Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a simple mission. Really, it was too easy to even be taken on by someone as important as Jotaro Kujo, but anything having to do with DIO immediately fell into his domain as far as he was concerned. He had defeated DIO when he was only 26 years old and now, ten months later, he is still the shining star of the Speedwagon Foundation.

This particular investigation was basically open and shut. He was supposed to find the stand user known as Noriaki Kakyoin and dispose of him. Kakyoin had been an agent of the SWF also sent to help defeat DIO. He had gone to Egypt before Jotaro had so much as left Japan, but Kakyoin never returned. He was found working under DIO and disappeared after his defeat. Only recently had he been spotted in China using his stand, Hierophant Green. As such, Jotaro was going to find him, incapacitate him, and leave the rest to the SWF. It was, really, such a simple thing. 

They confronted each other at a hot pot restaurant and sent dishes and scorching hot broth all over the place. It was a well-matched fight, but nothing Star Platinum couldn’t put to an end. Despite how close Kakyoin had been to defeating him when he possessed a waitress, Jotaro had no problem kissing the woman to extract Hierophant from her mouth. This quickly turned the tables and allowed him to knock Kakyoin out. As Jotaro looked at Kakyoin’s unconscious form, he noticed some sort of flesh-bud wedged between his eyebrows, much like the one Jotaro had pulled from Jean-Pierre Polnareff back in Egypt so long ago. This was not part of the mission at all, but Jotaro couldn’t help his curiosity. The flesh-buds had allowed DIO to control a person, so what was it doing here now, so many months after his death? Jotaro didn’t waste time in summoning Star Platinum again to gently extract the evil thing. He braced his hands on the sides of Kakyoin’s face while Star pulled the writhing flesh-bud out. This one didn’t pack as much of a punch, as though it was weakened. Kakyoin awoke when the flesh-bud was fully gone from his head.

“Wha—?” He brilliantly exclaimed as he came to.

Jotaro was already phoning the SWF to pick them up. “It’s Kujo. We’re taking him alive,” he said simply into the phone.

Kakyoin looked at him incredulously. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

Jotaro looked him dead in the eyes. “I don’t know.” He shrugged and walked outside, pulling his hat over his eyes.

Kakyoin watched him walk out before scrambling to stand up and take in his surroundings. He touched a hand to the spot where the flesh-bud used to be, feeling the new wound in the skin. He tried to remember how he had gotten to this point, but everything was fuzzy. He numbly walked outside to join the other man.

“I’m Noriaki Kakyoin, but I guess you already know that,” he said, trying to be as polite as possible.

The other man barely acknowledged him. “Jotaro Kujo.”

“So, the SWF sent you?” Kakyoin was leaning against the front of the building, still worn from the fight. His head was throbbing and the wall was really the only thing keeping him up.

Jotaro only grunted in the affirmative.

Kakyoin hesitated before asking his next question. “Has DIO been… dealt with?“

Jotaro nodded and pulled out a cigarette while they waited.

“I see.” Kakyoin felt strange at the silence that stretched on afterwards, but it seemed the other man wasn’t much for conversation. He only stood there smoking his cigarette down to a nub. Still, he had one last thing to say. “Thanks. For sparing my life I mean.”

Jotaro shrugged. After another long drag of his cigarette, he stomped it out on the ground more violently than would probably be needed. “The flesh-bud,” Jotaro said, possibly beginning the longest sentence Kakyoin had heard from him all day. “Who controlled it since DIO has been gone?”

Kakyoin paused to consider the question. “I couldn’t say for sure. When DIO died it felt more like I was on autopilot instead of taking direct orders. I don’t think anyone else was steering, just that the orders I already had programmed in wouldn’t let up.”

Jotaro grunted and shoved his hands in his pockets. The tension in his body finally seemed to relax in the slightest way though. That’s when Kakyoin started putting pieces together.

“Oh, you fought DIO yourself, didn’t you?”

Jotaro pulled his hat down over the suggestion of a smirk. “I was involved.”

Jotaro, of course, had been the one to fight him in the end and deal the killing blow. Kakyoin couldn’t have known this due to his altered state, so Jotaro downplayed the entire thing for nothing more than amusement. Ever since he put an end to DIO, people seemed to know exactly who he was. It was refreshing to be around someone for whom his reputation didn’t precede him.

Finally, the SWF helicopter picked them up and their conversation really ended there. Jotaro would have had a lot of questions to answer about the mission had he not been a Joestar. The other SWF members found it was easier to let him do as he pleased. Kakyoin, on the other hand, couldn’t be as fortunate. He was grilled about DIO and the flesh-bud. The more embarrassing element was that he had failed his case with DIO pretty spectacularly. He doubted his reputation would ever recover if he was even allowed to keep working.

They arrived at the SWF facility and Jotaro was allowed to leave. Kakyoin had to deal with multiple screenings and interrogations before he was informed he could resume to field work.

He was thrown off. “Just like that? I’m allowed to go back?”

“Well, normally there would be a more exhaustive process here, but you’ve been vouched for…” the worker said, letting her sentence trail off mysteriously.

“I have? By who?”

She folded her hands on her desk and said, “I’m not allowed to disclose that.”

Kakyoin considered it, then realized he had only interacted with one person. “Wait, was it that Kujo guy? He’s the only one who could have… but why? And why would his word allow me to cut through all this red tape?”

“Ah, well, uh… that ‘Kujo guy’ is a Joestar for one. Not to mention he’s also the man who killed DIO,” the worker said, trying to get her point across.

Kakyoin felt a bit of heat touch the tips of his ears. No wonder Jotaro had smiled when Kakyoin asked if he fought DIO. “I… okay.” He took a moment to shake off the embarrassment. “So, I can resume field work? I’ve not been demoted?”

“You are resuming your normal position as an agent of the foundation, yes. However, you do have quite some work to do building your reputation back up if you want to be called in for a real case any time soon.”

Kakyoin leaned back. “Great, I’ll be working D-list investigations for the foreseeable future.”

The woman did not care about Kakyoin’s plight. “You’re free to go now. We’ve run all the necessary tests.”

“Thank you.” Kakyoin bowed slightly before leaving the room. He was faced with a variety of new problems, but the most pressing one was catching up to him. “Oh there’s no way I managed to pay rent in the last year…”

Kakyoin’s landlord laughed in his face when he asked what had been done with his things. As such, he presently found himself in a dingy hotel room bought with SWF funds. Some glamorous return to Japan this was. Kakyoin sat down on the stone-stiff bed and rubbed a hand over his face. He momentarily tried to recall what he had been doing for the last year or so. He felt a little sick considering the things DIO might have had him do, though, so he just flipped on the tv and searched for the most mindless program he could find before drifting off to sleep.

The next day, Kakyoin was finally able to appeal to the SFW about getting some basic necessities for himself. They also gave him his work phone so he could contact the foundation if he found himself in need of assistance. Despite the fact that his life had been turned upside down, Kakyoin was quickly forming a plan to climb the ranks again within a relatively small amount of time. He just needed to figure out a way to get in contact with Jotaro Kujo again. He decided to try his luck schmoozing one of the secretaries.

“Excuse me, Miss? I was wondering if you could help me contact another agent. He recently saved my life on a mission and I never got the chance to thank him,” Kakyoin explained, turning up the charm.

The woman hesitated. “I’m not really supposed to give you information like that…”

“Please! I only want to repay him for saving my life.” Kakyoin was fully aware that he was laying it on thick, but desperate times…

“Oh alright, I’ll see what I can do. What is the agent’s name?”

“Jotaro Kujo.”

The woman’s demeanor immediately shifted. “I cannot put you in contact with him, sorry.”

Kakyoin was taken aback by the sudden change. “Please, even so much as an email would help me.”

“No, I’m sorry.”

He finally gave in and just submitted a request for partnership, though he didn’t have very high hopes. Still, it seemed to be the only way to contact this damn Kujo guy, even if it meant going through tons of bureaucratic bullshit. Not that Kakyoin would hold his breath about it anytime soon…

There was a knock at his office door. “Mr. Kujo, sir?”

Jotaro looked up from his paperwork, slightly annoyed at the disturbance. “Yes?”

“I’m just informing you of a request for partnership submitted to you,” the man explained in a bored voice. He knew well that Jotaro would rip it up without so much at glancing at it, but it was still standard practice to at least inform him.

Jotaro gestured for the man to leave it on his desk and be gone. He did just that without another word. Normally, Jotaro would dismiss any sort of unnecessary nonsense like this, but a request for partnership at this time was too strange to brush off. It had become well known that Jotaro was, in so many words, extremely hard to work with. Sure, dozens of requests had hit his desk after he defeated DIO, but all it took was taking one person on a mission before word spread that he was a temperamental jackass. As such, nobody bothered requesting to work with him like that anymore. He eyeballed the request and discovered that it had been submitted by Noriaki Kakyoin. Jotaro vaguely made the connection between the name and the man he had pulled the flesh-bud from and suddenly things made a little more sense. He could just deny the request and be done with it, but honestly there was something about Kakyoin that piqued his interest, so he sent an email requesting Kakyoin come to his office. For now, he just wanted to get a feel for what this guy was thinking.

Kakyoin nearly fell over when he was informed that Jotaro wanted to talk to him. Sure, he had held on to an iota of hope that he’d get to talk to the man, but this was so soon. He didn’t want to celebrate too soon, but this sure as hell felt like things were finally starting to look up for him. He quickly found Jotaro’s office. In the back of his mind, he wondered just how important this guy was that he had his own office.

He opened the door to find Jotaro sitting at his desk, typing away. When he heard the door, he looked up and gestured for Kakyoin to take a seat.

“Why did you submit the request?”

Jeez, Jotaro really didn’t waste time with any pleasantries, did he? He was a straightforward guy, Kakyoin was learning, so he decided to state his case plain and simple.

Kakyoin leaned forward on his desk. “As you know, my reputation has taken a hit since I’ve come back. I think that working with you could expedite the process of me becoming a respected agent again.”

Oh, this is interesting , thought Jotaro. “You want to use me.” He wasn’t asking, he was stating it as a fact.

Kakyoin nodded sharply. “Will you let me?”

Jotaro crossed his arms. “Why me?” He asked, feeling him out.

Kakyoin took a breath. “You hold a very high status in the SWF, I’ve learned, and being seen with you will help my image.”

“All of my previous partners terminated the agreement upon finding me impossible to work with,” Jotaro informed him, amusement playing at his tone.

Kakyoin smiled. “That just means it’ll look even better for me if I’m successful with you.”

Jotaro huffed out a sound that wasn’t quiet a laugh, but it seemed to Kakyoin that that was as close as the man would ever get to one. “Fine, I’ll let you try,” Jotaro said. “But don’t be surprised if you find yourself backing out.”

Kakyoin stood up, leaning over the desk a little to appear intimidating. “Do your worst,” he challenged.

When Jotaro submitted his confirmation of the partership, the man from the foundation was clearly shocked.

“You’re accepting?”

Jotaro shrugged. “I think we’re a good match.”

He probably could have said something a little different, but that had been the truth. Kakyoin had a spark of ambition that Jotaro wanted to see in action. Not to mention the fact that the guy had no problem dropping his polite facade and getting rough with him.

The man from the foundation took it to mean that their stands balanced each other out. He blathered something about how Star was a short-range power stand and Hierophant was long-range with projectiles, after all. Jotaro, however, didn’t acknowledge it. He only walked off.

Chapter Text

Jotaro decided to take on a case that interested him. A more careful partner might have found something easy for Kakyoin to get acclimated again, but Jotaro didn’t care enough to do that. Anyway, it seemed that Kakyoin wouldn’t want an easy case seeing as how he’s looking to quickly climb the ranks. So, Jotaro decided that the mass killings during plane crashes where the victims had lost their tongues was going to be their first investigation. The stand user had recently caused including a plane catastrophe in England with 300 casualties, which was detailed in the file.

He called Kakyoin in to give him the file. Kakyoin flipped through it, leaning on the edge of Jotaro’s desk. Jotaro just sat, fully aware that Kakyoin had to either agree to this or be dismissed as his partner. This meant Jotaro was the one with leverage here, so it was a bit of a surprise when Kakyoin closed the file and smiled.

“This sounds fun,” he proclaimed.

Jotaro blinked up at him. “We’ll meet at the airport at 5am on Thursday.”

Kakyoin set the file down on his desk. “Where are we flying to?” He asked.

“Singapore.”

“And then we just fly right back?”

Jotaro almost smiled. “There might be another case there worth checking out if you can handle the first.”

If Jotaro was trying to put him through the ringer with back-to-back cases, Kakyoin wasn’t going to back down. He braced his hands on the desk, leaning down to be eye level with Jotaro. Wicked smile still on his face, he said, “Count me in.”

Their experience at the airport itself hadn’t been terrible since the SFW was able to get them past TSA and all of that without any hassle. It was the plane ride itself that grew increasingly awkward. Sure, they were supposed to be on guard since the stand user could attack at any second, but what were they supposed to do for the rest of their seven hour flight? The rest of the plane slept soundly while they waited for the stand to appear.

Kakyoin was flipping through one of the airline magazines while Jotaro read from the book he brought. Kakyoin got bored and glanced at the cover of the book out of curiosity, seeing that it was Starfish: Biology and Ecology . He wanted to ask Jotaro about it, but figured the man would be annoyed at the disturbance. It turned out his staring was annoying to Jotaro anyway, as he looked over with furrowed eyebrows.

“What?” He asked, his voice a low rumble.

Kakyoin smiled in an attempt to placate him. “I was just curious as to why you’re reading about starfish.”

“They’re cool.” Jotaro shrugged, holding the book a little tighter.

“So, you have an interest in marine life,” Kakyoin pried gently.

Jotaro hummed, relaxing slightly. “I majored in it.”

Kakyoin couldn’t help but let surprise seep into his next words. “You went to college?”

“I didn’t think I’d spend so much time working for the foundation,” Jotaro confessed as a bout of turbulence startled them both. They relaxed when they realized it was just the plane, not a stand user.

“Why did you then?” Kakyoin asked. “Keep working for the foundation, that is.”

Jotaro did not answer. “When I finish my thesis, I’ll probably stop.”

“You’ll stop completely?” Kakyoin asked, a little put-out by the idea. It wasn’t like he wanted to be parters for the long-term anyway, but it was still upsetting to know that they had a clear end date in the future.

Jotaro paused. “No, I couldn’t.” He knew being vague wouldn’t deter Kakyoin from asking more questions, but it was worth a shot.

“Why did you decide to work for the foundation?“ Kakyoin asked, trying to get to the point. He was starting to feel like every conversation with Jotaro was even worse than pulling teeth. The man really wouldn’t give him much information unless he asked, and even when he did it was barely two words. Especially now he seemed to be avoiding something.

Jotaro shifted a bit, like he was uncomfortable. “Family business.”

“What—“ Before Kakyoin could ask another question, he heard a distinct buzzing sound “The stand user?”

Suddenly, he saw a massive bug appear right next to Jotaro.

“Jojo! It’s right next to you!” Kakyoin warned. “It’s huge… it must be a stand!”

Jotaro was more thrown off by the nickname and took a moment to look over at the insect that was dripping a thick green slime from it’s mouth.

“It’s fucking gross,” Jotaro sneered. “I’ll deal with it. Star Platinum!”

Star threw out a hand, but the bug dodged the attack, shocking even Jotaro.

“Where did it go?” Kakyoin asked. “And where is the person controlling it?”

A strange metal claw flew from the bug’s mouth, aiming right for Jotaro. Star quickly blocked it with his hand, but it went right through and grasped at Star’s tongue. Star just barely managed to catch it in between his teeth. Jotaro unleashed a flurry of oras, but the fly dodged every single punch.

“It moved over there!” Kakyoin pointed. Just as he did, the stand began ripping the tongues from each of the passengers in one swift movement.

“Bingo, I got their tongues!” The fly moved to paint the word Massacre on the plane wall with their severed tongues. Jotaro and Kakyoin could only watch on in disgust and horror.

“It actually did it…!” Kakyoin exclaimed.

Then one of the passengers woke up. He stood and braced his hand on the wall, smudging the blood.

“Is it… blood!”

Before the man could wake the entire plane, Kakyoin delivered a swift chop to the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious. Jotaro briefly wondered where he had learned that.

Kakyoin looked to Jotaro. “We have to defeat it before the other passengers panic. But Jojo, if your power were to put a hole in the fuselage, it’s be a catastrophe. Hierophant Green can handle this.”

Jotaro watched as Kakyoin attempted to emerald splash the fly, which dodged the entire flurry of emeralds.

“You can’t defeat me with your speed!” The thing boasted.

Kakyoin’s eyes hardened. “You think so?”

He tried emerald splash again, but still couldn’t hit it. The fly reached out and pulled Hierophant Green’s mask off, causing a stream of blood to fly from Kakyoin’s mouth.

“K-Kakyoin!” Jotaro called out.

Kakyoin and Hierophant fell to the ground while the fly bragged about his speed.

“This next attack will rip your tongue out!”

Kakyoin grimaced and sent out another blast of emerald splash.

“Once I rip your stand’s tongue out, it’ll go mad from the pain!”

Kakyoin scoffed. “Mad from the pain? My Hierophant Green?”

As he said this, Hierophant’s tentacles wrapped around the fly, trapping it in once place. Kakyoin quickly gained the upper hand. Jotaro could only watch, surprised at the other man’s skill.

“If it rips you apart, it’ll go mad from joy,” Kakyoin threatened. “Hierophant’s appendages had already slipped beneath the sheet. Didn’t you realize I was trapping you there with emerald splash?”

With that, he ripped the beetle apart, causing the old man’s tongue to explode.

Kakyoin’s face scrunched up in disgust. “A repulsive stand for a repulsive user.”

Jotaro tipped his hat over his face, a trickle of blood running down his arm. He was trying to cover the expression on his face, because he was a little in awe and it was probably showing. “Nice work.”

Kakyoin wiped his own blood from his mouth. “He really did a number on your hand.”

“It’ll heal.” He looked around the plane. “It’s gonna be chaos when everyone wakes up.”

Kakyoin nodded, already predicting the fallout. “Suppose we should call the foundation now so they can handle it.”

Jotaro fished the cell phone from his pocket and took his advice. In the back of his mind, he kept thinking about the way Kakyoin had so easily outsmarted the stand user.

When they landed, a SWF car was already waiting to pick them up. This meant they got to skip the police questioning, just barely slipping through the crowd undetected. As that sat in the back seat, Kakyoin remembered their conversation from earlier.

“Jojo, what did you mean when you said this was a family business?”

Jotaro looked at him strangely. “Why do you keep calling me that?”

“What? Jojo?” Kakyoin looked confused. “It’s just a shorter version of your name.”

“That’s awfully casual,” Jotaro commented, piercing blue gaze digging into Kakyoin’s skull.

Kakyoin wasn’t intimidated. “We’re the same age, it’s not like I have to be formal with you. You could call me Noriaki.”

The SWF driver stiffened up, expecting one of Jotaro’s classic beat downs. He was shocked to find that Jotaro said absolutely nothing. He only looked out the window with his arms crossed.

“Anyway, what’s this about a family business?” Kakyoin asked again.

“You sure are nosy aren’t you? Why don’t you mind your business?” Jotaro’s words had bite behind them, but not as much as they normally would.

Kakyoin threw his hands up in defeat. “I just thought we’d get to know each other since we’ll be partnered for the foreseeable future.”

“Give me a break…” He really didn’t mind telling Kakyoin, but it was so nice having someone not constantly sucking up to him because of his family. He didn’t want to lose the casual nature of their partnership.

Kakyoin shook his head. “Whatever, suit yourself.”

They rode on in silence for an extremely uncomfortable amount of time. Their hotel was still half an hour away and the SWF driver didn’t turn on the radio.

“What about you?” Jotaro asked.

Kakyoin was so shocked at the sudden question that he startled a little at the sound of Jotaro’s deep voice. “What do you mean?”

Jotaro looked irritated, unhappy to repeat himself. “Why did you decide to work here?”

“Oh,” Kakyoin relaxed. “I’m not telling you,” he said with a cocky smirk. If Jotaro could get on his nerves, he would give it right back to him.

“Tch, whatever,” Jotaro huffed, sitting back and crossing his arms.

Kakyoin looked over fondly, happy to get such a childish reaction from the other man. “Unless you answer my question as well.”

Jotaro nodded. “You first.”

“Fine. I’ve had Hierophant since I was a kid. My parents, of course, couldn’t see him. They thought I was crazy, like I was seeing things that aren’t really there. They had me tested over and over again. Eventually I learned to just hide my stand.” Kakyoin paused, fighting against the long repressed feelings rising in his chest. He shook it off and continued. “Until I met Avdol, that is. My family vacationed in Egypt and he told me about stands after noticing Hierophant. He was already working with the SFW, so he let me come in and meet other stand users. Eventually I decided I’d like to work here. Until DIO… well you know.”

Disinterested as he pretended to be, Jotaro had been listening to the entire story. He grunted and nodded appropriately before leaning back in his seat, letting his hat cover most of his face.

“Your turn,” Kakyoin announced, quickly changing the subject.

Jotaro sighed, preparing himself for the shock at his answer. “My Great-Great Grandfather was Jonathan Joestar, Speedwagon’s best friend.”

The answer fell flat to Kakyoin. “Oh, is that why the Joestar’s are supposed to be a big deal?”

The SFW driver coughed and nearly swerved off the road. At this point, Jotaro would surely be ora-oraing Kakyoin away! He decided to help out the clueless man and put the affront to the Joestars to an end.

“Sir, pardon me. Speedwagon created the foundation specifically to help the Joestars!”

Jotaro steeled. “Nobody was talking to you.”

The driver immediately shut up, but the damage was already done.

“Some nepotism baby you are,” Kakyoin joked. “Did you even have to take the test to get in?”

“Fuck off,” Jotaro said. This time, there was absolutely no anger in his words, only amusement. A smile even played at his features. So maybe Kakyoin was beginning to grow on him, but he’d never admit that

Chapter Text

They finally arrived at their hotel in Singapore and checked into their room. It was a a single room with two beds. Jotaro immediately sat down on the one closest to the door, claiming it for himself.

“I’m going to shower, I have fly guts all over me,” Kakyoin complained, pulling clothes from his suitcase.

Jotaro grunted and pulled out a cigarette. He walked to the window and lit it as he heard the shower turn on. Kakyoin had really proven himself as a fighter on that plane today, a fact that had Jotaro softening up to the idea of them working together. For once, Star Platinum had been basically useless in a fight, but Hierophant had more than made up for it. Maybe they did make a damn fine team after all.

Besides that, Kakyoin didn’t care about Jotaro’s prestigious pedigree. He didn’t bat an eye upon discovering his relation to the great Jonathan Joestar. He probably wouldn’t care either that his own grandfather had taken down the pillar men all those years ago. He barely even appreciated the fact that Jotaro had killed DIO on his own. Now that he was thinking about it, Kakyoin didn’t seem impressed with him at all. It was strange for Jotaro to not have someone put him on a pedestal. If anything, he had the sense that Kakyoin thought he was better than him! It was very amusing, to say the least.

Kakyoin emerged from the shower and told Jotaro to get his ass in there. Jotaro rolled his eyes at him, but went in nonetheless. He really did have fly guts on himself. When he was done, he slipped on sweatpants and a tank top. Kakyoin was putting on a shirt and Jotaro saw a huge scar spanning the entirely of Kakyoin’s core. It was shaped like an oddly perfect circle.

Kakyoin noticed his staring and decided to offer an explanation. “It’s from DIO.”

“Hell of a scar,” Jotaro commented.

Kakyoin covered it with his shirt. “It’s not like he took me without a fight.”

Jotaro lifted his own shirt up to reveal dozens of nasty, short scars along his torso. “These are from DIO too.”

Kakyoin’s eyes widened. “Jesus! What, did he stab you?”

“Yeah, actually.”

Kakyoin hesitated as Jotaro dropped his shirt back down. “How did you kill him?”

“I beat the shit out of him,” Jotaro explained, shrugging.

Kakyoin laughed a little at the crude word choice. “When I fought him, he managed to dodge my emerald splash. It was almost like he could stop time. That’s how he was able to wound me and stick the flesh-bud in my brain.”

“He did stop time.”

Kakyoin didn’t question it. “I had the suspicion. How did you manage to overcome that?”

Jotaro shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t really like telling people about Star Platinum’s power, preferring to keep it a surprise. “I learned how to stop time as well,” he admitted before he could hesitate any longer. He felt like he could tell Kakyoin this, despite the fact they didn’t know each other that well.

“What? Then why didn’t you just use that ability in the last fight?” Kakyoin asked. “That bug’s speed would have been useless.”

“I swore to only use The World if my life is in danger. I don’t want to abuse my power the way DIO did.”

“I see. That’s quite a noble reason.”

“Whatever,” Jotaro said, turning off the lamp.

Kakyoin chuckled. “Good night, Jojo.”

“Stop calling me that,” Jotaro grunted.

Kakyoin was gone when Jotaro woke up. He left a note saying they could meet up in front of the hotel. When they did, Jotaro was pretty sure there was something really off about Kakyoin. Not that he knew the guy all that well, but he was still acting strange since they met up this morning. For starters, he was giving everyone the Kubrick stare as they walked through the town. Then he had completely flipped out on some guy over a wallet and nearly killed him. Jotaro had to punch him to get him to stop, which made him realize that something really wasn’t right here.

“That hurt, you know. You didn’t have to shove me around. That man tried to steal my wallet. You’d do the same, old pal, wouldn’t you?”

This guy…

Then there was the damn cherry. If the licking wasn’t weird enough, Kakyoin’s stupid mocking tone was enough to wear at Jotaro’s already thin patience. Really, it was a miracle he hadn’t ora’d him into oblivion yet. Actually, that was exactly what he was going to do.

He grabbed Kakyoin by his collar with one hand and braced the other in a fist. “I’m gonna knock your crooked, possessed ass right into that cable car,” he threatened through clenched teeth.

Kakyoin smiled, slinking a hand behind Jotaro’s neck. “Aw, you wouldn’t hurt me, would you?” They were so close that he could feel his breath on his face. Kakyoin seemed to lean into him, lessening the space even more.

This action, embarrassingly, made Jotaro stop and hesitate before his next move. This gave the stand user enough time to knock Jotaro on the back of the head, stunning him. The stand user spit some strange yellow substance at Jotaro, but it only landed on his hand, burning the skin there.

When Rubber Soul revealed that he was pretending to be Kakyoin, Jotaro’s suspicions were confirmed. Jotaro punched him into the cable car.

”You made one mistake,” Jotaro said before he dealt the last blow to Rubber Soul. “Kakyoin would never act like such a prick. He’s a hell of a lot smarter than that.”

After the fight, he finally found Kakyoin back at the hotel and told him about the stand user.

“Jotaro… why did it take you that long to notice it wasn’t me!” Kakyoin asked incredulously. “I hope I don’t come off as an asshole like that.”

Jotaro only shrugged. He had left out the humiliating part about how the stand user distracted him by getting too close and hanging onto him. “I don’t pay that much attention to you.”

“Bastard. Serves you right that he roughed you up some too,” Kakyoin teased, looking at the burnt mass of Jotaro’s hand.

“He barely touched me.”

Kakyoin squinted. “Your hand actually looks pretty bad. You should let me bandage that.”

“It’s fine.” Jotaro, really, just didn’t want Kakyoin to be that close to him again. He didn’t realize how normal it had felt when Rubber Soul invaded his personal space as fake-Kakyoin.

“Nope, come on. You’re the punching guy, your hands are all you have,” Kakyoin insisted, already grabbing the gauze.

“Good grief, I don’t need your help,” Jotaro wined.

“Too bad. Stop being a baby and sit still.”

There was an awkward silence as Kakyoin wrapped up Jotaro’s hand. All Jotaro could really do is sit stoically, which actually wasn’t too different from what he normally did. Kakyoin was holding his hand so gently when he wrapped it, but his movements were quick and confident.

“It looks like the wound from Tower of Gray just got worse after this fight. It’s probably infected. Are you just gonna keep getting wounded in every single battle?” Kakyoin chided.

“What are you, my mom?” Jotaro complained. “I win them anyway, don’t I?”

Kakyoin gave him a dirty look. “Through some miracle.”

“You know, Star Platinum is one of the strongest stands in existence,” Jotaro said, all matter-of-fact.

“He’s still no match for my Hierophant,” Kakyoin asserted.

Jotaro’s eyebrows knit together. Nobody really challenged Star Platinum like that. “Haven’t we already seen that that’s not true?”

Kakyoin waved it off. “I was possessed by DIO before. It wasn’t a fair fight.”

Jotaro smiled a little. He then remembered why he had fought Rubber Soul in the first place. “Where did you go this morning?”

“Hm? Oh, I had a small investigation of my own…” Kakyoin trailed off, growing introspective.

“What the hell does that mean?”

Kakyoin sighed, dropping Jotaro’s freshly bandaged hand. He stood up and brushed off his clothes. “When I was possessed by DIO, I spent some time wandering around. I was trying to find some sort of evidence that I had been here at some point. I still don’t quite remember everything I did when I was possessed.”

Jotaro rubbed at his new bandages. “Did you find anything?”

“Nothing. Which is probably a good thing but, still, it’s like I just disappeared.”

Jotaro stood and swatted at Kakyoin’s arm. “You’re back now. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Kakyoin looked at him and considered it. “I just hope I didn’t do anything too… out of place.”

“If you had, I would have been sent out by the Foundation to stop you earlier,” Jotaro said, walking to the window to go smoke.

Kakyoin smiled to himself. “I guess you have a point.”

Chapter Text

Kakyoin woke up after Jotaro the next day. He opened his eyes to see Jotaro on the phone with someone. He had a severely pissed off look until he realized Kakyoin had woken up. His facial features immediately softened, which he didn’t want to think too hard about. Seeing Kakyoin first thing in the morning was an interesting change. His hair was falling all over his pillow.

“We’ve been called to help with an investigation,” Jotaro explained to him, barely giving him time to wake up.

Kakyoin stretched out, brushing his red hair from his face. “Mm, when do we leave?”

Jotaro stared at him for a moment, fascinated by the messiness of his usually well-groomed hair. “Now.” He hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye and disappeared into the bathroom, giving Kakyoin the privacy to get ready.

When they arrived in Pakistan, they were greeted by two older men, one much older than the other.

“Jotaro, my favorite grandson!” The man with a beard exclaimed.

The man with huge, flat-top hair waved excitedly at them. “You made it!”

Jotaro was already annoyed. “Give me a break.”

“Is this your new partner, mon ami?” The man gestures towards Kakyoin, who waved in response.

Jotaro nodded. “This is Noriaki Kakyoin. Kakyoin, this is Jean-Pierre Polnareff and Joseph Joestar.”

“His grandfather!” Joseph announced proudly.

“Nice to meet you both,” Kakyoin said, bowing politely.

Jotaro had explained the basics of the case to Kakyoin on the way over. It turns out that Joseph and Polnareff had managed to incapacitate Enya, Dio’s right-hand woman. Despite this, they still needed help interrogating her. That was when Jotaro and Kakyoin realized that they had disguised her in a mass of blankets and Polanreff was carrying her.

“Good grief, you’re going to suffocate her,” Jotaro scolded.

They walked into town, Enya in tow. They planned on getting a hotel room for their dirty work, but they were stopped when Enya started crying and screaming.

“I haven’t said anything, I swear! I was Lord DIO’s loyal servant. Why have you come here to kill me?”

Then her face exploded into tentacles and another stand user revealed himself.

“You can call me Steely Dan. My Stand represents the Lovers card. I’ll see that you all meet the same fate as Enya.”

“How could you? That old lady was one of your own you son of a—“ Polnareff yelled before running over to Enya. “Mais non!”

“Lies! Lies! You have betrayed Lord DIO, may his soul return to reap vengeance!” Enya screamed out, tentacles still bursting from her face.

“These things coming out of her body, they’re definitely not some stand!” Kakyoin announced. The other men looked on in confusion. “Don’t you see it? They’re actual tentacles!”

This caused Enya to cry out. “Lord DIO would never do me harm! He’d never plant a flesh-bud in me!”

“What did she say?” Kakyoin asked, feeling his blood run cold at the mere mention of the flesh-bud.

Polnareff tried to cut the tentacles of the flesh-bud, and they disintegrated into the sun. It was too late for Enya, however, as she laid gasping on the ground.

“It’s her fault Lord DIO met his end. She must have told you his stand’s true power,” Steely Dan explained.

Jotaro finally spoke up. “She didn’t tell me shit. She was innocent.”

Enya drew her last breath, words about her loyalty to Lord DIO on her lips. Steely Dan had killed Enya, enraging all four men as his loud, pompous laughter filled the space. He took a sip of his drink before speaking.

“It’s laughable how sad that old woman was. The very depth of her trust in DIO should tell you something.” He took another loud sip, which only served to make the group even more angry.

“The old woman may have had it out for us, but she was misled and sure as hell didn’t deserve that death. I’ll see you join her,” Polnareff promised, balling his hand into a fist.

Kakyoin agreed. “Four against one, but we won’t hold back. Prepare yourself, Dan.”

“On your feet,” Jotaro demanded. “Hey jackass, stop trying to act cool, and get up and fight. This is going down whether you like it or not.”

“Go ahead. You can’t touch me, I’m Steely Dan and none of you could take me down. You don’t have what it takes.” Steely Dan sneered.

Just then, Star Platinum sent him flying with a punch to the core. At the same time, Joseph went flying back as if he had been hit too.

“W-what the?” Jotaro called out.

Polarneff shouted, “What happened Mr. Joestar? He flew back just like that guy!”

“You’re an utter fool, I was about to explain my powers when you hit me! That impatience nearly killed your grandfather. I suggest you listen next time.” Steely Dan rose from the rubble, wiping the blood from his chin. “Listen, my job’s not over. I have other important business to attend to. You really think I would show my face here just to kill Enya?”

Joseph spit out blood. “You— you damn bastard! You told us that your stand is The Lovers, so what the hell does it do?”

“What’s the point of telling you now? The battle’s already begun, Mr. Joestar.”

After paying some kid to hit him with a broom, the pain being mirrored and multiplied in Joseph, Steely Dan finally explained his powers. The Lovers were wedged deep in Joseph’s brain and any pain Steely Dan felt would also be felt by him, but at a far greater scale.

“The moment Enya died, it entered your brain through your ear. That’s how I’ll get to you! You’re utterly helpless,” Steely Dan bragged. “You’ll be a corpse like Enya!”

This was enough to make Jotaro go Berserk. He growled and grabbed Steely Dan by the collar, manifesting Star Platinum. Before he could deliver the blow, Kakyoin threw himself between the two.

“Jotaro! Calm down! Don’t do anything rash,” Kakyoin ordered, pressing his full weight into Jotaro to keep him back. Jotaro still maintained his hold on Steely Dan, causing all three of them to be knocked together.

“Sorry, but no,” Jotaro argued through gritted teeth. “I’m gonna kill this damn tool so quickly, he won’t have enough time to feel pain!”

Joseph groaned, causing Jotaro to snap to attention. He finally released his hold on Steely Dan, though Kakyoin continued to hold him back. His grip was firm on Jotaro’s arm, keeping him grounded.

“Kill me before I feel it, ha? Sounds interesting. Do it then, I wanna see what happens. What are you waiting for Jotaro?” Steely Dan mocked. “Come on, let’s see it. What, you mad?”

Jotaro’s glare could have been enough to disintegrate Steely Dan. Kakyoin could feel his barely-contained anger bubbling to the surface again, but he seemed to have it under control for the most part. He finally let Jotaro go, thinking that was the end of it.

“Or you could give up on using your stand and, I don’t know, crack my head open with a rock?” Steely Dan suggested. He bent over to pick up a large rock from the ground. “This one looks like a prime specimen. It sure looks big enough for the job.”

Before Dan could stand back up, Jotaro had him by the collar with both hands this time.

“You do not want to underestimate me, pretty boy. When I say I’m gonna do something, I do it.” Jotaro’s gaze was so intense, Dan actually quivered under it. He was radiating an anger that he hadn’t quite manifested since he fought DIO.

Joseph cried out at the pain, clutching his own throat. Jotaro didn’t notice, too blinded by his anger. He fully manifested Star Platinum in an attempt to deal a fatal blow to Dan. Kakyoin quickly jumped up to hold him back by the shoulders, summoning Hierophant to do the same for Star.

“Jotaro! Don’t do it! We’ve already seen how effective his power is. Are you trying to kill your own grandfather?” Kakyoin reasoned with him.

Polnareff stepped up to help Kakyoin hold Jotaro back. “Uh, this is Jotaro we’re talking about. He might be!”

Jotaro clenched his teeth, barely managing to come back to his senses. Between the heavy weight of Kakyoin at his back and Polnareff’s strong arm at his chest, he couldn’t move anyway.

“You dumb, good-for-nothing punk!” Dan exclaimed, hitting his shoulder with the rock.

This caused both Polnareff and Kakyoin to momentarily lose their grip on him, giving Dan the opportunity to slam the rock into Jotaro’s stomach.

“Jotaro!” Joseph yelled, watching the blood spew from Jotaro’s mouth.

Jotaro fell to the ground before Kakyoin could move enough to break his fall.

“Don’t you toy with me, you bastard!” Dan bragged. “After the geezer kicks the bucket, you’re next.” Dan sent the rock barreling down towards Jotaro’s skull.

“Look out!” Kakyoin cried, unable to move fast enough to stop it from making contact.

Jotaro wasn’t quick enough either, head exploding with pain at the blow. He fully fell to the ground now, writhing slightly. Polnareff and Joseph fell to their knees to check on him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Joseph demanded as Dan dissolved into laughter.

Joseph finally thought of a plan, and looked to Kakyoin, who nodded in confirmation. Dan and Jotaro looked on in bewilderment as the pair ran off down the alley.

“Hey!” Polnareff called out, chasing after them.

“Jotaro!” Kakyoin yelled back. “Keep him away from Mr. Joestar at all costs! We’re gonna try to get as far away from him as possible.”

Dan smiled smugly. “So that’s your plan? Sorry, but my stand’s range is farther than any stand in existence. Their lives are forfeit.”

Jotaro stood up, finally recovered from the damage he took earlier. Dan wasted no time grabbing him by the collar, threatening him this time.

“Look at me!” Dan demanded.

Jotaro looked over slowly, suddenly as cool-headed as ever. “What’s wrong? Sounds like you’re starting to lose your cool.”

“What’s your plan? Follow me around until grandpa keels over? Sounds like a blast.”

“Steely Dan, was it? I’ll make you pay for this, just a matter of when,” Jotaro vowed.

Steely Dan chuckled. “If you’re gonna stick around, I might as well help myself to your wallet.”

Jotaro remained still as Dan rifled through his pockets, pulling out his wallet.

“Nothing but chump change, ha? Though I didn’t expect a guy like you to be sporting such an expensive watch. I’ll be borrowing this,” Dan said, stuffing the wallet and watch into his own pockets.

Jotaro narrowed his eyes at the man, but said nothing.

Meanwhile, Kakyoin, Polnareff, and Joseph found their way to an electronics store. Joseph sent Hermit Purple through the window and broadcast live footage of the Lovers inside of his head onto the screen.

Kakyoin described the plan to have their stands enter Joseph’s head to beat the Lovers. They did just that, as they didn’t have time to spare.

As Jotaro became Dan’s personal lackey, Hierophant and Silver Chariot entered Joseph’s brain.

“They must be hiding around the thalamus,” Kakyoin explained. “That’s the point where the nervous system begins.”

Polnareff sliced a blood vessel to allow their stands to enter and travel to the brain stem. Joseph’s concentration began to slip as Jotaro was made to scratch Dan’s back, the feeling mirrored on Joseph. This drew a rather large crowd to the electronics store as Joseph kept screaming. Kakyoin quickly bought the tv from the store to get them away from the crowd.

Dan could sense that Hierophant Green and Silver Chariot were heading towards the Lovers, but continued on in his pompous way nonetheless. Though Jotaro sent him death glares, he didn’t lay so much as a finger on him.

Hierophant and Silver Chariot finally made it to the brain stem and saw the Lovers kneading Joseph’s brain cells. Silver Chariot sent his sword through one of the Lovers, sending it down.

Polnareff cried out victoriously. “I’ve got them figured out! I just need to get to the other—“

“Polnareff, who are you talking to?” asked a second Hierophant Green. “That’s not me, and that wasn’t the real stand.”

The other Hierophant melted away, blasting into Silver Chariot. Kakyoin explained that the Lovers must be able to shape their cells in order to disguise themselves as something else.

In the distance, Dan laughed away as Jotaro shined his shoes. Suddenly, Dan sent a kick flying at Jotaro’s chin.

“Pull your head out of your ass, would ya?” Dan threatened. “Use your tongue to shine my shoes!”

Jotaro stood and pulled out a small notebook, quickly writing something down. Dan snatched it from his hands and opened the notebook to see it had been filled with a list of all the things Dan made Jotaro do.

“That’s your tab,” Jotaro explained. “And you’re gonna pay in full. I wrote it down so I won’t forget.”

Dan smacked him across the face with the notebook. “You’re a scoundrel, Jotaro.”

Hierophant and Silver Chariot watched the decoy Stand begin to split in two. Kakyoin sent an emerald splash flying at them, scattering them into small pieces that only formed more decoys. He sent another splash, but again more decoys rose.

“Which one is the real one? I can’t tell them apart,” Kakyoin worried. He was beginning to get overwhelmed by the amount of decoys being spawned.

Despite Dan causing Jotaro to get beaten after framing him for shoplifting, Jotaro laughed.

“Your punishment has just doubled. It’s almost payback time, and that has me tingling,” Jotaro explained, still chuckling.

Dan scoffed. “Your old man isn’t long for this world. Have you forgotten the reality of your situation?”

Jotaro smiled, face drenched in his own blood. “How sad. You don’t know us very well, do you friend? And I see you don’t know Kakyoin at all…”

“Come again?” Dan demanded.

Kakyoin, meanwhile, was starting to understand what he had to do. He stretched out Hierophant’s feelers to investigate every single duplicate of the Lovers, allowing him to find the real one. He sent an emerald splash its way, finally striking it down.

Dan felt the effects, becoming wounded himself.

“Looks like Kakyoin got you pretty damn good,” Jotaro noticed. “So I’m wondering, will I get my payback once he’s done?”

Dan shrieked out in pain as the Lovers left Joseph’s brain. It flew out and returned to Dan.

Jotaro watched Dan start to back away. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to tell me more about my grandfather’s death? I’d really like to know more.”

As Dan tried to run off, Jotaro grabbed him by the back of the head, pulling at the sensitive hairs there.

“You’re not trying to run away, are you?” Jotaro asked as the hair pulled out of Dan’s head, sending him towards the ground.

Dan fell to all-fours, begging at Jotaro’s feet. “Forgive me! You can pummel me as much as you’d like, but please don’t kill me!”

Dan was faking, waiting for the Lovers to return to him. When they finally did, he sent them heading directly for Jotaro’s ear. At the last minute, though, Star Platinum reached out and stopped them from going in, crushing them under his fingers. Dan writhed in pain, feeling his body take in the damage.

“You really didn’t check up on us, did you. Otherwise you would have known about Star Platinum’s fast reflexes.”

“Believe me, I wasn’t planning anything against your stand’s immense power!”

“Did you say ‘your’ stand? Only ‘your’?”

“Your stand is far superior to any other! You’ve already broken my arm and leg, please spare my life!”

“It’s not just my stand you should be worried about. Kakyoin’s already beat you once, now it’s my turn,” Jotaro threatened as Dan laid in a pathetic heap on the ground. “But I suppose I can take the arm and leg as payment.” He sent the Lovers flying back at Dan.

As Jotaro tried to walk away, Dan announced he had sent the Lovers into the ear of a little girl. He threatened Jotaro with a knife, but found himself frozen. Jotaro turned the blade on him, stabbing Dan’s cheek.

“Why won’t my body move?” Dan demanded.

“As your stand was trying to make its escape, Kakyoin tied Hierophant Green’s tentacles to its leg. Seeing as how those tentacles stretch all the way after your stand like a string to kite, you must have been so self-absorbed you didn’t even notice.”

Hierophant drew the Lovers from the girl’s ear as Dan flung himself to the ground again.

“Please forgive me!” Dan begged.

“Ask for forgiveness from Enya, the woman that you killed. As for me, I never had the slightest intention of forgiving you.”

“D-DIO‘s treasures would have been all mine if I killed the man who killed him!”

“Good grief, you really are a piece of work. What you owe me could never be paid back with money!” Jotaro announced before sending a flurry of oras from Star Platinum to Steely Dan.

Jotaro walked off, leaving behind the list of grievances he had created against Dan as a sort of receipt.

“You can keep the freaking change,” he said as the paper fluttered down onto the pile of rubble where Dan laid.

The rest of the group finally caught up to him.

“Jotaro, you’re covered in blood!” Joseph called out.

“You should see the other guy,” Jotaro said, readjusting his hat.

Kakyoin nodded at him. “I trust you wasted no time in dealing with Dan.”

“Thanks to you, he was no problem for me,” Jotaro said, smiling down at the other man.

Joseph noticed this and announced, “You kids do make one hell of a team!”

“They’re a perfect match!” Polnareff agreed. “They didn’t even have to communicate to work together!”

Jotaro ducked his head. “Good grief. You’re only saying that because we’re smarter than the two of you combined.”

“You’re so mean to your grandfather!” Joseph feigned hurt.
Kakyoin smiled. “He just doesn’t want to admit that he likes me, Mr. Joestar.”

“Aw, Jotaro!” Polnareff cried out. “Don’t they call that a tsundere in Japan?”

“Give me a freaking break,” Jotaro barked, pulling his hat impossibly low over his eyes.

“You know it’s true, Jotaro.” Joseph continued. “You don’t get along with anybody . Kakyoin must be special to you.”

If it was meant to be a joke, it felt a little too accurate. In fact, the atmosphere suddenly became a little too serious for comfort.

“Alright, we can talk about Jojo’s crush on me later. In the meantime, let’s pack it in and get some sleep,” Kakyoin joked, diffusing some of the tension.

They took caravan to the nearest hotel. As they rode on, Kakyoin insisted on bandaging some of Jotaro’s wounds.

Kakyoin was surprised at all his injuries. “It’s like you were beat up by a whole group of people!” He exclaimed.

“I was,” Jotaro admitted.

Before he could elaborate, Star manifested seemingly at random to stick a bandaid on Kakyoin’s cheek, which had been cut during his own battle with the Lovers.

“Thank you,” Kakyoin said to Jotaro, stunned at the action.

Jotaro shrugged. “It was Star, not me.”

Kakyoin turned to Star Platinum, who was smiling wildly a him. “Then thank you, Star,” he remedied with a laugh.

They arrived at their hotel and got separate rooms. They could only get two singles and one double, so Kakyoin insisted that him and Jotaro share.

“What I don’t get,” Polnareff said to Joseph when they were alone in the lobby. “Is why those two get along so well in the first place. I mean, it’s amazing to see someone grow on Jotaro so quickly!”

Joseph shook his head. “Kakyoin sees right past Jotaro’s hard exterior. He knows my grandson is nothing more than a big softie!”

“You sure figured them out quickly!”
“It reminds me of my boyfriend and I from when I was younger!” Joseph announced, nostalgia seeping into his tone.

“Mon dieu, I don’t think you’ve used the right word there,” Polnareff cautioned, surprised at the mistranslation.

Joseph shook his head with a misty look in his eye. “Nope, it’s true. His name was Caesar and I was in love with the asshole.”

Polnareff then had to sit through Joseph’s very long story about the pillar men, his hot mom, and his dead boyfriend. He was getting a little emotional over Caesar’s death, so Polnareff stopped listening and started thinking. Then something clicked into place.

“Hold on, are you saying you think that Jotaro and Kakyoin are together?”

“I’ll eat my hat if they aren’t,” Joseph swore.

At breakfast the next morning, Polnareff received a punch to the gut from Star Platinum for asking Jotaro and Kakyoin if they were sleeping together.

“Mind your business,” Jotaro grunted.

Kakyoin coughed on his tea. “No, we are not.”

Polnareff caught his breath, then yelled out out, “Told you, Mr. Joestar!”

Joseph only shook his head. “Well, not yet then!”

Joseph also received a whack from Star Platinum before Kakyoin told him to be nice.

Later, as they stayed at the hotel while Joseph and Polnareff explored, Jotaro saw Kakyoin looking at him strangely.

“What? Something on my face?”

Kakyoin laughed. “No it’s just… I mean we all know you’re in love with me, but I guess your face isn’t bad either. Maybe we should be sleeping together.”

Despite his efforts, Jotaro’s face flushed slightly. “Shut up.”

Kakyoin laughed hysterically. Jotaro smiled, really smiled. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to keep Kakyoin as his partner.

Chapter Text

Through some bizarre chain of events, Joseph came back to the hotel with a baby in his arms.

“I couldn’t just leave it!” Joseph protested when they asked about it. “Someone abandoned this child.”

Jotaro raised an eyebrow. “What are we supposed to do with it?”

“Please, just take it for the night. The Foundation will pick it up tomorrow, I promise. I need to get going though, I have business to attend to!” Joseph begged, holding the child out for them to see.

Before Jotaro could refuse, Kakyoin cut in. “I’m sure we can look after him until someone from the Foundation comes to pick him up,” he agreed politely.

Jotaro shot him a look as Joseph practically threw the kid into Kakyoin’s arms. “Thank you boys!” He ran off before they could change their minds, a classic Joestar tradition.

Jotaro looked over at Kakyoin cradling the baby in his arms and felt his anger completely disappear. “What do we do if we’re attacked by an enemy stand user?” he asked, finding his voice much softer than before.

Kakyoin noticed the change in his tone as well and held the baby a little tighter. “We’ll just have to protect him too. Polnareff and Joseph have left and it’s only for the night.”

Jotaro sighed, again entranced by the image of the red head holding the baby. “Have you… taken care of one of these before?” Jotaro asked gruffly.

Kakyoin chuckled a little at his lack of grace. “I had a baby cousin growing up. I’m used to babysitting,” he explained. “Do you want to hold him?”

Jotaro paled. “No thanks. What does it eat?”

Kakyoin hummed. “I guess we’ll have to try to find the stuff to make baby food in the town.” He adjusted the baby’s hat and smiled down at him. The baby didn’t seem to particularly care for him, it only sat in his arms and stared. Kakyoin and Jotaro went into town, placing the baby in the carrier Joseph had left with them. It probably looked strange to anyone who passed by the two Japanese men holding a baby of a much darker complexion than them.

They finally found a nearby market and Kakyoin momentarily set the carrier down. As he picked up a fair amount of milk, egg yolks, bananas, and bread, he didn’t notice a scorpion sneaking up onto the baby. Mannish Boy, being a stand user, quickly got rid of the scorpion using the safety pin on his diaper. Kakyoin happened to look over and see the entire thing play out. He shook his head in bewilderment, wondering if he had imagined the event. Before he could question it, Jotaro picked up the baby carrier and turned to Kakyoin.

“Is that it?” He asked, gesturing towards the food Kakyoin had picked up.

Kakyoin, still stunned, decided he must have been mistaken in what he saw. “Yes, I think so.”

As they handed over the necessary money to the man running the shop, a woman began fawning over the baby. She slinked right up to Jotaro and cooed at the child in the carrier he held.

“Oh he’s so cute! Is he yours?” She asked, batting her eyelashes up at him.

Jotaro wore an expression of disgust. “No.”

“Hm, so you don’t have a wife then?” She flirted.

Kakyoin rolled his eyes, realizing he needed to save the other man from this conversation before he made a scene.

“Jotaro, can you handle carrying the baby back to the hotel room?” Kakyoin asked politely, putting on a clear facade.

“Oh, it’s your baby?” The woman asked.

“He’s adopted actually! When we found him abandoned by his parents, we knew we had to take him in,” Kakyoin lied, laying it on thick. Jotaro said nothing.

The woman looked between the two of them suspiciously. “You two are… together?”

Kakyoin fumbled for a minute. He was worried how Jotaro would react and took a moment to glance over at him.

Jotaro’s face turned resolute. “He’s my partner,” he calmly announced.

The woman and Kakyoin both flushed. Technically, they were partners, but Kakyoin didn’t know if Jotaro understood the implications of what he had said.

“Forgive me, I didn’t know,” The woman said, eager to leave the conversation.

As she walked away, Kakyoin decided to not bring the interaction up out of his infinite kindness. He wanted to tease Jotaro, but he was honestly too stunned to manage a playful retort.

Jotaro looked at him strangely. “Are we done here?”

Kakyoin snapped out of it. “Uh, yeah.”

They walked on in an awkward silence, allowing Kakyoin to rethink the entire interaction.

“Sorry if you were interested in her, you looked uncomfortable though,” Kakyoin apologized, feeling Jotaro out.

“I wasn’t interested.”

“Okay, I thought so.”

Jotaro narrowed his eyes. “Why are you being weird?”

“Must just be the heat getting to me,” Kakyoin lied, pretending to fan himself. “Let’s hurry back. You’re okay with the baby?”

“Yeah.”

They arrived back at the hotel room and Jotaro was subjected to watching Kakyoin feed the baby. There was something about the idea of them taking care of this kid together that made Jotaro’s face color. He had realized that the woman was flirting with him, of course. He hadn’t realized, however, how it had sounded when he called Kakyoin his partner. That, coupled with the fact that they had his baby with them now, sure made it look like something it wasn’t. Kakyoin hadn’t brought it up, though, so Jotaro decided he could get over the momentary embarrassment.

“Jotaro?” Kakyoin asked, causing Jotaro to realize he’d been staring and hadn’t been listening.

“What?”

“I said I’m going to shower now. Can you watch him?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jotaro said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

Kakyoin snatched them from him. “You can’t smoke in front of the baby!”

“Good grief, fine.”

That night, Kakyoin had a dream about carnivals. He found himself on a Ferris wheel and was attacked by a huge being cloaked in a dark robe with a jester’s mask on. He couldn’t summon Hierophant Green, causing him to panic.

“Lali ho!” yelled the scythe-wielding being that introduced itself as Death 13. “It’s time for you to enter your eternal sleep!”

Kakyoin just barely managed to dodge the scythe, scrambling to get out of the way. The blade swung again and Kakyoin thrashed about trying to dodge it. Outside of the dream, he had fallen from his bed and onto the floor right next to the baby carrier. His swift kicks nearly knocked into Mannish Boy.

The stand grabbed Kakyoin by the top of his head. “Kakyoin pull yourself together before you crush my user!” He tied Kakyoin to a pole, restricting his movements.

Kakyoin was shocked. “Your user? You mean… that baby? That’s impossible, he’s only six-months old!” He protested.

“I’m eleven months! And I’m a genius!” He filled Kakyoin’s mouth with eyeballs, refusing to let him scream.

Kakyoin knew he had to find a way to let Jotaro know. He swiftly dug a blade into his arm, but still didn’t wake up.

Death 13 laughed at his efforts. “You can carve yourself up all you want, but you still won’t wake up! I’ll crush your heart, so Jotaro thinks you had a heart attack!” He raised his scythe, preparing to attack.

Jotaro was awoken by Kakyoin’s resumed thrashing about on the floor and moved to wake him up.  Death 13 noticed this and knew he didn’t have enough time to relish in Kakyoin’s defeat should he kill him now.

“You won’t remember this in the morning, but I’ll get you tomorrow night!” The stand promised.

Kakyoin kept carving into his arm until Jotaro woke him up.

“Hey, Kakyoin! What the hell is the matter with you?” Jotaro asked, shaking him firmly by his shoulders.

Kakyoin woke up disoriented. He was on the floor with no memory of how he had gotten there.

He rubbed at his head. “I think I had a nightmare, but I can’t remember…” He explained.

“That’s a hell of a nightmare. You almost crushed the kid,” Jotaro scolded, nodding towards the baby.

Kakyoin stood and felt something trickle down his arm underneath the long sleeve of his pajama shirt.

Huh? I thought I was feeling twinges of pain, he thought as he looked at the blood. He rolled his sleeve up to find the words BABY STAND cut right into his flesh and gasped.

Jotaro looked over at him quickly. “Kakyoin, what’s going on?”

Damn it, I was told he as clever… thought Mannish Boy, who hadn’t expected Kakyoin to carve the words into his skin.

Kakyoin looked over at the baby and noticed the way it looked away from him deliberately.

“Jotaro, I think this baby is a stand user!” He said, picking it up harshly. The baby began to cry.

Jotaro gently took the baby into his arms, keeping it away from Kakyoin. “I didn’t notice any stand activity over the night.”

Kakyoin pulled his sleeve down quickly, hiding the wound from Jotaro.

“I think that’s part of its ability. I just know this baby had something to do with my dream!” Kakyoin insisted.

Jotaro was torn. On one hand, he trusted in Kakyoin’s judgement and knew he wouldn’t be making something like this up. On the other, he himself hadn’t noticed anything off about the baby. In fact, the one acting strange was Kakyoin himself. Almost like he was possessed…

Jotaro, if he had even an iota of couth, would have phrased his next words more delicately had he been given the time to think. “Are you sure it’s not just you?”

Kakyoin’s heart sank at the question. He felt like he had been punched in the gut. No, speaking from his own experience, this was much worse. He noticed the way Jotaro was holding the baby out of his reach as if Kakyoin was the crazy one.

“I know what I experienced!” Kakyoin countered. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this baby is a stand user.”

“Let’s not do anything we might regret. Someone from the SWF is picking the kid up tomorrow, we can wait it out until then.” Jotaro set the kid back in the carrier, keeping a suspicious eye on the other man.

Kakyoin saw that the baby seemed to be sneering at him. “I’m not imagining things! I’m sure he’s a stand user, and I have the proof!” He announced, pulling down his sleeve to reveal his cuts to Jotaro. “Do you see these cuts? Read what the letters spell out! Can’t you see that it’s a warning? It must have happened to me when I was sleeping!”

Jotaro looked at him in horror. “Kakyoin, you didn’t do that to yourself, did you?”

Kakyoin realized that this only served to make him look more crazy to Jotaro. “It looks like I have no other choice! Hierophant Green!”

He summoned his stand and Jotaro quickly summoned Star Platinum to knock him out before he could hurt the baby. Kakyoin fell to the ground with a loud thud. He was out cold.

Good grief, thought Jotaro, wondering what the hell had gotten into him. Jotaro picked him up and carried him back to his bed before returning to his own. It was still early and they had time to sleep. The baby seemed to smile sinisterly.

Jotaro woke to find himself in an amusement park. He tried to summon Star Platinum, but he wouldn’t come forward. Death 13 showed up instead.

“You can’t summon your stand in a dream! This will be an easy victory!”

Hierophant Green snuck up behind him and grabbed his throat.

“What? This is the real Hierophant!” Death 13 panicked, clearly confused.

Then Kakyoin appeared. “Obviously it slipped your notice that I had already summoned my Hierophant by the time I was knocked unconscious,” he said smiling.

“You can’t do this!” Death 13 argued, thrashing around in an attempt to get the stand off of him.

Kakyoin crossed his arms, standing up straight. “It’s time for your punishment, baby.”

Hierophant slinked around the stand, coiling itself tight like a boa constrictor. Death 13 waved his scythe around, trying to hit the stand.

“Give up Death 13! You can’t keep up this futile struggling. I really don’t care that you’re a baby, I’ll snap your neck like a twig!” Kakyoin threatened. He didn’t mean it though, as he still hadn’t squeezed tightly enough around the stand’s throat to be fatal.

The sky turned black as the clouds closed in on them.

“Don’t try anything, Death 13!” Kakyoin demanded.

Jotaro noticed the stand raising his scythe way above his head and called out, “Kakyoin, you have to get Hierophant away from his back before it’s too late!”

They watched the stand bring the scythe down on it’s own body in horror.

“Impossible! He chopped himself in half!” Kakyoin exclaimed.

“Kakyoin!” Jotaro yelled, rushing over to make sure he hadn’t been chopped up as well.

Death 13 swung around. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Death 13’s body is as hollow as the space between your ears!”

“Nice try, Death 13,” Kakyoin huffed.

Hierophant slithered into the stand’s ear and caused its arm to swing the scythe at its own throat. Death 13 knew he was defeated.

Kakyoin knew he had won. “Unless you’d like to be destroyed from the inside out, let us wake up with our memories intact!”

“Right!” Death 13 obeyed.

In the morning, they both remembered the fight. Kakyoin was pointedly avoiding any and all interactions with Jotaro. He even requested a separate hotel room on an entirely different floor so he wouldn’t have to see him. He spent the whole day in there, refusing to come out. Jotaro had to go alone to meet the agent that was picking up the baby.

As far as Jotaro was concerned, this was absolutely fine with him. He knew he was hard to work with and frankly didn’t care if he had another failed partnership on his file. It was no skin off his back, right? That’s what he thought at least, until he was laying down in his hotel bed, unable to stop thinking about it. I mean, it wasn’t his damn fault that he couldn’t believe him about the stand attack. Kakyoin was being completely unreasonable for expecting Jotaro to trust him so blindly. So it really wasn’t his fault. Yes, he was perfectly fine with Kakyoin giving him the silent treatment.

Jotaro sighed heavily before standing up and walking to Kakyoin’s room. Goddamnit, maybe it was bothering him a little bit.

When Kakyoin heard the knock at his door, he already knew who it was. He briefly considered pretending to be asleep, but that would be childish. He was going to calmly tell Jotaro to leave and that would be the end of it. He opened the door and did just that.

“Go away, I don’t want to talk to you.”

Jotaro kept a huge, steady hand on the door so Kakyoin couldn’t slam it in his face. “We need to talk.”

“I have absolutely nothing to say to you.”

“Can you hear me out then?” Jotaro asked, betraying a little bit of his vulnerability.

Kakyoin only scoffed. “Like you so attentively listened to me about the stand user?“

“Come on, let me in.”

“No,” Kakyoin insisted.

“Kakyoin,” Jotaro said. “I’m—I’m sorry alright?“

Kakyoin didn’t realize how monumental the phenomenon of Jotaro apologizing was. “Oh you’re sorry? Congratulations, I hope that makes you feel so much better.”

“It doesn’t,” Jotaro admitted through gritted teeth.

Kakyoin sneered. “Great, have a good night.”

Jotaro threw his hand on the door again, nearly putting a hole in the wood. “Are you going to terminate the partnership?”

Kakyoin was shocked by the question. He hesitated before stepping back from the door and letting Jotaro in his room. Jotaro wasted no time in coming in and closing the door while Kakyoin took a seat at the edge of the bed. After a beat of hesitation, Jotato sat next to him.

Kakyoin began to talk. “You know this partnership isn’t going to work if you don’t trust me. You didn’t listen to me about the stand user. How are we supposed to work together now?”

“So, you’re terminating it,” Jotaro said with finality.

Kakyoin sighed. “Do you want me to end it?”

Jotaro should say yes. He should agree and be done with it and go back to working solo. That was what he wanted, right? He didn’t say yes though. They had been working so well together before this, and ending it here seemed premature. He sat for an uncomfortable stretch of time before Kakyoin gave up on getting an answer and sighed.

“I don’t want to terminate it, Jotaro. As difficult as you are, I still need to gain face and we do work well together when we’re on the same page. I just need you to listen to me from now on.”

“Fine,” Jotaro agreed.

“Fine?” Kakyoin asked, voice flat.

“I’ll trust you… to a degree,” Jotaro promised.

“I guess that’s as good as it’ll get.” Kakyoin bumped his shoulder against Jotaro’s, the last remnants of his anger finally disappearing with it.

Jotaro could have left it at that, but one thing was still bothering him. “Kakyoin, why did you react like that when I didn’t believe you?”

Kakyoin drew in a sharp breath before deciding to answer. “It reminded me of how my parents thought I was crazy because they couldn’t see my stand.”

Jotaro sighed, clapping a hand on Kakyoin’s shoulder. “I see.”

Kakyoin shrugged, leaning into the touch. “Well it’s getting late…” He looked up at Jotaro through his eyelashes.

Jotaro registered the action, but didn’t acknowledge it. He stood up.

“Alright, good night,” he said, crossing towards the door.

Kakyoin stopped him. “Jotaro?”

He stopped walking to the door and looked back at Kakyoin.

Kakyoin looked at him for a moment. Here Jotaro was, sweatpants and all, standing in his room in the middle of the night.

He smiled. “Don’t act like you don’t enjoy being my partner, you bastard. You came all the way over here in the middle of the night.”

Jotaro looked to the ground and smiled back. “Good night, Kakyoin,” he said, walking out.

“Asshole,” Kakyoin called after him. The door clicked closed and Kakyoin fell back on the mattress. “Fucker, I know you like me,” he whispered to the ceiling.

And if Jotaro walked all the way back to his room with the dumb smile still lingering on his face, that was his business.

Chapter Text

They worked a couple odd cases after Death 13, but nothing too noteworthy. Despite their argument, they had been working like a perfect team as always. There was one case in particular that they didn’t have quite so much luck with…

“Oh Jotaro!” the High Priestess’s stand user called out. “Believe it or not, you’re actually my type! So this is going to be as painful for me as it is for you. But despite my feelings, I still have to make the High Priestess digest you. How sad!”

As she carried on, Kakyoin quickly pulled Jotaro close. “Listen, you’re going to tell her that if you had been able to see her face, you might have fallen for her too.”

Jotaro turned away in disgust. “Good grief, do I have to?”

“If you don’t want us to get digested by her stand,” Kakyoin snapped.

Jotaro shrugged. “Sounds preferable.”

Kakyoin shoved him. “Just do it.”

Jotaro rolled his eyes and began to speak. “It’s a shame things turned out this way. I would have liked to have seen your face, if only this once. You might have been my type too. And if you were, well, I just might have fallen for you.” It was the poorest acting performance of all time, but the woman gasped nonetheless.

“She sure sounds attractive,” Kakyoin said, hoping to sell it even more. “Just like Audrey Hepburn.”

The woman’s gasping suddenly turned to anger. “You bastards didn’t mean a word of that! I’ll kill you!”

Kakyoin called out, “Look, it’s a tongue! The stand’s tongue, to be exact.”

Jotaro was suddenly flung in between the stand’s teeth, making a horrible crunching noise. Kakyoin felt his heart drop as he thought Jotaro had met his demise. That is, before he saw Star punch through the High Priestess’s teeth.

After defeating the stand user, they were both wiped out.

“Well, you’ll never be able to pull off another honey trap again,” Kakyoin teased as they walked back to their latest hotel room.

“We still won,” Jotaro insisted, lighting his cigarette.

“Yeah but, my god! Have you never flirted with anyone in your entire life?” Kakyoin asked.

Jotaro knew this was going to be the thing Kakyoin would rag on him about for the rest of the day. “I don’t need to.”

Kakyoin rolled his eyes, elbowing Jotaro a little as they walked. “Okay, cocky bastard. Your face won’t make up for that terrible personality of yours.”

Jotaro decided to ignore the comment. “I meant that I’m not interested in that sort of thing. Girls just tend to annoy me.”

“Ha, you should never be in a relationship then,” Kakyoin commented. He had noticed Jotaro’s complete lack of interest in women already, but having the man confirm it was another thing.

“You think you’d be any better?” Jotaro challenged. He had had his fair share of admirers in high school. If he had wanted a girlfriend he would have had one by now.

Kakyoin smiled. “I happen to think my personality is much less abrasive than yours.”

Jotaro crushed his cigarette under his shoe. “Sounds a little abrasive, don’t you think?”

Kakyoin was quick to argue back. “That doesn’t count, I have to be rough with you. Otherwise you’d just terrorize me.”

Jotaro huffed out one of his almost laughs and Kakyoin felt that he had accomplished somewhat normal banter with the man. Their conversations were slowly getting more normal, like they really were friends.

“Whatever, you were bad back there too. Who compares a woman to Audrey Hepburn?” Jotaro asked. He had been struck by the choice back in the fight and decided to bring it up now.

Kakyoin feigned offense. “Audrey Hepburn is gorgeous! It was a compliment!”

“Sure. You must have never flirted with anyone before either,” Jotaro chided.

“Not true!”

“Yeah? Ever been in a relationship?” Jotaro interrogated.

Kakyoin faltered. “Well, not exactly…”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Oh and you have?” Kakyoin challenged right back.

“Nothing serious. I did go to college though.”

“Gross, I do not want to hear about your college hookups,” Kakyoin complained. “But it’s the same for me anyway so neither one of us has any right to judge.”

Jotaro hummed. “I’m actually surprised you haven’t been in a serious relationship. You seem like the romantic type.”

“I do?” Kakyoin questioned. 

“Yeah, you’re girly like that,” Jotaro joked.

“Oh my god, you’re such an asshole.”

“I’m kidding,” Jotaro clarified. “But really, you do seem the type.”

Kakyoin shrugged, summoning Hierophant to float beside him as they walked. “It never worked out with other people. They can’t see Hierophant, you know? I’d have to be with another stand user so they’d understand what it’s like.”

“There’s plenty of stand users working for Speedwagon though,” Jotaro pointed out. Star Platinum manifested to walk with Hierophant. As Hierophant playfully whacked him with a tentacle, Star caught it and threw it back at him with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess I haven’t had the time.” Kakyoin said. “What’s your excuse?”

Jotaro smiled, knowing he had the upper hand. “I was engaged once.”

“You were?” Kakyoin exclaimed. He was so shocked that even Star and Hierophant looked over at him.

Jotaro grunted. “Is it really that shocking?”

“Why didn’t you get married? If you don’t mind my asking that is.”

“She wasn’t a stand user. You’re right, they don’t understand,” Jotaro explained. He paused, then added. “And we mostly got together because she thought she was pregnant. Turns out it was a false alarm but it made me realize I didn’t really want to marry her.”

“This is insane. I mean, I didn’t even think you could be in the same room as a woman. Now I’m finding out you almost married one?”

Jotaro shrugged. “People are annoying.”

Kakyoin laughed. “You say that, but I feel like we’re built a decent rapport. And I mean, you obviously care about people.”

“A decent rapport? Don’t go making me a freaking friendship bracelet or something,” Jotaro joked as they finally came upon the hotel. He looked over at Star and Hierophant, who were playing some short of game together.

“Ha! You just completely brushed me off even though I was saying something nice to you. I told you you’re abrasive,” Kakyoin said, punching in their floor number in the elevator.

“Whatever.”

Kakyoin felt that he was hitting a nerve so he did what he did best: he kept hitting it. “You know, I consider us friends.”

“Give me a break. We’re not gonna braid each other’s hair and have a sleepover.”

“You don’t want to be the best man at my wedding? Godfather to my kids?”

“Go to hell.”

“Meet you there,” Kakyoin retorted, unlocking their hotel room. He noticed Star and Hierophant hanging on to each other. “At least they seem to be friends.”

Hierophant was casually draped across Star’s shoulders and Star looked like the happiest stand in the world. Embarrassed, Jotaro recalled Star Platinum. Kakyoin quickly did the same with Hierophant. They hadn’t even really noticed they had called them out in the first place, casually bearing their souls to each other.

“Is this the part where you tell me I’m too difficult to work with and you’re terminating the partnership?” Jotaro asked, trying to deflect from their stands.

“Hm, no you still can’t get rid of me that easily,” Kakyoin said, stretching onto his hotel bed for the night. “Besides, I like the odd couple dynamic we have going for us.”

Jotaro responded with a “hmph” and sat down on his own bed.

Kakyoin turned off the lamp and rolled over. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Jotaro responded. He sat in the dark for a minute before deciding to speak up again. “We’re not friends, but you’re alright.”

“Awe, you do like me!” Kakyoin pretended to gush, rolling back over to face Jotaro. His eyes were sparkling.

Jotaro smiled fondly, running a hand through his hair since he had already taken his hat off. “Never mind. You can go screw yourself.”

Kakyoin laughed. “Don’t make me go get a separate room so you have to come crying to me in the middle of the night.”

“I was not crying,” Jotaro argued, sounding like a petulant child. His face still betrayed the softness he felt.

“You totally were. You were afraid I was gonna leave you.” A smile danced in Kakyoin’s eyes and across his face.

“I couldn’t care less if you do or don’t,” Jotaro asserted despite the fact that they both knew it was a lie. Kakyoin had melted his ice cold heart a long time ago.

“Sure, whatever you say, Jojo.”

Chapter Text

Being back in Egypt already had both Jotaro and Kakyoin on edge. They were here to see about a stand user, not relive their memories of DIO, but Jotaro had been tense and irritable all morning and Kakyoin hardly bothered to make conversation as they rode through the desert. Jotaro drove the buggy with a deathly tight grip on the wheel as Kakyoin stared out at the dunes of sand.

Jotaro was the one to break the silence. “Avdol has decided to help us with this one, apparently he’s met the stand user before,” he remarked. “He’s bringing someone else too, some guy named Iggy.”

Kakyoin brightened at the mention of Avdol. “That’s great, we’ll wrap this up in no time.”

Jotaro made a sound of agreement. “The sooner we can get out of Egypt the better.”

They spotted a helicopter in the distance as the two men from the Speedwagon Foundation landed, kicking up sand.

“That must be Avdol,” Kakyoin pointed out.

The two pilots stepped out, opening the back of the helicopter as Jotaro brought the car to a stop. Avdol stepped out, raising a hand in greeting.

“Jotaro, Kakyoin,” he greeted. “It’s been much too long.”

“Great to see you,” Kakyoin said with a smile.

Jotaro nodded. “So, which one of you is this Iggy guy?” He asked of the two pilots.

Avdol shook his head. “Neither of them. Iffy is in the back. It’s been a rough ride, so he’s quite irritable right now.”

Jotaro and Kakyoin watched as Avdol unwrapped a package of coffee gum. The blanket in the back moved, revealing a small black and white dog.

“This mutt is the stand user?” Jotaro questioned.

The dog kept from the back seat, stealing the entire pack from Avdol.

Kakyoin watched the scene with wide eyes. “Well, we’ve encountered an orangutang stand user before…” he pointed out. “I suppose it’s no different.”

Avdol bowed his head. “Believe me, Iggy is one of the most powerful stand users I’ve met. None of us can compare.”

The two pilots climbed back into the helicopter, taking off.

Avdol turned towards the car. “I can drive if you would like a break.”

Avdol got into the driver’s seat as Kakyoin claimed the passenger’s side. Jotaro went to sit in the back, but Iggy had beaten him to it, meaning he had to squeeze into the back of the trunk.

“I don’t see why this dog should have the back seat,” Jotaro complained.

Kakyoin looked back and laughed at him. “Just wait until he’s done chewing his gum and you can lure him back there with another piece.”

Jotaro crossed his arms and sulked. They rode on uninterrupted for a short period of time.

Kakyoin was the first to notice what happened. “Avdol wait, isn’t that the helicopter from before?” he asked, gesturing towards the wreckage.

Jotaro noticed the pilot dead under the helicopter. He had clawed at the side of the machine before dying and his mouth was full of water. It was a gruesome scene. Avdol brought the car to a complete stop as they all climbed out to investigate.

“There’s so much water in his mouth. It’s too much to just be from saliva,” Jotaro remarked.

“Are you saying it’s coming from his lungs?” Kakyoin asked.

Avdol called out to them, “I found the other pilot, he’s still alive!”

“W-water…” the man said weakly.

Avdol looked down at him. “You want water? Here, I have a canteen.”

Jotaro and Kakyoin caught up to him, catching sight of the extremely dehydrated man. As Avdol lifted the container to the man’s face, he started to panic. The water formed into a hand and decapitated man, killing him instantly. Avdol, Jotaro, and Kakyoin all jumped back to get away from the attack.

Avdol yelled, “The water, it must be hiding a stand!”

“No,” Kakyoin said. “The water is the stand.”

Maybe it was the heat or the fact that he was still on edge due to being in Egypt, but when Kakyoin saw the watery hand rise from the sand again, he didn’t call out his own stand. No, he just watched as it clawed at his eyes, nearly gouging them out in the process.

“It got Kakyoin!” Avdol yelled.

Jotaro felt his blood run cold in the heat of the desert. The stand moved to attack again, but the watch from one of the pilots beeped, causing it to go after the noise.

“It must be following sounds,” Avdol pointed out.

Jotaro rushed over to Kakyoin, lifting him up to carry him back to the car. Avdol assessed the damage, his face grim.

“It got his eyes. There’s a good chance he could go blind.”

Jotaro felt like his heart had stopped beating completely. He looked down at Kakyoin, feeling sick at the trickle of blood coming from each of his eyes.

As the stand tipped over the car, Iggy jumped out just before it came crashing down. Jotaro noticed, realizing the dog could hear the stand user. He clung to Kakyoin with one hand and used the other to keep them on the car.

Avdol jumped down and threw his bracelets off one at a time to mimic footsteps. He brought out Magician’s Red in an attempt to completely vaporize the other stand. The stand user fell for it, going to attack the last bracelet. Just as Magician’s Red was about to vaporize the water, it sliced at Avdol’s throat.

Jotaro left Kakyoin and Avdol near the car and began running as fast as he could. This, at least, would stray the stand user away from the other two men. He picked up Iggy on the way, forming a plan in his mind.

“It’s time for you to earn your keep,” he told the dog, holding it by the scruff of its neck. “I know you can hear the sense user, so where is he?”

Iggy struggled in his grasp before bringing out his own stand, The Fool. It took flight, allowing Iggy to cling onto it and escape the a sandy doom. The enemy stand was following close behind, after all. Jotaro hopped up to hitch a ride with Iggy. Unfortunately, they weren’t flying so much as gliding. When they got too low, Jotaro was forced to kick off the ground, revealing their position to the enemy.

A sandstorm beat away at them, also giving off enough vibration for the enemy stand user to keep track of them. Jotaro hit the ground and did the only thing he could think of: he threw Iggy at the stand user. This offered him enough time to sneak right behind the man, giving him the perfect position.

“I see,” said the blind stand user. “I didn’t expect you to be so close by.”

They were at a stalemate for a moment, waiting for the other to make a move. It was like a gunfight in an old Western. As Geb went to strike, Star Platinum was fast enough to hit N’Doul right in the chest, stunning him. The watery hand managed to knock Jotaro’s hat off, but Jotaro himself was unscathed.

“You actually managed to knock off my hat. I didn’t think you’d stand a chance. Now, I’m going to kill you for what you did to Avdol and Kakyoin!” Jotaro declared.

Before he could advance, N’Doul sent his stand to slice through his own head, dealing a fatal blow.

Jotaro was shocked. “What the hell? Why would you do that?”

“If I’m going to die, I’d rather do it myself. You may have taken down Lord DIO, but you won’t have the satisfaction of killing me,” N’Doul vowed.

“This doesn’t make any sense! Why the hell would you die for him? He’s already dead.”

N’Doul was quickly bleeding out. “My love for Lord DIO lives on though. Don’t you know what it’s like to love someone like that?”

Geb and N’Doul evaporated, leaving Jotaro to contemplate his last words.

“Love? What a joke…” he muttered. In the back of his mind, though, he couldn’t help but think of how he wished he would have jumped in front of N’Doul’s attack to save Kakyoin. Kakyoin, who was probably bleeding to death right now. Jotaro stood up quickly and started to walk away.

Iggy brought him his hat, wagging his tail.

“You brought me my hat? Maybe you aren’t so bad after all…” Jotaro said.

He put the hat on to discover a wad of gum stuck in it.

“You bastard!” Jotaro yelled at Iggy, who looked very pleased with himself.

Avdol drove the buggy up, blood still streaming down his neck. Kakyoin laid unconscious in the back seat, making Jotaro’s heart skip a beat.

“Jotaro! Are you still alive?”

“Avdol? You shouldn’t be driving. Move over,” Jotaro said as he climbed in the car.

He drove them both to the nearest hospital. They were immediately rushed into urgent care, leaving Jotaro behind.

“What is your relationship to the patients?” the nurse asked him.

Jotaro paused. “We all work together,” he explained.

“I’m sorry, sir. I won’t be able to update you on their condition if that’s the case.”

“What kind of shit is that? They’re my friends. I’ll pay whatever freaking hospital bills you have, just tell me how they are!” Jotaro demanded.

“Muhammad Avdol is expected to make a full recovery. He’ll be free to go tomorrow. Noriaki Kakyoin, on the other hand…”the nurse hesitated.

“What? Just tell me!”

“He’s in critical condition. There’s a good chance he might go blind.”

Jotaro felt that terrible feeling again. It was like an out-of-body experience where he kept thinking this couldn’t possibly be real.

“We won’t know anything until tomorrow. You can come back then.”

“Fuck that,” Jotaro said. “I’ll stay here all night.”

The nurse looked exhausted. “Sir, I really recommend you get some sleep. Being here won’t do anything but distract the staff.”

Jotaro eventually agreed to get a motel room for the night. It felt so empty without Kakyoin’s presence. He had grown used to sharing a room with the red-head, if he was being honest. He spent half the night wondering how the other man was doing.

In the morning, Jotaro headed straight for the hospital. Avdol had been released already and they’d hear more about Kakyoin’s condition soon.

“Jotaro,” Avdol greeted.

Jotaro’s expression softened. “Avdol, it’s good to see you doing well.”

“Luckily N’Doul managed to miss my major arteries,” Avdol explained. “I hear Kakyoin wasn’t so fortunate.”

“He’s… not doing well. I haven’t seen him, they won’t let me yet,” Jotaro said, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

“You two have been working together quite well,” Avdol remarked with a knowing expression. “You seem to hold a high respect for him.”

“I do,” Jotaro admitted, too tired to deny it. It was no secret anyway, Kakyoin was his longest surviving parter.

Avdol’s eyes widened. “I’ve never heard you actually say you respect someone out loud.”

Jotaro ducked his head. “Give me a freaking break. We make a god team, him and I. It would be a shame to have to leave him behind now, I hate to say it.”

Avdol nodded. “You two have become good friends then?”

“What the hell is that expression for?” Jotaro demanded, annoyed at the amused look on Avdol’s face.

“It’s good to see you opening up to someone, Jotaro. In all the years I’ve known you this is the first time I’ve seen you take an interest in someone.”

“Why does everyone feel the need to comment on our partnership? You said it yourself: we work well together.”

Avdol put a comforting hand on his shoulder, recognizing his outburst as a sign of his vulnerable state. “I hope he makes a full recovery. I’ll be taking Iggy back to the foundation now. He’s growing irritable.”

Jotaro watched him leave. At the very last minute he called out, “Thanks, Avdol.”

The other man turned back with a faint smile. “Of course. Let me know how Kakyoin is when you get a chance.”

Jotaro hesitated outside the door to the hospital room. They hadn’t let him see Kakyoin until this point. In fact, they hadn’t even really updated him on his condition without some pushing. He had smoked an entire pack of cigarettes while Kakyoin was in surgery to calm his nerves and now he smelt like a chimney. He finally pushed open the door.

Kakyoin’s head snapped up as he sent Hierophant out to run a feeler over Jotaro’s face in place of seeing him. Once he realized who it was, he relaxed. “Jotaro, it’s you.”

“Kakyoin…” Jotaro said, unsure of what else to say. Seeing Kakyoin now, like this, was too much. He has bandages wrapped around his head and looked so pale.

Kakyoin noticed the awkward silence. He joked, “If you’re here to confess your love to me, I just want to tell you how corny that would be.”

“Kakyoin,” Jotaro said desperately, not finding the humor in his words.

Kakyoin carried on, “I mean, really. It would be a little ridiculous for a near-death experience to make you realize you have to get that confession off your chest.”

“Noriaki, please.” Jotaro sat on the edge of the hospital bed. His eyes were misty, but Kakyoin couldn’t see that.

“Hey, you finally called me Noriaki.”

Jotaro laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

“Wow, you aren’t about to kiss me, are you?” Kakyoin teased. Jotaro noticed the faint color underneath his bandages, though.

“Oh,” Jotaro realized. “You’re embarrassed, right?”

“Ha! You’re just upset I wasn’t actually serious about letting you kiss me,” Kakyoin protested, crossing his arms and turning his face away.

Jotaro finally smiled. “Oh am I?”
“Yeah, try not to cry about it.”
Jotaro took the gamble. “I think you’d let me kiss you.”

“I’d do no such thing,” Kakyoin insisted, though his protest seemed a little too quick.

“Whatever you say,” Jotaro acquiesced, sitting back in the chair next to the hospital bed and folding his arms. He let the silence drag on, the only sound being the delicate beeping of Kakyoin’s heart monitor.

Kakyoin cleared his throat, placing a hand over his new bandages. “You know, this really sucks not being able to see.”

“Does it hurt?” Jotaro asked, suddenly feeling very concerned.

Kakyoin smiled sadly. “Honestly the pain medication is blocking a lot of it. It’s making my head feel a little floaty though.”

“Kakyoin… I’m sorry.”

Kakyoin tilted his head. “What for? You killed N’Doul, didn’t you?”

Jotaro grunted. “I shouldn’t have let this happen to you.”

“For God’s sake Jojo, it’s not your fault. His stand was so fast neither one of us could have stopped it.”

Jotaro moved to stand up. “You should sleep. I’ll be on my way.”

“You can stay,” Kakyoin blurted out quickly. “I mean, it’s just so quiet in here, you know?”

Jotaro paused, looking down at the man in the hospital bed. It hurt to see him like this, now that Jotaro was really looking. It was the first time he had seen him so defenseless. “That’s a bad thing?”

Kakyoin swallowed, summoning Hierophant. Jotaro looked at the stand in confusion, but Kakyoin didn’t elaborate. He hadn’t even realized he’d summoned it. Hierophant looked at Jotaro, as if urging him to stay. Jotaro sat down and Hierophant disappeared again, trailing a tentacle over Jotaro’s shoulder before it left.

“Kakyoin?”

Kakyoin shook his head. “Sorry, it just reminds me of when I was a kid,” he said with a dry laugh. “My parents, you know? They gave up on getting me help when they realized I wasn’t getting any better. Hierophant never went away but they couldn’t see him so they didn’t understand. Eventually they just…”

Kakyoin trailed off, raising a hand as if to say the rest of his sentence was obvious. He was embarrassed to be exposing his feelings like this, especially in front of Jotaro. He let his hand fall back down onto the bed. The silence from the other man started to make him worry, but before he could apologize, Jotaro grabbed his hand.

“Go on,” Jotaro said gently.

Kakyoin’s face grew red, both at the contact and at the fact that he had no idea what Jotaro looked like right now. Would his expression be hard and emotionless like usual? Or would it be soft and understanding?

“I was the only one who could see Hierophant, so I pushed everyone else away. I spent a lot of time alone. I guess I still was until, well, after the flesh-bud and everything.”

This was what it all came down to in the end: loneliness. Kakyoin hadn’t known true friendship his entire life. Even as he started working for the Speedwagon Foundation he hadn’t made too many connections. He was cordial with Avdol, but it’s not like they had managed to keep in touch. At the end of the day, Kakyoin typically returned to an empty apartment. Then DIO came and forced him into submission. It was Jotaro who pulled him out, Jotaro who saved his life in more ways than one. Even though Jotaro insisted, much to Kakyoin’s pain, that they were not friends, Kakyoin hadn’t been this close with someone before.

Jotaro looked at him for a long time, the only comfort he could offer being the hand resting atop Kakyoin’s own.

“I know how that feels,” Jotaro admitted, already berating himself for showing emotion.

Kakyoin stilled. “Tell me about it.”

So Jotaro did. He admitted that he was generally personable as a kid until he was jumped after school one day. He vowed from then on to not let anyone get close enough to hurt him again. He grew up and got stronger. In school, he had no friends, only admirers and enemies. His own father was never around and all he really had was his mom. He went away to University in America but still he was alone. Then his stand manifested after he graduated and his mom got sick. Her own stand was too strong for her. That was why he had to set out to kill DIO.

“The Speedwagon Foundation watched her while I hunted DIO down. I owe then a lot for that.”

Surprisingly, both men were comfortable to sit in their shared misery now. They were kindred spirits of a sort. After near decades of loneliness, they finally had each other for company.

Jotaro didn’t work another case while Kakyoin was in the hospital. He visited him nearly everyday, though. Sometimes he would bring him food to save him from the horrors of hospital dining. Other days he just sat quietly with him while working on his thesis. Every single time visiting hours ended, Jotaro would silently get up and Kakyoin would squeeze his hand. It made Jotaro’s heart swoop, but he couldn’t think on that too long.

On one particular occasion, they were listening to the radio together since Kakyoin hated not being able to see the television. The broadcast was some stupid romantic plot line that Jotaro was barely following, choosing instead to flip through a magazine. He stretched in the awful plastic chair and his neck let out a creak in protest.

“Why don’t you just sit up here?” Kakyoin asked, referring to his own hospital bed.

Jotaro considered it, but knew it was far too small for the both of them. He told Kakyoin that much, only causing him to move all the way over to make room. Jotaro hesitantly laid next to him.

“Now shut up, they’re getting to the good part,” Kakyoin demanded, gesturing towards the radio.

Jotaro felt awkward being in such a tight space, but suddenly started paying attention to the radio.

“How many men have you kissed?” asked the voice over the radio.

A woman replied. “Very few.”

“But you offered me a kiss. Why?”

“Such a foolish reason I’m afraid. I just… wanted to kiss you.”

“What is this garbage?” Jotaro asked, face growing red from embarrassment.

Kakyoin shrugged, unable to see his expression. “It’s the only good show on here, believe me I’ve looked. Well, I’ve heard.” He laughed a little at his own joke.

Jotaro’s heart beat a strange rhythm in his chest. “Are you actually into this?”

“Shh!” Kakyoin urged, trying to listen.

“What good are words when your heart is breaking? I tried to tell you, but you said you already knew.”

“I was as honest as I knew how to be. I’m telling you now quite frankly and honestly. If I did fall in love with you, it would still have to end in the same way.”

“If I’m never to see you again, I can forget you in an instant!”

“You were wrong, I want you! I love you!”

Jotaro would be lying if he said he wasn’t hanging on to every word of the broadcast. He’d rather die than admit this to Kakyoin though. He looked over at the man in question and saw him sigh deeply. Jotaro could feel the action near his side.

“You aren’t crying, are you?” Jotaro teased.

Kakyoin threw his hands up. “You’re just heartless. This is tragic, you know.”

“It’s just a stupid broadcast. Romance is for girls.”

“You did not just say romance is for girls. What are you, twelve?” Kakyoin accused.  

Jotaro scoffed. “Don’t you like sumo?”

“Why can’t I like both? Come on, drop the tough guy persona for five seconds.”

“What do you like about these anyway?”

“Well, it’s nice to think about, isn’t it?” Kakyoin asked, fidgeting with the hospital blanket. “You were engaged. You’ve never been in love?”

“No,” Jotaro insisted gruffly, forcing his voice to have more gravel than normal.

Kakyoin shook his head. “Liar.”

“You mean you have?”

“Well, I wanted to fall in love. I was a lonely kid, so I always wanted someone to come along and find something to like about me,” Kakyoin admitted. There was a bittersweet edge to his voice.

Jotaro swallowed, throat suddenly dry. He didn’t really understand his irregular heartbeat in that moment, willing it to go back to normal. “Right…” he trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“Isn’t it terrible, though? The broadcast, I mean. They both want to be with each other but they won’t say it.”

“Why don’t they?”

”They don’t think the other person feels the same way.”

“You’d think that would be obvious.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Kakyoin asked, voice betraying some emotion that Jotaro couldn’t place.

Jotaro nearly jumped out of the hospital bed when the nurse came in to say that visiting hours are over. He scrambled to get up as if they had been doing something they shouldn’t be.

“Goodnight, Jotaro,” Kakyoin said, squeezing his hand as always. It was an anticipated thing that still took Jotaro by surprise and made his face flush. The nurse looked at them strangely.

Jotaro left, pulling his hat over his eyes. “Night,” he said before he practically ran from the hospital.

Kakyoin’s eyes slowly healed and eventually he was able to take the bandages off. The twin scars over his eyes made something squeeze in Jotaro’s chest. Kakyoin had to wear sunglasses and still couldn’t leave the hospital yet, but it was a step in the right direction. He hadn’t lost his vision, after all.

Jotaro started to wonder how deep Kakyoin’s feelings for him ran. They seemed to be forging a strong bond, but it didn’t seem so cut and dry anymore. He wondered if Kakyoin had noticed every time they got close enough to cross the line of a platonic bond. He wondered if Kakyoin felt as strongly as he did.

Oh no…

He had feelings for Kakyoin. He was in much deeper than he thought he was. Every squeeze of his heart when he looked at him now had an explanation. Every time he looked at him a little too long or couldn’t help smiling at some sarcastic remark…

The right thing to do would be to go to the ethics committee and report the fact that he was compromised. It was only a matter of time before they found out anyway, so he thought he would nip this in the bud while he still could.

He reported directly to Agent Knowles and told her he was compromised.

“You?” she asked, judgmental as ever. “You’re the last person I would ever expect to see in my office.”

“You can use Love Shack on me,” Jotaro said with a serious look.

She nodded. “I’ve half a mind to do just that, with your consent of course.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

A robotic looking stand flew out and measured Jotaro’s heart using a stethoscope. The stand wrote on its clipboard plain as day: Jotaro Kujo is in love with Noriaki Kakyoin. It hadn’t even needed that much time to think about it.

“You’re aware that we have two options here,” Agent Knowles said, eyes bugging out of her skull when she read the diagnosis.

“Yes,” he replied, fully ready to face the music.

“Have you discussed the matter with Agent Kakyoin?”

“No, I’ve made the decision on my own.”

She rolled her eyes. “That should go over well. I assume you aren’t filing the appropriate relationship transparency paperwork?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.

Jotaro shook his head. “No, I’m requesting a termination of the partnership.”

“…You’re sure?” she asked after a beat. She was perfectly familiar with Jotaro’s reputation. The fact Kakyoin had stuck with him for so long had to mean something, but it seemed that it wasn’t her place to say such things.

“Yes,” Jotaro agreed, willing this to be over already.

“So be it then. I don’t think it’s the best move though.”

“I don’t care what you think.”

She stamped the file and closed it with a curt thud. “So you don’t. Have a nice day, Agent Kujo.”

“Oh, you prick.”

Kakyoin held in his hands the request for a termination of partnership. The reason for the request? It was listed right there, in all capital letters. JOTARO KUJO HAS BECOME EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED.

Kakyoin was truly at a loss. He hadn’t been in contact with Jotaro since the last time he visited him. There had been no phone call, not even an email. At first he thought this couldn’t be right, but Jotaro wouldn’t pull a joke such as this.

What hurt the most was that his feelings were requited after all. He had been fascinated with Jotaro for so long, but hadn’t even dreamed of thinking about a relationship with him. He thought he would just hang on to this little crush until they parted ways. He hadn’t expected it to spiral into the feelings he had now, and he certainly hadn’t thought that Jotaro felt the same way.

Jotaro didn’t visit Kakyoin for his last day in the hospital. It seemed that he wanted to leave it at a request for termination and be done with it. The moment that Kakyoin was discharged, he got dressed and marched down to the Speedwagon Foundation, full of determination. He burst into Jotaro’s office, but found that he wasn’t there. He turned around to see Jotaro ducking behind a corner to escape his line of vision.

“Hey, Jojo! Don’t ignore me, goddamnit,” Kakyoin demanded, heading straight after him.

Jotaro pushed past him to get to his office. “I really don’t—“

“What the hell is this about?” Kakyoin waved the paper in front of his face. He pushed past Jotaro and closed the door to his office behind him. Jotaro sat at his desk, resigning himself to the situation.

Jotaro’s eyes narrowed as he gestured towards the paper. “Says it right on there.”

“You didn’t think to discuss this with me before you went and tried to terminate our partnership, you asshole?” Kakyoin asked, marching right up to the desk.

“It’s a liability,” Jotaro admitted, looking away.

“Well guess what?” Kakyoin ripped up the termination request and pulled out a different paper from the file he held. He slapped the new paper down on his desk and the other man realized that it was a relationship transparency form. Moreover, it was already filled out and only required Jotaro’s signature.

“I have feelings for you too, dickhead. You could have just told me.” Kakyoin rubbed at his temples as if he had a headache. “I’ve only been flirting with you since Day 1. You really are dense.”

Jotaro glanced up from the paper and looked up at Kakyoin like he had saved his life. “Noriaki…”

“We could have had a nice confession, but no, you had to do it through paperwork. You are such an unromantic idiot,” Kakyoin complained.

Jotaro said nothing and signed the paper, handing it back to Kakyoin, who placed it back in the file and set it on Jotaro’s desk.

After a pause, Jotaro asked, “Can I make it up to you with dinner?”

Kakyoin grabbed him by the collar, forcing him to make eye-contact. “I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me.”

That was all the warning Jotaro got before Kakyoin connected their lips. They were both smiling.

Jotaro spent the rest of the night making it up to him. They laid together afterwards, Kakyoin’s head resting on Jotaro’s muscled chest. They were content just laying together, but conversation slowly trickled in.

“Nori,” Jotaro said softly, running his fingers through Kakyoin’s hair.

Kakyoin hummed in response, burying his face deeper in the other man’s skin.

“How long have you…?” Jotaro trailed off, even now too shy to say it.

Kakyoin smiled. “Since you risked your life and pulled that flesh-bud out of me. What about you?”

Jotaro felt something stir in this chest at the idea that Kakyoin had been in love with him all this time. “Ever since you almost beat me even with a flesh-bud in your brain.”

“All this time?” Kakyoin asked with a lazy smile. “I told you Hierophant is stronger.”

Jotaro kissed the top of his head. “Not as strong as our two stands combined.”

“Hm, maybe you can be a little romantic when you try.”

Chapter Text

A few years later, Jotaro and Kakyoin made the journey to Morioh. They had worked quite a few cases, before their unofficial retirement, but this trip was especially important. Besides the fact that they were in Kakyoin’s hometown, they were also visiting a kid known as Josuke Higashikata, the illegitimate son of Joseph Joestar.

“Just so you know, I’d kill you if you pulled something like this,” Kakyoin informed Jotaro as their car came to a stop.

Jotaro grimaced at the very concept. “Believe me, it’s impossible,” he said, knowing fully well that nobody could compare to the man sitting next to him.

“Oh, it better be,” Kakyoin threatened before dropping it. He reached out and held Jotaro’s hand, noticing the other man’s nerves. “I’m sure the kid won’t be so bad.”

Jotaro immediately relaxed into the contact and decided that whatever he did in a past life to deserve Kakyoin was totally worth it.

“Josuke, I’m your… nephew…” Jotaro introduced himself awkwardly.

Kakyoin couldn’t help the laughter that surfaced at the ridiculousness of the situation. It broke the tension they were all feeling.

Josuke felt himself laughing along with him. “And who are you?” He asked Kakyoin.
“He’s my husband,” Jotaro interjected, taking pride in this fact.

Kakyoin shook his head fondly. “I could have introduced myself, but he really likes saying ‘my husband.’” he explained to Josuke. “I’m Noriaki Kakyoin.”

He extended a hand and Josuke glanced at the ring on his finger. It was a platinum band with the tiniest emerald set into it. Jotaro wore a matching one. Josuke shook his hand enthusiastically.

“Oh, congrats nephew!” Josuke exclaimed. “I gotta ask, how did the proposal go?”

Jotaro flushed as Kakyoin smiled deviously. It was his favorite story to tell.

“Well,” Kakyoin began. “Your nephew here decided to bet my soul in a gambling match with an enemy stand user. I was so mad at him that we didn’t speak for a few days. Then he showed up at my doorstep with a. ring in his hand.”

Jotaro pulled his cap over his eyes. “It didn’t exactly happen like that…”

Josuke let out a howling laugh. “For such a scary-looking guy, you’re really not that tough after all!”

They spent quite some time in Morioh, having to deal with the stand users contained within the town. No matter how hard the battles were or how difficult times were, though, Jotaro and Kakyoin had each other to rely on.

“Maybe after this we can actually retire,” Kakyoin suggested. “I’m sure you’ve got enough Joestar money to get us a beach house.”

Jotaro looked at him fondly. “That sounds perfect, Noriaki.”