Expression

Chapter Thirty-eight

Jotaro arrived at Kakyoin's apartment, knocking nervously at the door. He still couldn't quite believe that he had invited him here, but he certainly didn't mind.

There was the sound of unlatching that made Jotaro's heart tremble, then it cracked open to reveal a beaming Kakyoin. "Hey, Jotaro. You're early. I haven't finished cleaning yet."

"Oh." Jotaro scratched the back of his neck. "That's alright, really. I don't mind if the place is a little messy."

"Well, it's more than a little messy," Kakyoin admitted sheepishly, opening the door fully. The floor was nearly covered in sheafs of schoolwork, open books lying face down, and scattered art.

"I'm five minutes early," Jotaro said as he stepped in. "You were planning to clean all of this up in five minutes?"

"Well... yeah. Sorry again."

"It's fine, I said. I'll help you clean up, if you want."

"Are you sure? I didn't invite you over just for you to work. I'll fix this all quickly."

"It's no problem, I promise. I kind of like cleaning things up, actually." He smiled reassuringly.

"I mean, if you want. Thank you." Kakyoin ran an anxious hand through his hair.

Jotaro started wordlessly, carefully picking his way across the floor while trying not to disturb anything that lay on it. He needed to see what was even there, first. In the corner, a box of video games. Jotaro recognized none of them, except for one that caught his eye. F Mega . Its presence here made him worry, wonder if Kakyoin had touched it at all, and wonder what effect it had on him to be so constantly around a reminder of what had happened. He said nothing, scanning the room once more before beginning to pick up the items lying around and sort them into neater piles, following whatever sorting system Kakyoin had established.

"Haven't you bought any shelves yet?" He asked, gesturing at the homeless textbooks on the floor.

"I was going to."

"You've been here for months."

"I forgot."

"Okay, that's our next project. Getting you some bookshelves. Alright?"

Kakyoin laughed. "Fine. You know, I think this is good enough for now." Jotaro shrugged. That was probably the best that they could do. Kakyoin didn't have much around where these things could be stored besides the floor. "Would you like to play some video games? I'm sorry, I didn't really think much ahead about what to actually do once you got here. I hope you're not bored."

"I'll try... but I really don't know how to play any. I'm afraid it won't be a lot of fun for you."

"I'll teach you, yeah?"

"Mm. What's first then? Your judgement is better than mine."

Kakyoin rifled through the box, humming thoughtfully. He seemed to murmur something to himself as his fingers passed over the F Mega cartridge, then paused and grabbed it. "This?"

"Kakyoin... have you been playing that? After... after..."

Kakyoin frowned. "No. But I have to do better, I have to–"

"You don't. If you stayed away from it, that was for a reason."

"The reason is that I'm a failure, and I'm too weak to handle any reminder of my failures. That's all."

"You know that's not true. There was no way you could have won alone against his ability... you shouldn't value yourself based on this, anyways."