Kickstart My Heart

Smoke On The Water

Jōtarō was wondering whether his idea was as good as he had thought it to be.

They weren't supposed to enter Dio's mansion before the afternoon.
And right now it was early. Very early.

The young man had hardly had any sleep last night, despite Kakyoin's sleepy embrace and his hot, steady breath in between his shoulder blades, where the shorter teen's head was rested.

When dawn finally came, rekindling the wound that the fatal date of January 16, 1988 had branded in Jōtarō's heart and mind, the brunette was pretty sure he had thought up every single possible way the remaining fights could go.
He was also pretty sure that out of all those options, they would turn out differently though.

Because the timeline was screwed. (Jonathan's head must be turning over in its urn right now.)

But still, this was precisely what drove the young man to wonder if he couldn't actually turn the situation to their advantage.

He knew the location of Dio's mansion.
He had been there before.
And the vampire was forced to remain inside during daylight.

Maybe if they entered early they would have a chance.

It wouldn't change anything for the fight against D'Arby the Younger, but that didn't matter since Kakyoin would make it.

The only problem, though, was that this fight would most probably take place at the same time as Polnareff, Abdul and Iggy would be facing Vanilla Ice.
And it was impossible for Jōtarō (and Star Platinum) to split, and stopping time right under Dio's nose before he had revealed The World was absolutely out of question.
Better make the vampire think he had won already. Their only chance against him was the surprise effect, as it had been last time.

Just like Caesar was the only chance to save Kakyoin.

... Except that right now the Italian wasn't there, at Joseph's utmost relief.
Of course, the Englishman had jumped on the occasion to leave the hotel before his husband woke up with enough strength (and Hamon) to come along.

Their grandson could only hope very, very hard for the blond to meet them at the mansion before it was too late.

- Hey Jojo, looks like you know exactly where we're headed...? Kakyoin asked at some point.

The brunette snapped out of his thoughts and slowed down to wait for the other Crusaders. That was true, he usually did prefer staying slightly behind.
But he had grown too eager for all that shit to end already.

- ... Of course not. Must be Star's instinct or something, he lied.

- Star's instinct? Doesn't he have only a two-meter range of action? the redhead pointed out, raising a surprised eyebrow. How could he know where Dio's mansion is if you haven't been there?

Jōtarō lowered his visor as he held back a frustrated groan.
Why was Kakyoin so smart, for fuck's sake? Why couldn't he have lost a few brain cells from all that time he had spent with Polnareff?! Yare yare daze...

- Mmh, he mumbled. He can do a whole lot more than punching through close enough things, you'd be surprised.

He wished he could tell him that with Doubleback, among other improvements, Star's range had widened. Also, his stand was so fast he could go from Aswan to Cairo in two hours, so finding Dio's mansion had been child's play.
But of course he had to keep quiet for both of their sakes.

He wondered whether he could tell him everything once it'd be over, though.

Would Kakyoin even believe him?