Lighter | Noriaki Kakyoin

8| Scars

Another Thursday arrived, and this week we had swimming class. As I made my way to the changing room, I heard familiar voices somewhere close.

"Please don't do this, Jojo." Kakyoin's muffled voice sounded close to the boys' side of the changing rooms. He sounded nervous.

"Yo!" I turned as I heard someone calling, and was met with the sight of a very shy Kakyoin being dragged by his arm. Jotaro, who was already in his swimming uniform, had a more annoyed than usual expression, while the pink boy looked like he had every intention of running away and hiding in a corner somewhere.

"What's wrong?" I searched Kakyoin's eyes, but his gaze remained anywhere else. He wasn't short, but his company didn't make him look that big, either. Right now, he was looking and acting like a small bunny under a hawk's grip.

"Kakyoin is too shy to take his shirt off because of a scar. Tell him to quit whining and undress already." At these words, Kakyoin's face turned redder than his hair, and he somehow managed to appear even smaller.

I know you told me not to be too sensitive around him, but don't you think that's too much, Jotaro? I thought to myself as I quickly tried to think of a solution.

"Well, it can't be that bad! Why don't you show me?" It was all I could think of, as I still had to change and we were already running late. "Is there anyone in the boy's changing room?"

"It's empty. I'll stand guard. Go on." Jotaro was still impatient, although he appeared to have liked my idea.

"There's really no need, I'll tell them I'm sick." His eyes were pleading for my mercy, but I wasn't about to show any. I grasped his arm and pulled him inside.

"Don't be shy now, I'll look away while you take your shirt off." Despite my words, I was the one becoming shy. How did I end up in this situation?

I heard a resentful sigh and he finally complied.

As I turned around, I couldn't help but yelp at the sight of his scar, an irregular circle surrounded by tendrils drifting into his body. He wasn't short on muscles or physically weak in any way, but the brutality of the wound made him look so fragile under my touch. Wait, when did I start touching him? When it came to me, I retreated my hand as if his skin was scalding.

"It is much uglier than you thought, isn't it?" He now studied my every movement, in hopes of proving himself wrong.

"That's not it!" I averted my attention from his body to his eyes, meeting the despair dripping from them. "It's just that... how in the world did you get hurt like that?"

"Not in the world, it was the world." He muttered almost to himself. "You understand the problem now, surely."

I bit my lip in frustration. This was going to attract attention, and he's said more than once he's not a fan of it. Looking from his scar to his face, I caught him staring at my mouth, and I suddenly grew very conscious of the situation we were in.

"Well, I suppose there is no helping the fact some people are going to stare." I tried my best to ignore the heat rise, as I really have no time for this right now. "But you know, a lot of girls find guys with scars very hot. Like they are a cool story of a cool person!"

My attempt at cheering him up seemed to cause more confusion than anything, as he tried to connect the dots. Something clicked on his mind, as his attention returned to me. "Do you think so too, Yubi-chan?" He waited, the light pink strokes on his eyelids now more highlighted to me.