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Jotaro Kujo, Noriaki Kakyoin observed, had many bad habits. He smoked, called his mother and most other women he encountered horrible names, disrespected his grandfather, yelled at strangers he deemed annoying, solved most of his problems with his fists, and appeared completely unaware of how much he intimidated others with his constant scowl, bad attitude, and towering frame.
Now, since a very young age, Kakyoin had become very good at reading the duality of people. He himself had his Stand Hierophant Green, which for a very long time no one else could see. So, he expected that everyone had something hidden deep within themselves; something other people couldn’t see – not necessarily a Stand, but something – that, combined with their outer appearances and habits, completed the whole person.
Jotaro was no exception. While his bad habits were abundant, Kakyoin noted that Jotaro’s good habits provided a paradox of being both subtle, yet pronounced. Pronounced because it happened so rarely that when it happened it spoke volumes, but subtle because it often manifested in Star Platinum’s actions. For example, Jotaro showed mostly an exasperated disinterest towards children, but Kakyoin had caught, on more than one occasion, Star Platinum helping their little runaway Anne keep up with Jotaro’s long stride as they walked together, ensuring she never fell too far behind.
Kakyoin already respected Jotaro because Jotaro had saved him from DIO’s control. Yet, it was these little idiosyncrasies that had solidified that respect and made Kakyoin proud to call Jotaro his friend.
And that respect had turned into admiration; and that admiration had turned into something Kakyoin had had no words for until Star Platinum had hugged him many nights ago when their journey to Egypt had barely begun. It had been a strange sensation; to be touched by someone else’s Stand in such a gentle manner. For the most part, when Kakyoin found himself interacting with another Stand, it resulted in violence. And while their very first encounter had been a bloody one, with Kakyoin not in his right mind at the time, every touch and action from Jotaro and Star Platinum since then had been kind ones.
I think I might love him, Kakyoin had confessed to Hierophant Green the morning after the hug, as he quickly threw his things into his bag to vacate the hotel room before Jotaro could awaken.
As response to that confession, Hierophant Green had folded his arms over his chest as if to answer, ‘well, what are you going to do about it?’
What if it was only Star Platinum who hugged me? Not Jotaro ordering him too.
Hierophant had gestured with one hand, palm upturned in the direction of the sleeping Jotaro, clearly communicating, ‘ask him.’
Ask him?
‘Yes, ask him!’
“Oi, Kakyoin, what’s wrong?”
Kakyoin let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He turned in his seat to look at Jotaro beside him. The two of them sat in the back of their most recently acquired vehicle: a beat-up, four-door passenger car. Outside, the sun beat down on barren, cracked land; inside, the air conditioner hummed. Mr. Joestar and Polnareff were up front, bickering over whose interpretation of the map was correct. Answer: likely neither; Kakyoin predicted that Mr. Joestar would pull the car over at any moment to ask some local for directions.
“Nothing,” Kakyoin said quickly. He turned in his seat to face the window a bit better, hoping Jotaro would take the hint that the conversation needn’t continue. Lucky for Kakyoin, Jotaro’s idea of a conversation usually consisted of only two or three word sentences and barely lasted longer than a minute; something that had at first annoyed Kakyoin, but had slowly grown on him. Jotaro said only what he wanted to say, nothing more and nothing less. He wasn’t like Kakyoin who always felt compelled to vomit up an entire encyclopedia entry of useless facts when pressured to talk with other people.
“Okay,” came Jotaro’s blunt reply. And, as Kakyoin expected, he said no more.
Deep within Kakyoin – somewhere in a spot that felt like both the back of his mind and the farthest corners of his heart – his Stand Hierophant Green stirred in irritation. Kakyoin frowned.
What?
‘It is not “nothing,” Noriaki.’
This is neither the time nor place for this conversation, Hierophant.
‘If not now, when?’
Kakyoin didn’t answer.
As Kakyoin had predicted, Mr. Joestar and Polnareff could not make heads nor tails of the map and stopped to ask for directions in the nearest village. The sun was already starting to set, and the first sprinkling of stars pricked into life as the darkness took its place. Seeing how late it was, Mr. Joestar chose to have them stay the night in a small, dilapidated inn located at the outskirts of town.
The inn sported graffiti in a variety of different languages along the walls outside and featured a cramped lobby with worn furniture and a waterless fountain inside. As they approached the center of the room, Kakyoin glanced into the fountain and was amused to see a number of coins scattered at the bottom.
“Hmm, I wonder if it’s broken,” Kakyoin said to Jotaro, who more often than not lately could be found hovering near his side.
Jotaro fished into the pocket of his long, black school jacket and pulled out a coin. He flicked the coin off the top of his thumb. It soared in a graceful arc and landed square in the middle of the rest of the coins, causing them to cascade around the bottom of the dry fountain.
“Maybe,” Jotaro said, stuffing his hands back into his pockets.
The two of them were alone now. Mr. Joestar and Polnareff on the other side of the lobby where Mr. Joestar attempted to haggle with the concierge over the price of their hotel rooms.
Kakyoin felt Hierophant Green wriggling about inside his heart and mind impatiently. The words ‘alone now’ and ‘tell him’ reached the surface of Kakyoin’s conscious before he quickly stamped them down.
“You know while most people toss a coin into a fountain to make a wish, that hasn’t always been the reason for why people do it,” said Kakyoin, looking up at Jotaro and hoping to distract himself from his own Stand’s meddling. “It has a fairly long history. Ancient peoples, for example, used the gesture of tossing money into fountains as a way to thank their gods for providing them with clean water.”
Jotaro didn’t say anything. He rarely did when Kakyoin talked. It was not for lack of interest. On the contrary, whenever Kakyoin had something to say, Jotaro appeared to give him an undivided attention that directed at anyone else would have made them feel ill at ease. But not Kakyoin. He often relished the attention. And Kakyoin had learned very quickly that Jotaro was just like that: intense. Intense in his mannerisms and movements and fighting style. But that intensity didn’t stop there – it continued in the way Jotaro interacted with the world as a whole, even when there wasn’t fight-or-flight adrenaline pumping through his veins. Furthermore, Kakyoin had noticed how carefully Jotaro studied things that were of interest to him; the dog-eared marine life magazines he carried around in his traveling bag, the new foreign foods they’d gotten to taste on their journey, and, even now, the empty, dry fountain filled with tossed-away coins.
Kakyoin smiled to himself, remembering the first time he’d noticed what he had called Jotaro’s quieter intensities. They had made it to a hotel in Singapore and waited for Mr. Joestar to bring them their room keys. A large tank filled with saltwater fish occupied the entrance to the hotel lobby. Kakyoin had found Jotaro staring intently at it and, hoping to strike up a conversation, asked Jotaro what type of fish were inside.
What followed was the longest Kakyoin had ever heard Jotaro speak in the short amount of time the two had known each other. Not only did Jotaro describe the fish (most of them clown fish with a few blue tang and angelfish darting around the coral), but spent a good solid twenty minutes explaining sea anemones and how if you peered closely at the water tank, you could see that it had been equipped with artificial lighting that mimicked sunlight. Jotaro had guessed the light was on a timer and would dim to create various scenarios; from a sunny day to a raining evening to a moonlit night. The sea anemones at the bottom of the tank would open and close depending on the type of lighting they received. Jotaro wrapped up his little lesson in sea life by explaining how the clown fish formed a symbiotic relationship with sea anemones; the fish relying on the poisonous, tube-like tentacles to protect it from predators while in turn the little orange and black fish kept the anemone free of parasites.
The more Jotaro had spoken of the aquarium and its occupants, the happier and more relaxed he had appeared. That intensity was still there, of course, but it was the warmest and gentlest version of it that Kakyoin had ever seen Jotaro share. And Kakyoin liked it, and hoped he’d have a chance to see it again.
“I made a wish,” Jotaro said, jolting Kakyoin out of his thoughts.
“What?”
Jotaro pointed to the fountain as answer.
“Oh, yeah…um…what did you wish for?”
More silent staring.
“That’s right! You can’t say or it won’t come true!” Kakyoin offered pathetically.
“Yeah.”
“Maybe I should make a wish too?” said Kakyoin. Before he could even check his pants pockets for loose change, the large, muscular, and translucent arm of Star Platinum jutted out from behind Jotaro’s back and offered a single coin. “Uh, thanks?” Kakyoin said taking the coin. He glanced at Jotaro, but Jotaro had ducked his head, allowing the brim of his hat to cover his eyes from Kakyoin’s view.
Kakyoin tossed the coin into the dry fountain.
After a moment or two, Jotaro spoke, “Hope it comes true.”
Kakyoin blinked up at him. “Uh, oh, yeah. Me too.”
Jotaro nodded towards the reception desk. “We should probably head over there.”
“Yeah.” Kakyoin took a step, but stumbled as his ankle caught on something. He felt his balance skew sideways and braced himself for a fall. Instead, a vicelike grip took hold of his upper right arm and tugged him back into place with barely seconds to spare.
Kakyoin could see it was Jotaro’s hand on his upper right arm with Star Platinum’s much larger fist superimposed over it. Kakyoin’s heart pounded so hard he swore he heard the sound of the blood rushing through his veins. And he was definitely certain that his increased heartrate had more to do with Jotaro’s grip and less to do with the near fall.
“Be careful,” said Jotaro looking down at Kakyoin with that trademark intensity.
“Yes, right,” Kakyoin managed to blurt out. Star Platinum had disappeared, but Jotaro had yet to let go. His hand was big and warm on Kakyoin’s arm. “Must have snagged my foot on one the of the floor tiles,” said Kakyoin breathlessly. “They do look uneven.”
“Whatever. Just be careful next time.” And with that he let go of Kakyoin’s arm and shuffled off towards his grandfather.
Kakyoin looked down at his ankle only to catch a glimpse of a glowing green tentacle hide behind the cuff of his pant leg.
I saw that.
‘You’re welcome.’
Mr. Joestar managed to get one room.
One room with two full-sized beds and no other furniture except for a chest of drawers that doubled as a television stand.
“I thought you were the king of haggling,” Polnareff sneered as he tossed his bag down to the floor.
“It’s all they had!” Mr. Joestar exclaimed throwing his hands up.
“Good grief.” Jotaro stood between the two beds. With all of four of them standing in the room together, it made it very evident how small and cramped it actually was.
Kakyoin raised his hand politely. “I don’t mind sleeping on the floor.” He kept his face straight, but in the back of his mind he found himself panicking. It was a given that he did not relish the thought of sharing a bed with either Polnareff or Mr. Joestar; but should it come down to having to share one with Jotaro, Kakyoin was sure his heart would likely break free from his ribcage before he even had a chance to turn down the bedsheets.
It also didn’t help that Kakyoin could feel the smugness radiating off of Hierophant Green as the situation unfolded itself.
“Nonsense, Kakyoin,” said Mr. Joestar, clapping a heavy hand on Kakyoin’s shoulders. “The beds are big enough for all of us!”
“I’m not sleeping in the same bed with you, old man,” Jotaro grunted. “The last time you punched me in the face.”
“I was asleep! It was just a reflex!”
“It was your metal hand.”
“It really isn’t a bother for me to sleep on the floor, Mr. Joestar!”
“Let Kakyoin sleep on the floor. Then I’ll get a bed to myself!”
“Like hell you will. And I said I’m not sharing with the old man.”
“You hurt your grandpa’s feelings, Jotaro.”
“Good.”
Deciding actions spoke louder than words, Kakyoin grabbed his own bag and headed over towards the far side of the room where a sole, dirty window occupied the wall. He threw his bag down and made to unfurl his sleeping bag, spreading it out between the wall and the bed closest to the window.
“You all decide who sleeps where, but I’m taking the floor,” he said, praying the others didn’t notice how red his face burned as he avoided their eye contact.
“Whatever,” Jotaro sighed. “Means I get a bed to myself.”
“Comme l'enfer tu es.”
“Now, now, we’ll draw straws to see who gets a bed to himself!” said Mr. Joestar diplomatically. He knelt down and rummaged in his knapsack, pulling out a small container. Inside were several toothpicks. He picked three and broke one in half. Mr. Joestar straightened up, holding out three toothpicks he’d shuffled in his hand.
“You’re not holding them,” Jotaro said.
“What?”
“I don’t trust you, you cheating old bastard.”
“Oh my god! I’m your grandfather!”
“Yeah, and you’re a cheating old bastard.” Jotaro jabbed his thumb at Kakyoin. “Kakyoin’ll hold them.”
“What, me?”
“Here.” Jotaro snatched the toothpicks out of Mr. Joestar’s hand and passed them into Kakyoin’s palm.
For a moment Kakyoin fumbled with the toothpicks, being keenly aware of how Jotaro had to touch his hand in order to pass them over. Kakyoin hoped he didn’t look as flustered as he felt. He turned his back on the others in order to shuffle the toothpicks secretly. When Kakyoin turned back around, he glanced at Jotaro who was once again hiding his eyes behind his hat brim.
“We’ll all pick at the same time,” Jotaro ordered. Mr. Joestar and Polnareff didn’t argue.
It was as the other three reached out to take a toothpick that Kakyoin felt it; a strange tingling in the hand that held the toothpicks and a rush of air so fast he barely would have registered it had it not been for feeling Hierophant Green stir in the back of his mind with silent laughter. Kakyoin sent a wordless question to him, asking for explanation, and received only the mental image of a large purple hand reaching out to grab all three toothpicks at once, examine them, and put them back in the order it desired.
Ah, I see, Kakyoin realized, suppressing a smile. He kept his eyes down.
“Son of bitch!”
“Merde.”
“Guess I win,” said Jotaro, smirking from beneath his hat. He didn’t give the others a chance to protest as he pushed past them and swung his bag onto the bed closest to the window. He then flopped down beside his bag and kicked off his shoes.
Kakyoin shrugged at the other two. “Well, I guess that settles it.”
Despite having to share a bed, Mr. Joestar and Polnareff were the first to fall asleep. Furthermore, Polnareff’s snores echoed through the tiny hotel room with an ungodly volume, sounding very much like a broken chain saw cutting its way through a waterlogged stump. Kakyoin lay on his back, tucked under his sleeping bag and grimacing up at the ceiling. He was just wondering if he could possibly get away with smothering Polnareff with a pillow when he realized Star Platinum hovered above him. Kakyoin’s eyes glanced to the bed next to him. Jotaro hadn’t moved, and Kakyoin couldn’t see him from the floor.
Star Platinum smirked. “Thanks,” said the Stand in Jotaro’s voice.
Kakyoin summoned Hierophant Green, allowing his Stand to share his pillow as they both looked up at Star Platinum.
“For what?” Kakyoin spoke through Hierophant Green, feigning innocence. He now had his own smirk plastered across his lips.
Star Platinum snorted, his grin widening.
“You know you’re a terrible grandson.”
“Oh?”
“Most grandkids would have let their grandfathers have a bed all to themselves. It would have been a nice gesture.”
“I don’t do nice gestures.”
Kakyoin’s smile faltered. Does that mean that the hug from Star…? Hierophant Green threw an arm over Kakyoin’s waist and pressed his face into Kakyoin's shoulder.
“Ah, silly me.”
Star Platinum lost the smirk. For a moment Kakyoin could see the Stand’s facial features flicker as if Jotaro’s and Star’s wills fumbled against one another in the dark. He could hear Jotaro shift on the bed above. Star Platinum looked petulant.
“Why do you let it hang on you like that?” Jotaro’s face appeared over the side of the bed.
“What?” Kakyoin said, more as a reaction to Jotaro’s sudden appearance than to the question asked. He was suddenly very aware of how close their faces were to each other’s. Beside him, Hierophant Green’s grip around his waist tightened.
“Why do you have Hierophant Green touch you like that?”
“It doesn’t bother me,” Kakyoin whispered defensively. “Hierophant likes to stay hidden most of the time, but when he comes out – and he doesn’t have to fight – he likes to be close to me.”
Jotaro looked thoughtful for a moment. Star Platinum hovered down until he too was looking over the bed at Kakyoin, mimicking Jotaro’s position.
“Can I help you?” Jotaro said to his Stand.
Kakyoin’s smile was back. “You really should get to know him better,” Kakyoin said.
“What? Like ask what its favorite color is?”
Kakyoin pursed his lips and didn’t answer. Instead, he chose to roll over away from Jotaro.
“Good grief. Fine. I – I’ve been trying ever since….”
Kakyoin glanced over his shoulder.
“Star likes to memorize patterns. Like tile colors in a bathroom. Or the way a light blinks. Or the way someone ties their shoes,” Jotaro said quietly, seemingly more to himself than to Kakyoin. “I caught it – him – I once caught him memorizing the choreography on a music video. He played back the entire thing in my head, and…and I’m pretty sure I know all the steps now too….”
Jotaro had rolled back up onto the bed, disappearing from Kakyoin’s view. Star Platinum, on the other hand, continued to stare down at Kakyoin with silent, intense curiosity.
Kakyoin felt his lips twitch into a smile. “May I ask what music video?”
A long pause, and then, “Michael Jackson’s 'Beat It'.”
The snort of laughter Kakyoin let out nearly rivaled the volume of Polnareff’s snoring.
“I need a fucking smoke,” Jotaro suddenly growled, tearing out of the bed covers. He grabbed his jacket and shoes, and slipped out of the room before Kakyoin had a chance to fully sit up and get out an apology.
Kakyoin slumped back onto his sleeping bag.
He turned to look at Hierophant Green who still lay beside him. That irritation Kakyoin had felt earlier from his Stand had resurfaced. “It’s probably not a good idea to embarrass the guy you like, huh?” said Kakyoin.
Hierophant Green nodded.
I should probably go find him.
Another nod.
Sigh.
Seconds later, Kakyoin was scrambling for his own shoes and jacket.
Kakyoin found Jotaro down in the small lobby, sitting on the floor in front of the broken water fountain, an ash tray at his feet and a cigarette dangling from his fingertips. A lone hotel concierge slept in a chair behind the reception desk with a staticky television for company; the sound of white noise seemed to fill the entire space.
“Go away,” Jotaro grumbled when Kakyoin sat down next to him.
Kakyoin chose to ignore him. “You know smoking’s not good for your health,” he said in lieu of a greeting. “They’ve done research on it.”
“Don’t care.”
“It makes you smell.”
“Don’t care.”
“Then can I have one?”
Jotaro blew out a puff of smoke. He smirked. “No, it’s not good for you.”
“Oh, so you can do it, but I can’t?”
“You’re the honor student.”
“And you’re a bad influence.”
Kakyoin made to snatch the pack sitting beside the ash tray, but Star Platinum was quicker. He scooped up the cigarettes and returned them to a pocket inside Jotaro’s school jacket.
“You’d end up smelling like smoke,” Jotaro said as if this concluded the argument.
“So?”
“You smell a lot nicer than most guys I know.” Jotaro crunched the cigarette out in the ash tray. “I like that,” he added.
Kakyoin felt his face flush, but retorted, “Well, if you’re comparing me to guys like Polnareff, that’s already a rather low bar.”
Jotaro chuckled. “Fair.” He ducked his head, obscuring his eyes in the shadow of his hat’s brim. He reached inside his jacket. Kakyoin thought he was going for another cigarette, but instead of pulling out the pack, Jotaro produced the small black notebook he so often carried around with him. He opened it up and pulled out a single notecard. Kakyoin noticed that there were several others pressed into the pages of the little book. Each one with Jotaro’s handwriting scrawled to the very edges.
Jotaro stared at the card he’d pulled out for several seconds. Kakyoin could see his lips move as he read over the words written there. Jotaro sighed, and then, looked up.
“I think I made Star Platinum hug you that one time,” Jotaro blurted out. He glanced back at the notecard again. “I – I don’t know why I did it though. Um… sorry if that freaked you out.”
Kakyoin was fairly certain his ears must now match the color of his hair. He pulled at the collar of his pajamas, feeling very warm. He could also feel Hierophant Green wriggling happily inside his heart.
“It’s okay. I didn’t mind it,” Kakyoin said, staring at the fountain in front of him. “If – if you wanted Star to hug me again, I wouldn’t protest. Just give me some warning next time.”
“Good to know,” Jotaro said. He folded the notecard in his hand without really looking at it and stuffed it into a pocket.
He wasn’t sure if it was a buzzing in his own head or the sound of the television static coming from across the lobby, but Kakyoin’s mind felt both full and empty at the same time. Jotaro had confessed to directing Star Platinum to hug him and then proceeded to not object to the idea of doing it again. Maybe Jotaro would bypass Star altogether and administer the hug himself.
“Kakyoin?”
Kakyoin looked up and nearly choked at what he saw; one of Hierophant Green’s tentacles had materialized to wrap around Jotaro’s left wrist. The tentacle slowly tugged at Jotaro’s hand while the end of another tentacle had appeared to wrap around Kakyoin’s right wrist; it too tugged, attempting to draw Kakyoin’s hand towards Jotaro’s. So used to Hierophant Green hanging all over him, Kakyoin had barely registered the familiar touch at all.
“I think – I think Hierophant Green wants me to hold your hand,” Kakyoin explained. Any irritation that he’d felt from his Stand at that moment immediately melted into expectation and excitement.
“Does he? Or do you want to hold it?”
“Would you hate me if I said yes to the latter?”
“Good grief.” Jotaro shook off Hierophant’s tentacle and grabbed Kakyoin’s hand. “Next time just ask.”
“Of course.”
How long the two sat there, Kakyoin wasn’t sure; but it was just long enough for Hierophant Green’s tentacle to snake its way back around Jotaro’s wrist and for Star Platinum’s arm to settle around Kakyoin’s shoulders.