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For Doctor Kujo, the worst moment of his life happened on a beach, but he managed to win that terrible battle that cost him a scar on his face and some on his daughter Jolyne.
After the victory against the cursed Father, he discovered several things about Pucci. One of them was a cache containing several Stand disks, from users he never imagined existed, even Whitesnake. It seems that Pucci lied when he mentioned Whitesnake being replaced by C-moon, as Jotaro found the disk containing the Stand.
The Speedwagon Foundation soon performed a procedure on Doctor Kujo and he now has two Stands, Whitesnake being incorporated into his mind and being able to be used along with Star Platinum. At first, Doctor Kujo only used that Whitesnake ability to study the various Stands found in Pucci's hideout in a church in Florida and who traveled miles to Japan alongside the Doctor.
They were strange Stands, some in the shape of animals, and oddly enough, Doctor Kujo enjoyed spending time occupying his mind testing them instead of letting what the doctors call post-traumatic stress disorder worsen his health.
Let's say that Doctor Kujo fell in love with one of these Stands, a disk containing a blue Stand with pink details that more resembled a rabbit. He got so attached to that Stand that he ended up taking the disc out to study at home, reserved. Star Platinum could stand to the side while he studied that rabbit's abilities.
However, Doctor Kujo didn't know what to name that ability. He looked at his cell phone and thought for a while. He unlocked the phone and saw the name of the album he was currently listening to.
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap…" he loves that album, he could spend all night listening to those songs. "Not bad for a Stand name." he muttered to himself.
And so, nights passed, and he always studied the Stand, until finally, Doctor Kujo understood how it works: he needed to be between two objects to work, and he was between a bookcase and the office door for that.
When Doctor Kujo found out about the ability, the first night scared him. There were many differences, but he understood that he was not at home. He means, not at his house. When he saw another version of himself, sitting at his desk instead of himself, he backed away slowly. He knew that person sitting at the table was him.
"So this is what I look like from behind, hmm?" He joked, laughing at his strands that escaped through the opening of the hat, merging with his hair.
He returned home after the first attempt and the splendid discovery, still full of questions. Had he traveled through time or between dimensions? His questions would be answered in two ways: more studies and more tests with the Stand. He took out the disk and replaced it with his Star Platinum, retreating to the room to sleep. He could study more the next day, take note of some characteristics of the unusual Stand, and find out if he traveled through time or between dimensions.
And so it was.
Days and days passed, Doctor Kujo studied more about the Stand and discovered that, of the two hypotheses, it was not time travel, but travel to parallel universes. He was scared and curious at the same time, and this led him to explore more and more of that Stand. He even wondered if he wasn't leaving Star Platinum aside, as he used Whitesnake more than him, besides, of course, removing Star Platinum's disk to replace it with the strange Stand's.
Days and days, nights and nights. And on one of those lonely nights in the double bed, thinking about irrelevant things before finally falling asleep, an idea popped into his restless mind. Doctor Kujo has challenged his limits by thinking of something.
What if in one of those realities his love is alive?
His uneasiness made him jump out of bed, terrified at the prospect. He was sweating cold, the fan turned on could not even calm his instincts that repeatedly said one thing.
Use that Stand to find him.
And that's what he did the next day, when he woke up. The Stand he abbreviated as D4C was safe with him. He had luckily managed to sleep the night before, shortly after getting out of bed. He took just one cup of chamomile tea, enough to knock him down, not even leading him to think about the consequences of the plan he had.
Doctor Kujo didn't even have a proper breakfast, he just got up, took that disk and left the house, leaving Jolyne sleeping.
He had a destination to go to, because years before, in one of the conversations they had in Egypt, his one true love said that every day he saw the sunset on the beach of Warui Ōkami no Wan, in Morioh, more specifically sitting on the bench that was close to pier 3.
Doctor Kujo never forgot those words, and now, it was his chance to look for him. He spent the whole day at the Speedwagon Foundation and at five in the afternoon, he drove to the Morioh beach that Kakyoin was so fond of, which was called Warui Ōkami no Wan. If he was going to find him, it would be right there.
Yes, Kakyoin.
Jotaro's true love was never his wife Norita, but Noriaki. The loss of Noriaki led him to choose his wife more by name than affection, so divorce was inevitable.
Doctor Kujo couldn't forget Noriaki's last words the night before the battle against Dio. Something was fresh in his memory, even though it all happened years ago.
"Jojo, when all this is over, I want to continue watching the sunset over Warui Ōkami no Wan every day, sit on a bench near Pier 3 and see the spectacle of nature in my eyes."
Young Doctor Kujo remembers laughing and asking something like "Won't you get bored of seeing the same scenery every day?"
"Not if I have you by my side." It was what Kakyoin said that night.
"I lov—"
Doctor Kujo whimpered about the memory, remembering that last sentence. He wanted to sit on that bench next to Kakyoin, but… when he got there, the place was empty.
That's when he took out the disk he named and abbreviated D4C from inside his purple coat. He chuckled and thought something rather silly.
Doctor Kujo could behold the reflection of the humanoid rabbit within the disk, and then, without a second thought, he removed Star Platinum from his head and placed it inside his purple coat pocket. Every time he did that, he felt a little dizzy, but it was the price to pay for having two Stands. Finally he became the strongest Stand user.
Within moments, Doctor Kujo had access to power he never thought he possessed. He looked to the side and saw that he was next to a trash can on the beach. He dragged this wastebasket so that it was in front of him, sitting on the bench, and then, D4C became effective. He was between two objects, enough for him to start scanning the universes.
It was unsuccessful on the first attempt. Everything looked the way it was, seeing himself sitting on the bench, in unimaginable closeness. Doctor Kujo then discovered that paradoxes were something the Stand user was resistant to.
Minutes passed while he turned universes and more universes in search of Kakyoin, but in all, he only found versions of himself scattered somewhere on that beach, appreciating Noriaki's absence alone. He didn't even interact with his other selves, Doctor Kujo only wanted him, Kakyoin.
That's when Doctor Kujo saw him.
Sitting on a bench, wearing his usual green uniform, Kakyoin admired the sunset behind the rock walls of Warui Ōkami no Wan. His bangs were blowing in the salt smelling wind, his youthful appearance was recognized even from the back, Jojo knew it was him!
Doctor Kujo's hands shook, finally he found him, it was not possible, he smiled with joy knowing that in one universe, at least in one universe, he was alive! Young and healthy, Noriaki was there!
He made a risky decision.
If Kakyoin was alive in one universe, he might as well destroy the D4C disk, put Star Platinum back and stay forever in that universe with Noriaki! However, his thinking was reckless, he couldn't leave his daughter behind because of an unhealed wound from his past, he loves Jolyne, he can't just do that.
"God, you're alive!" Doctor Kujo celebrated, looking at Kakyoin, combing his hair while sitting with his back to him.
"What's the point of being alive if I'm not happy?" said the redhead. “I could even have died in Egypt."
Doctor Kujo's surprise is gone. So did the journey to Egypt happen there too? Why was Kakyoin so sad? "Don't say that, dammit!"
"I… forget it, sorry if I spoke nonsense shit, my behavior does not allow me to think that." Kakyoin sighed, some kind of pain hurting him deeply. "Go home, Jotaro. It's getting too late for you to be around, I can take care of myself."
"And you're too young to be wandering around alone at this hour, Nori!" grunted Doctor Kujo.
Kakyoin got up from the bench, furious. "And you're too ancient to tell me what—" His eyes froze and his voice trailed off as he turned back. "Jotaro? Is that you?"
"Nori..." Doctor Kujo's eyes widened.
Noriaki muttered something incomprehensible, his voice stagnating in his throat.
Doctor Kujo was also surprised. Wait, shouldn't Noriaki be his age? Why was Kakyoin so young instead of being 40 like the other versions of himself he's seen before? That's what he thought, the probability scared him doubly. Doctor Kujo then decided to let it happen, see where the cursed destiny that Pucci so often talked about would take him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. Kakyoin changed the subject. "A Stand attacked you? Why are you older?"
Doctor Kujo felt a kind of rift in reality, which momentarily merged with his home universe, the differences between the two worlds flickering rapidly.
Sign that something was wrong, Doctor Kujo needed to go back.
“I'm not your Jotaro." Doctor Kujo shoved his hands into the pockets of his purple coat. “I— I stole a Stand just to say goodbye to you, Kakyoin, but I can't stay that long—"
The redhead's gaze pierced Doctor Kujo's.
"God, you are so beautiful!" Kakyoin smiled, warmed by the sight.
Doctor Kujo wanted to say the same. He wanted to be able to say how beautiful Kakyoin is and how much he loves him, but… he couldn't. He just changed the subject, trying to help him "But why are you so upset?"
Young Noriaki kicked a patch of sand onto the beach, not even paying attention to the sunset anymore. Not even the fact of having another Jotaro with him was a reason for exaggerated panic, after that journey from Egypt, anything was possible and a Jotaro from another universe was a grain of sand in front of the things he lived.
"Your other self..." muttered Kakyoin. "Today is an important day for me and he scheduled to see the sunset here with me, but so far he hasn't shown up and look at that, the sun is setting and he hasn't shown up. I'm upset about this, it shows that I'm not important to him."
Doctor Kujo laughed. He must be kidding.
"But you are important to me!" he said, correcting afterwards "Well, at least for me—"
"I understand."
"And why is today an important day?"
“It's Valentine's Day." Kakyoin replied. "I think I put too much expectation on today."
Doctor Kujo barely had time to close his mouth when he heard footsteps approaching on the beach. He heard heavy breathing, and a slurred apology:
“Nori, I…I was late, I'm sorry."
Doctor Kujo's eyes rolled to the side and he saw what he expected was going to happen. “Yare yare…” he sighed, tipping his hat down.
Dealing with another version of himself didn't seem like the problem, after all he saw versions and versions of himself in the D4C tests, but a younger version of himself? No kidding. Even the uniform he wore the same.
"You?" the youngest stammered, cleaning his uniform. "Who are you?"
“Doctor Kujo." Doctor Kujo considered reaching out to his younger counterpart, but the likelihood of a paradox made him decide against it.
The younger Jotaro chuckled. "Doctor who?"
“Kujo." added the eldest. "I am you."
"Oh my God..." Reality began to weigh on Kakyoin. "No, despite being equal, you are not the same person!" The redhead pointed at the two, confused.
Doctor Kujo explained "I think like him, I'm like him, I have the same Stand as him. The difference is that he is young, he can age, have a life by your side and you can mature together. I was angry, furious, and you changed me. Now you need to do it for him."
Kakyoin remained quiet, listening to the two intently. He approached the Kujos and slipped into their midst, a little confused.
Kakyoin said "It's still not right, cause Jotaro… is still you!"
"And he's a Jotaro too!" Doctor Kujo pointed to the youngest.
Kakyoin swallowed hard. What to do when there are two versions of your loved one in front of you? His confusion only increased, and he needed to sort things out!
“Okay, listen to me." the redhead called. “If you two are the same, explain something to me. That night in Egypt, before the worst day of my life, what did you say to me when I told you about the Warui Ōkami no Wan?"
Doctor Kujo felt a sharp tear come back in the form of nostalgia.
"Do I really need to say it?"
"Go ahead." Kakyoin challenged.
Doctor Kujo's look at Jotaro indicated the turn, being given to the youngest. The two counterparts looked at each other, and the younger one pulled a flower from inside his black coat.
Jotaro approached Kakyoin's ear and muttered a few words that were not heard by Doctor Kujo, watching the scene between the two from afar. He knew that words.
The words of love.
Kakyoin's eyes lit up after the request, and without thinking twice, the boy pulled Jotaro by the collar of his black coat, sealing their lips in a desperate kiss.
Doctor Kujo knows the words used by Jotaro, he can feel the connection between them. His heart squeezed in a priceless feeling of sadness, wanting that moment to actually happen, but it was okay.
At least in one world, they could be happy together and Jotaro finally said an "I love you" to Kakyoin.
"Yare yare…" Doctor Kujo walked away, muttering. Before he left, he heard Kakyoin laugh and say to Jotaro:
"Your coat looks bigger inside, you keep a lot of things inside it."
Doctor Kujo smiled. That was the right time to leave. He once again invoked the power of the Stand and in the blink of an eye, he returned to the original universe, looking back and no longer seeing his counterpart and Noriaki.
That moment made him smile, but… it was enough. He took the D4C disk and put it in his pocket, replacing it for Star Platinum, better take that artifact back to the Speedwagon Foundation, who knows one day he could pay a visit to Kakyoin again, just to see how they would be if Noriaki had survived.
Doctor Kujo was wrong about one thing: the best moment of his life also happened on a beach.
