Chapter Text
If Jotaro had to be honest, Akira Otoishi had really made a mess of things with that Bow and Arrow. When he first arrived in Morioh, the Arrow surfaced pretty quickly, sending Morioh quickly into chaos. What made the situation worse was a hotheaded idiot stealing the Bow and Arrow and running amok around town. At least said idiot was now in the custody of the Speedwagon Foundation but the damage still remained.
He frowned, staring out at the ocean for a moment before flipping through some of the documents mailed over from the Foundation. Some analysis on the Arrow, recent research on Stands, and some other miscellaneous information. Stuff that honestly kept him in Morioh, more than Joseph Joestar being here too.
The Foundation said that someone would be there in person and meet him at the oceanside park to deliver more information on Akira Otoishi and the Bow and Arrow, but Jotaro wasn’t expecting a particular someone to be familiar. Reddish hair, lavender eyes barely visible behind dark sunglasses, and a thin smile. He wore a long green trenchcoat with large lapels decorated with cherry pins and a Speedwagon emblem over a black turtleneck with a white thin scarf to handle the cool spring breeze.
“I didn’t expect you’d be the one the Foundation was sending over, Kakyoin.” Jotaro peered up at him as he offered a friendly wave. It had been a good four or five years since they’d seen each other in person, though they kept in touch frequently since then. He had intended on seeing Kakyoin earlier, but a simple trip to Morioh to meet Josuke had turned into an ordeal and kept him busy.
“It was my request mostly,” Kakyoin admitted, sitting next to him on the bench and digging some papers out of his pocket. “The number of Stand Users here in Morioh intrigues me, but it also worries me. With such a high concentration of Users, it’s hard to say what trouble it could attract if it’s not already here. You should see the damage that Otoishi caused on his own with a singular Arrow. This list is impressive .”
Jotaro took the offered list, unfolding the paper several times. It truly was impressive, two columns of handwritten targets that Otoishi had apparently shot for fun. Most seemed nonsensical, but some might actually cause some trouble. “Last I heard, he still wasn’t talking.”
“They called me in for help,” Kakyoin said. “All I had to do was show a little Stand energy, say I was your friend, and the guy folded like paper. He kept sobbing and writing more and more on this list. I thought he was just repeating himself over and over again to keep me away from him, but there weren’t any repeat entries. He claimed not to know some details, so that’s the best we could get from him.”
“Good grief.” There had to be about 50 different items on this list, and all of these targets were hit within a month. Some were a bit more specific like ‘that cherry tree in Seaside Park’ and ‘some rats over near the Ken’ichi farms’ but others were like ‘pink apron.’ Not exactly the most helpful descriptions, but at least they had something to work with. He wasn’t exactly buying that Kakyoin didn’t threaten Otoishi to get the list, but as long as they got it, the methods didn’t exactly matter.
“If nothing else, this is a good chance to study what the Arrow can truly do,” Kakyoin admitted. “Perhaps we can further understand how the Arrow does this, how it awakens Stands, and maybe truly understand the nature of why Stands exist. It’s better to study this in person than attempting to make analyses from a research lab full of non-Stand Users who cannot see the same world as we do.”
Jotaro peered at his old friend for a moment. Kakyoin certainly seemed to be doing well. The last 10 years hadn’t actually been easy on him since he dragged Kakyoin’s nearly lifeless body from that water tower in Cairo in a desperate attempt to save his life. Kakyoin spent a year in a coma and then after that, attempted to struggle through a number of health issues and overcome the damage DIO had done to him both physically and mentally. Last time Jotaro saw him in person, Kakyoin wasn’t even fully walking yet, and now here he was in Morioh, sitting on a bench at the seaside park with one knee crossed over the other after he had walked there. “Are you sure you’re good with battles again?”
Kakyoin peered at Jotaro from behind his sunglasses, offering that thin familiar reassuring smile. “Medical research caught up to what it needed to get me back on my feet, and I’ve been cleared for about two years. I’ve been itching for an opportunity to get back out and do something with this second chance I have. And with all the research I’ve been compiling from you and Polnareff, I’d like to put a lot of theories to the test.”
Jotaro placed a hand on Kakyoin’s shoulder, not saying much as a bit of a smile crossed his lips. He didn’t need to say anything for Kakyoin to know what that meant. They’d known each other for ten years after all, and whenever Jotaro would come to visit the medical ward, he’d do much the same. Make sure to take care of yourself. Not that he expected Kakyoin to be reckless and forsake the second chance he now had. Jotaro knew some of the experimental surgery and prosthetics used to repair Kakyoin’s body, though he didn’t know the full extent of what was done to save his life and get him back on his feet.
Kakyoin knew full well the trials and likely injuries possible when dealing with a lot of Stand Users and his body wasn’t hardy as it used to be. But the more he heard about Morioh, the more the Stand Users here actually intrigued him. While some were capable of killing or causing suffering, most did not. When they were defeated, they became allies of some sort. Or at least left the group alone and didn’t use their abilities for harm. It was an odd thought after how much damage the Stand Users did on their travels to attempt to murder them. But DIO was long dead, no longer exerting that twisted charismatic influence on them.
“Come, I’ll introduce you to the core group here,” Jotaro said, standing up.
Kakyoin nodded, following him to the car. He wasn’t sure what to expect from them, though he had heard a great deal about this core group when talking to Jotaro over the phone. He stared out the car window, watching the town roll by.
And soon enough, Kakyoin had three Stand Users staring back at him as they all met in the Morioh Grand Hotel. He peered at them with his cold lavender eyes curiously, his sunglasses tucked into his jacket collar, mentally trying to sort out which one was which. Jotaro’s description of their appearances wasn’t much to go by as he tended to talk about Stands instead.
“These three are Josuke Higashitaka, Okuyasu Nijima, and Koichi Hirose,” Jotaro introduced them one by one.
So these are the three that have gained JoJo’s trust . Kakyoin wasn’t sure what to make of them, but Jotaro was selective with who he actually trusted, just like Kakyoin himself was. He’d detailed quite a bit of information to Kakyoin over the phone about each of them.
Okuyasu, younger brother of the previous owner of the Bow and Arrow. Possibly a natural Stand User, but it could also be a Stand from the Arrow. Former enemy turned reliable ally. The Hand intrigued Kakyoin with its ability to erase space between its hand and its target.
Koichi, Stand User from the Arrow and a close friend of the other two. He was the only long-ranged user of the group, balancing out the other two powerhouses. He seemed rather shy and uncertain.
Josuke, the Joestar of the group. Kakyoin admittedly wasn’t expecting someone so young, but Jotaro did say that he was in high school. He had some similar features to Jotaro. His Stand intrigued Kakyoin the most, the ability to deconstruct and reconstruct.
The three stared back at him, uncertain what to make of him just yet. His eyes seemed strangely cold and distant, though he was definitely trying to appear friendly. It made him look a little strange.
“This is Noriaki Kakyoin,” Jotaro indicated the redhead. “He’s an old friend of mine. He’s a Stand researcher with the Speedwagon Foundation and a long-range Stand user himself. Probably one of the smartest people I know, so make good use of his knowledge.”
Kakyoin offered a friendly wave. “Nice to finally meet everyone I’ve heard about.”
“So this is the informant you’ve been talking to?” Jotaro said.
“One of them,” Jotaro replied. “He’s been working on studying the Arrow and its effects since we retrieved it from Akira Otoishi though we’re no closer to understanding how it works.”
“Researching an Arrow in the lab only does so much to understand it,” Kakyoin added. “Understanding those affected by it and what it awakens will give much more insight. Perhaps then we can understand why Stands exist and how they came to be as they are.”
“Which brings us to the current task,” Jotaro continued. “Kakyoin’s gotten a list from Otoishi of all the people and things he shot with the arrow. He kept himself busy over the last month.”
Josuke stared as Jotaro unfolded the piece of paper. That didn’t seem like a very small list. “Just how much shit did that guy hit with the arrow?”
“A lot,” Jotaro frowned. “Seems he went on a metaphorical joy ride with the thing. Despite Kakyoin’s best attempts to pry the information out of him, we have a number of unknowns without a reasonable description, so we’ll investigate the ones which could cause trouble and have some knowns. We’ll start with some of the easy ones first. Here are a few close to your school.” He handed Josuke a shorter list.
Okuyasu skimmed the list over Josuke’s shoulder, frowning more and more as the list went on. “Trees? You want us to look at trees some dumbass hit with the Arrow?”
“There are legends that very old trees can gain souls,” Kakyoin said, “and Morioh is quite an old town. And if a Stand requires a soul…”
Josuke and Okuyasu stared at the redhead in disbelief.
Jotaro frowned. “Good grief.”
He cracked a slight smile. “I’m not being serious. These are legends, not reality. And while legends can tell us a lot about what people believed they saw, possibly linking them to Stands throughout history, it’s still not reality. I’m more concerned with what was in the trees at the time, making it appear that the trees have Stands. We know from experience that animals are perfectly capable of having Stands, though the type of animal and the requirements to develop one are yet unknown.”
“Jokes aside, he has a point,” Jotaro agreed. “Animal Stand Users can act on baser instincts, and you can imagine the trouble a cat Stand or even a skunk Stand could cause around town.”
Okuyasu shuddered. “I don’t want to think of a skunk Stand.”
“Neither do I,” Josuke agreed. “So let’s just check it out after school tomorrow just to be sure.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Koichi said. “Count me in too.”
After some chatting, the trio left the hotel.
“Dude, there’s something up with that Kakyoin guy,” Okuyasu frowned.
“He just seemed a little weird,” Koichi admitted. “But I can’t say I’ve met a researcher from the Foundation before. Maybe that’s just normal.”
“No, not that,” Okuyasu insisted. “He was acting all friendly and shit, but those eyes just looked really cold and distant. I bet he was looking down on us like some bigshot researcher looking at some idiot high school students.”
Josuke scoffed. “His eyes were cold, but I doubt it’s that. He’s Jotaro’s friend, so I’ll give him a chance. Maybe we just need to get to know him is all. You remember how distant Jotaro was when he first arrived.”
They weren’t completely wrong in their observations. Kakyoin was cold, though he certainly wasn’t looking down on them. He wanted to get to know them. Ten years ago, he had finally found a place among the Stardust Crusaders, and after nearly being killed by DIO, he was stuck in the Foundation’s medical facility among people who couldn’t see his Stand, nor did they particularly understand what one was. It made him feel distant and alone again, and it wore on him. He felt more at home working with those who understood the supernatural, but at that point, he’d already grown distant and cold.
Kakyoin stared at the back of the hotel door after the trio left. It was the first time he’d been around Stand Users other than Jotaro, Joseph, and Polnareff, and all he could feel is distant. Perhaps he needed to give it time.
“Let’s go talk to my old man,” Jotaro invited him. “He’ll be happy to know you’re here. Even with his mind going, he still asks about you.”
Kakyoin perked up. “Yeah, I’d definitely like to go say hi. He’d be upset if I didn’t.”