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Kakyoin was sitting down on the stairs outside, leading out to the huge backyard of the Kujo household; It was late already, the sun was setting and Kakyoin was focused on the way the rays of sun came through the leaves of the huge tree planted on the side of the yard. Behind him was nothing but incredibly loud voices and laughs and overall chattering. It was a holiday, so naturally, Jotaro would want to spend the days in Japan with his family, obviously bringing Jolyne with him. Kakyoin didn't really wanna come along since he partially wasn't part of the family but Jotaro, Holly and even Sadao insisted he went to celebrate with them and Kakyoin could not feel anything but grateful to be recognized by the Joestar-Kujo family as one of them too, his family usually didn't celebrate the holidays together and if they did it was only between them and a few other family members that lived nearby, nothing too huge either and Kakyoin didn't really like having to speak to people he didn't even remember. But he was just a teenager, so it was most probably natural.
then he briefly heard delicate yet, recognizable steps; Holly walked really fast even for short distances. She stood beside him, and Kakyoin didn't really pay attention to her. He figured she was just looking for Jolyne outside. Poor Jotaro had to deal with Jolyne during her running away as soon as she was let loose phase, they were so afraid of taking her to parks and supermarkets because she'd always run off and they had to chase after her. They had gotten her a child safety tether but Jotaro mentioned it being a "leash" and Jolyne resembling a dog which Kakyoin argued against freeing her from it but changed his mind as soon as Jotaro actually unlatched her and she went off running to the park's playground as soon as she caught a glimpse of it.
"Kakyoin...? Kakyooiiin?" Holly tapped his shoulder lightly, Kakyoin had forgotten she was there. "Ah! Holly-san, I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Is anything the matter?"
Holly smiled at him, waving her free hand around and leaning down to offer him a tray of blueberry cupcakes without glazing. "I was thinking you might want a cupcake? They're freshly baked!" Kakyoin looked at them briefly, just analyzing which one looked the best. He picked a nicely round shaped one and muttered a thanks to her before taking a small bite out of it. It tasted fresh, and it was just the perfect scale of fluffy, and there was just the right amount of blueberries in it. Again, Holly's baking and cooking were always spot on. "...Why are you all alone here? I was looking for you inside but I didn't find you so I figured you were outside, you haven't eaten a lot today. Is everything alright?"
Kakyoin nodded and shot her a gentle smile, staring at his nibbled cupcake. "Yes, everything's alright. I just wanted to relax a bit. It's very loud inside anyway...ah- I guess I don't have a lot of appetite right now. Sorry"
"It's okay, I just wanted to come and do you some company. Jotaro was looking for you too, I asked him what was it that he needed, he just told me that he didn't need you anymore because the moment had already passed and it would be of no use to explain it to you...apparently Jolyne blew her first bubble with those bubble thingies Jean got her but it blew up almost as soon as it appeared."
Holly giggled to herself and Kakyoin chuckled at the thought of Jolyne almost blowing her cheeks up with how much air she inhaled before trying to blow bubbles, the way they would get so red from the effort she was putting into it. She was such a character, Kakyoin thought.
"Hm, Jolyne is so energetic, me and Jo- Jotaro, and I can hardly keep up with her." Kakyoin followed Holly as she placed the tray of cupcakes on the wooden plank floor and sat with him, smoothing her Christmas sweater over, she snickered. "Ah- haha! Yes, yes. Jotaro was just like that when he was little, Sadao had to hold him from the scruff of his tee. He looked like a baby kitten when their mom picked them up!" She laughed loudly, Holly was so fond of the memories she had of Jotaro when he was just a little toddler, even when Sadao's memories of him were very blurry, Holly managed to remember them clearly with all the minor details included, everything! And no wonder Jotaro had a very good memory too.
"Yeaah...sometimes you just wish they stayed kids forever, don't you?" Kakyoin stared off into the distance, Holly moved closer to him, exhaling. "Yeah, Jotaro really was a handful though, one time he took a clump of sand from the backyard and put it in his room–told me he was gonna build a sand castle..." Holly smiled fondly, Kakyoin just stared at her, paying attention to her little anecdote. "you know when I was a kid I would try to bake cookies for dad, even if the cookies were made out of wet dirt and I used rocks as the chocolate chips, he still acted like he ate them." Holly smiled, one of the very few things she still remembered about her childhood was Joseph's commitment as a father; he really loved her and would give the world for her. Kakyoin knew this too; he couldn't think of anybody else in this world who would risk their life and travel all the way to Egypt to fight an evil vampire that's been hunting down the entire bloodline for years, real love right there.
"Hm...well, when I was a kid, I remember I used to grab the jigsaw puzzles in kindergarden, and I remember I would like— take the pieces out of the box and arrange them and then destroy the arranged puzzle and then arrange it again, and I would just do it all day non-stop. I don't know why I did it, but it kept me busy, I guess, I remember being really concentrated on it..." Kakyoin looked away and at the backyard once again, thinking about what Holly had said earlier. "Maybe I just...I don't know- maybe it made me drift away, of course I was only like 6 so I can't exactly remember the reason but if I had to say what it was I would probably say that."
"Oh- well, at least you can say you were a smart toddler!" Holly giggled softly and quietly. But she paused, and slowly, her smile became smaller. "When I was a little kid, I used to bring my dolls to school, and I talked to them during the breaks and..." a sudden big silence followed "my friends, they looked at me weird and I noticed. I just didn't ever mention it, I just— shrugged it off" Kakyoin caught what looked like to be a frowning Holly through the corner of his eye, but she quickly regained her composure and smiled again, turning to Kakyoin. "I didn't have a lot of friends back in school, I remember clearly. I never had an issue with it— well," she chuckled "I did actually, I never said anything because I didn't want to seem pushy or attention seeking, I thought they'd hate me for it. So I thought I was very close to my friends but in reality I kept myself distanced, because I felt like they were pushing me back out from their group even if I wanted to enter, I failed to notice it was me doing all the dirty work and not them— but again, they didn't like me a whole lot either and we were just kids so what was there to do?" Holly looked at Kakyoin with lidded eyes, she seemed to be dwelling on long, buried memories that she came back to every once in a blue moon. Kakyoin couldn't help but feel sorry for unintentionally having made her bring the subject up, but this was a very drastic change from their tone earlier and Kakyoin had never heard this from her, it's only fair; she didn't know a lot about his childhood either.
"Yeah, I- I get it." Kakyoin gulped, clearly showing the fact that this was a complicated subject for him. "When I was a kid..." he paused "when, I, was a kid, I didn't really speak to other children. I also kept my distance but not unconsciously, I did it because I felt like I had to, I— I shelled myself away like a turtle from contact with other kids my age, with my parents...just because I didn't feel understood. Because I felt like," Kakyoin made a small pause, breathing in and letting out a hefty sigh. "I felt like if I did, they would call me crazy, shut me off, and tone it down to nothing." Kakyoin motioned roughly with his hand, bringing his knees up to his chin.
Holly's expression had massively changed over the course of a few sentences, her expression now serious, but Kakyoin could sense the concentration in her eyes, Holly was not hearing him. She was listening to him. She nodded at the last few words when Kakyoin turned to Look at her, their eyes met, and a soothing feeling washed upon Kakyoin, he felt relieved to be under her gaze, warmth in her expression.
Holly understood.
"Kakyoin." She smiled at him. "I know what it is like to feel like you. But now, the people you've grown around-" Holly looked back at the big opened door were Polnareff and Joseph were playfully arguing over something, while Jotaro walked back and forth with a sleeping Jolyne in his arms and a relaxed Avdol seeing the scene go down. "With them...with me— just know that we're always gonna be there for you, bad moments, good moments," she laughed heartedly. "neutral moments, we don't care what it is as long as it's you. We'll always have your back. You have a family here with us, Kakyoin—" Kakyoin stopped her, putting his hand up. He smiled at her, his lips curling up in an unnatural but familiar way that made him look like a frog, a genuine smile. "Please, just Noriaki."
Holly snickered, then chuckled. Sliding even closer to him to wrap a tender arm around his shoulder, pulling him in to rest against hers and naturally Kakyoin leaned in against her, interlocking his hands together while she opened her mouth again to keep speaking. "So, if you ever need someone, anyone, don't hesitate to call us, we'll always have a place for you here" she pointed to the floor to symbolize the house "and here" she placed her hand on her chest.
"And you have Jotaro...and Jolyne. I doubt you'll ever feel alone again, Noriaki, and if you ever do, just look above at a sunset and think about what I'm telling you, don't ever let anyone make you feel alone or not seen or misunderstood, we weren't made for that— we're human beings we were made to be around each other, to communicate, to learn, to feel with others. Don't let anyone take that right away from you."
Kakyoin was silent. He glanced over at the unfinished cupcake he had set down earlier, now claimed by ants. He exhaled like if a huge weight was set down from his shoulders. "Thank you, Holly-san."
"Please, just Holly, dear."