
“I would punch you if you weren’t in that wheelchair.” Polnareff remarked, but he was smiling as he said it.
“Jean and I are engaged.” Avdol looked down at Noriaki.
“Engaged? Since when?”
“A month ago. Considering we’ve been together three years, we thought it was finally time.”
“I see. Congratulations!” Kakyoin patted their arms, a weak attempt to give them some form of physical affection that wasn’t an uncomfortably formal handshake.
Three hours later, the wedding is over and all Kakyoin can do is watch Jotaro as he converses with guests, his new wife clinging to his arm.
He could have sworn he saw Jotaro staring at him too with a sad smile on his lips, multiple times.
When he got home, he cried.
22, 23, 24 (and then things start looking up again)
Jotaro is back in Japan.
He comes back when Noriaki is at the Kujo residence, having tea with Holly, a suitcase being dragged behind him.
“Mom, I’m- oh.”
“Hello there my darling! I’m so glad to see you got here safely!” Holly jumps up and gives her son a big warm hug, that he actually accepts.
“Why.. is Jotaro here?” Kakyoin pipes up.
“You didn’t tell him?”
“It’s your business, Jotaro.”
“Right.. uh.. Kakyoin, Taylor and I divorced. We uh.. decided it was for the best.. while Jolyne is still young, yknow? I’ve come to stay with mom to a bit to… have some downtime before I move.”
“Who’s Jolyne?” Another question from Kakyoin.
“You didn’t tell him about your grand-daughter?” Jotaro looked at his mom incredulously.
“YOU HAD A KID?”
“…clearly not.”
24 (Two months after the divorce is finalised)
Jotaro is on a late walk, smoking.
Kakyoin is in the park he’s walking in, painting the night-time scenery, when Jotaro spots him.
Noriaki is alerted of his presence when he sits down nearby, keeping his eyes on the pond that was currently being painted by the redhead.
Uncomfortable quiet. Smoke floating through the air.
Together, alone. On a cold night. Just like that day 8 years ago.
“I’m sorry about how I left you. At the time, I thought it would be best.”
What? That came out of nowhere.
“BEST? You thought it would be best to break my heart then never contact me again.”
“I was scared of hurting you.”
“Yeah, because that didn’t hurt me at all.” Kakyoins voice was cold.
“I was an idiot. I didn’t think, I thought I was protecting you from the insanely bad luck connected to my bloodline. Plus, I couldn’t bear to see and hear you in pain anymore.”
“So you left. Wow.”
“I really am sorry. I never stopped loving you… I… that’s why Taylor and I divorced. Because I didn’t love her the way I loved- love- you.”
“It’s been five years. You can’t mean that.”
“Five years, I still love you, after all this time. This isn’t a joke.”
Kakyoins paintbrush fell from his suddenly weak fingers, as he just stared at Jotaro.
He meant it. He still loved him. His only love, the one person he’d never be able to stop loving.
His legs moved before he could stop and think about the pain it would cause without his cane.
He tripped, and fell. Into Jotaro’s ready arms. Still as warm and welcoming as they had been the last time they had been around him.
And suddenly, there were his lips. Still as soft as the first time they had kissed, eight years ago.
And while Noriaki still hadn’t forgiven Jotaro, this was a step in the right direction, something he’d wanted so desperately for so long.
He had his JoJo back, and for a second, he forgot the pain.
25, 26 (and it keeps getting brighter)
The next two years are spent trying to figure things out. Moving Noriaki to Florida, making their house accessible and easy for him to get around. Arranging for a SWF doctor to be stationed at the local hospital. Meeting Jolyne, and getting used to their new lives and routines in an old relationship.
It’s on the 18th of October that Jotaro proposes, on another chilly evening with just the two of them alone, on a balcony overlooking the sea.
A simple proposal. Yet something so special to the both of them.
“Nori. It was a night like this, nine years ago, that I first told you I love you. A night like this, two years ago, that I told you I still love you, and now I’m going to tell you that I will never stop loving you. For as long as I live, I want to spend nights like this in your arms, or with you in mine. So, would you do me the honour of being my husband?”
All Noriaki could do was nod, tears streaming down his cheeks as he smiled.
Oh, how he loved this man.
27, 28 (and now the sun shines above us, brighter than ever)
Settling on ten, almost eleven years later, they are together as they were always fated to be.
A pair of lovers who went through so much pain, fall apart and come back together again as if they are a pair of magnets, drawn to one-another by an unstoppable force.
And they are happy. They are in love, and they are happy, and when Noriaki has bad days, Jotaro is there for him.
When Jotaro wakes up crying hysterically, or has a panic attack, Noriaki is there for him.
They fit together like puzzle pieces, and work together like cogs in a machine, the thing that makes their relationship function is them working together.
There’s the days they argue, when theres yelling and crying, but they can never stay mad for long.
Without one, the other cannot function.
It’s just how it is.
Twin flames.