False Confidence ; Jotakak

I Hope Somday I'll Wake up Young Again

-Six Weeks Later-

The idea was that without Jotaro and Mister Joestar, DIO would have no motivation to target me or interfere with my life any further. Any attempt to try and arrange for my voyage back to Japan to be interrupted would take time and resources away from his task at hand, so with all things considered, I was given to all clear to have the Speedwagon Foundation escort me back to Japan

When I arrived, I was driven to my house, where my mum greeted me at the steps. She was relieved to see me; I had left without notice, sending nothing but a telegram from Hong Kong to explain why I'd left. In theory, it was a stupid thing to do. I ran away, dropped out of school, I went looking for trouble, Mum had every reason to throw the kitchen sink at me. I arrived in dark, boxy sunglasses, a cane, with an American businessman on my arm. Any hard feelings she had collapsed into a flood of tears, salty with relief.

It turns out my dad had taken this as a wake-up call. Me leaving, running away, without a trace. A part of him probably thought I'd run away because of him, so things were put in perspective for him. His only child, the baby he'd loved since birth, it wasn't worth losing over something so stupid, over a difference of opinion that meant nothing in the long run.

We sat down. He told me that he felt like he'd overreacted, that he regrets not considering another perspective. Although things may not ever be the same between us, he wanted a chance to start over, to become friends again. I think he was mostly relieved that I had returned. He probably would have died without peace if he never got the chance to ask for my forgiveness.

I told him about my travels across Asia, leaving out the bizarre parts that couldn't be explained, about stand users, things of the sort. I told him I got to see the Ganges and the Red Sea. I went to an aquarium just outside of Mecca; I ate at a Michelin Star restaurant in Singapore, I tried real Pakistani hash, I'd lived so much life. I told him I was injured, and the group I traveled with told me it was time to go home. Both my parents worried immensely about my eyes, but over the next few weeks, I regained most of my eyesight.

I wore eyeglasses now, which wasn't bad; I felt like I suited them. I had to wear sunglasses outside, or when I watched TV, I was still hyper-sensitive, but that was expected to go away with time. I can see scar tissue on the waterline of my eyes from the injury, but other than that, it was as though it had never happened. I worried about the other guys every day; I never heard from them, which could have been a bad sign, except I imagined they were busy, exhausted, just as we'd always been. Because of this, I tried not to worry too much about it.

I visited Ms. Holly once a week, usually on  Sunday, now that I am re-enrolled in school. I was new at school the day I met Jotaro, so nobody noticed I was gone, or even there to begin with, I was just a regular new kid, a bit quiet, and a bit old now to be starting the fourth year, but I wanted to finish it anyway. Maybe once I did, I could become a writer and write about all the things I saw on my journey.

Every time I went to the Kujo's house, Holly was a little worse. One day she didn't have the strength to greet me, even with a wave once I came through the door. I usually came with treats; I'd taken up baking for school. I enrolled in extra classes and summer school so I'd be able to graduate with the rest of my class despite starting halfway through the year. I took cooking because it seemed easy, it turns out it wasn't. I always felt terrible that Ms. Holly's husband wasn't around. Did he even know she was sick? Did he know how sick? Had nobody told him?

It was awkward to think that maybe I'd had a crush on Ms. Holly at some point. I think I accidentally let it slip to Mister Avdol when we were last at the house too. I wanted to give that same warmth back to her; that she'd given to me when she patched me up after my fight with Jotaro. Even though I was just some kid she'd only ever met once before, I knew she'd take pleasure in seeing a face that didn't belong to a doctor.