Ocean Eyes (a part 4 JotaKak fanfic)

Chapter five

"Hey Jotaro?"

He looked around at his friend, hat pulled low over his eyes to keep out the sand that was swirling around them. They had fallen behind the rest of the group, as they often did, preferring to talk in privacy. Although under normal circumstances they would have probably remained acquaintances at the most, these were not normal circumstances and the amount of things connecting them strengthen their bond until it would be almost impossible to break.
"Yeah?"
The red-haired boy pulled his sand-colored scarf closer around his head. "After this is all over, what do you think will happen to us?"

After this is over. Those words clinged to his thoughts like thornes. After all this is over, after the mission is done, what will happen to us? Will we simply drift apart, leave each other like it never happened? He knew he didn't want that to happen, the figure standing in front of him was the first person he had ever had a genuine connection with, besides his mother of course. The thought of putting that all to waste made his heart clench.

Will there even be an after?

Death, maybe. Any of them could die at any given moment, any stranger walking by could be an enemy. There was always a risk, and both of them knew that when they joined this journey. They were willing to accept death as an option,

But I don't want him to die.

As much as he hated it, this was true. He had always seen himself as an uncaring person, a quality he neither liked nor disliked. If he reached out to people they would hurt him- that was a lesson he had learned at a young age. But here was a boy his age who had experienced the same thing, and he couldn't help but to connect to him in this situation. And the more time they spent together the more time he wanted to spend together. And as much as he disliked this thought of closeness, of vulnerability, there was also something about it that made him wish it would grow.
"What happens next..." He paused, measuring his next few words carefully. "What happens next is not completely up to us. But if we get through this, and come out alive then... We'll have to see. But I hope that whatever it is I'd be able to have it with you."
The boy smiled and reached out to take his hand, their fingers intertwining as the dessert shifted around them.

That was twelve years ago.

He had held the person who he cared about so much in his arms as he begged for him to breathe again, to open his eyes. He didn't know that he eventually had. He had thought that the future he had dreamed of had vanished forever, gone just like Kakyoin. But Kakyoin wasn't gone, and things that Jotaro had previously been blocking out were beginning to come back whether he liked it or not.

"You know, Jotaro," Kakyoin said as he flipped through a magazine on marine biology. "I didn't expect to find you in this position."
They were sitting outside of a café that Jotaro had suggested they go to. He had grown quite fond of it over his time spent in Morioh, the people working there had gotten to know him well. It was a brisk morning so they had both ordered hot drinks, and the steaming warmth felt nice. "What do you mean?" He asked.
Kakyoin gestured around him. "This just isn't a place I'd picture you living in, and you also seem to have gathered a collection of teenagers who follow you around constantly." He took a sip of his drink and flinched as it scalded his tongue. "It's not something I'd expect you to be fine with."
Jotaro gave a small laugh. "I can see what you mean." he said. "And at times I don't enjoy it, those kids can be damn annoying and Morioh's beaches reek of fish. But the old man didn't take care of Josuke and I can't help feeling a bit responsible for his safety." he took a sip of his drink, careful not to burn himself like his friend did. "And besides, Koichi's able to keep the group mostly under control. He reminds me a lot of you when we were younger."
"Really? In what way?"
"You both can go from cautious to overconfident in less time than it takes to blink" Jotaro chuckled. "And you were the only one who could keep us all in order besides Avdol. I thought you were the smartest one in the team."
"Maybe you were right." Kakyoin laughed. "I guess I should get to know this Koichi kid."