Midnight Walks

...If You Want That?

| Note: This chapter strays slightly from canon and rather than Kakyoin returning right before they enter Dio's mansion, he returns about two days before. This chapter takes place the night before the battle. |

    In the hospital, I couldn't help but think of Jotaro. I was eager to fight alongside him again, to feel the warmth of his body on mine as I slept, to see his face light up as he laughed. That was when my first question arose; would I be able to? It had only been a couple nights, and I hadn't taken the bandages off since I'd arrived. Nobody was sure if when I did, would I see anything? I tried to imagine never being able to see Jotaro's and beautiful smile again, and I nearly drove myself to madness. I stayed up nights trying to imagine his face in precise detail, cursing myself for never having studied it closely enough.
    When I took the bandages off for the first time, I felt the biggest relief of my life, which lasted for about two seconds. The other, much worse idea came to mind about never seeing Jotaro again, and I felt like shit again. After that, I practically begged my way to release. Finally, I stumbled out into the world with a massive pair of ugly glasses and dangerous horizons. I knew immediately when I stepped into the daylight that my vision had weakened greatly. My first few steps out the door were slow and cautious, but I quickly found my footing. It didn't matter if I felt a little off, I had to see Jotaro.
Finding the others wasn't particularly hard; Mr. Joestar had called saying they were looking for motels in a particular area. I took a cab and got out at the only place I'd seen the entire way. My intuition was confirmed by loud, French screaming coming from a second story balcony. "Oh mon Dieu! Vous revenez tôt. Kakyoin! Guys, Kakyoin's here!" Two heads popped over the railing, which I recognized as Mr. Joestar and Avdol.
"Kakyoin! That was quick," Mr. Joestar shouted a little too loudly for the distance. "Come on up, Room 22B!"
I grinned at his enthusiastic greeting, rushing up the outdoor staircase till I reached the large shared balcony area they stood on. Instantly, Polnareff knocked me over with a massive hug.
"Jean, he just got out of the hospital!" Avdol yelled disapprovingly.
"Well, I didn't sucker punch him in the eye, did I?" Polnareff yelled back from where we laid tangled on the ground. He laughed, pulling me up and displaying a massive, toothy grin. "Cool glasses!" he exclaimed, pulling them off and trying them on.
"Ah, yeah. They're to protect my eyes," I said, shielding my eyes from the sun with my hand. He quickly replaced the glasses, laughing a little. I wanted him to know I was happy to see him, but I couldn't help asking the question that had been burning in the back of my brain ever since I'd gotten there. "Where's Jotaro?"
"Oh, he's back in his room. He said he wanted a little time to 'think'. But he'd be really happy to see you!"
I felt my shoulders roll back and realized I'd been unconsciously tensing them. "Good, okay." I smiled pleasantly and exchanged greetings with Avdol and Mr. Joestar as they came over. We made conversation for a couple of minutes, they filled me in with what I'd missed as I nodded, but my mind was drifting. Shortly thereafter, I excused myself to go say hi to Jotaro. I hoped my face didn't show my overwhelming excitement.
I stopped short as I reached his door, taking a moment to realize how lucky I was to be able to see him again. The moment I knocked, I was surprised to hear an angry groan in reply. But it was his voice nonetheless, so I smiled. "Yare yare. Gramps, I swear to God, I DO NOT want to see Polnareff eat a whole baguette in 20 minutes! That's not even that impressive."
"Sounds impressive to me," I muttered. Instantly, I heard footsteps, followed by the door practically being slammed into my face as it was thrown open. I watched in adoration as Jotaro's face lit up. He looked absolutely adorable, his hair all messed up, probably from waking up from a nap. He was in a t-shirt and boxers, confirming the nap thing, and I gasped in delight as he threw himself in my arms, relishing the warm feeling of his soft skin up against mine.
"Missed me?" I muttered into his soft hair as he buried his face into my chest. He replied with a sleepy hum, and I thought it would make my heart burst if he got any cuter. He pulled away after a long few seconds, pulling me into his room, slamming the door behind us. The 'soft and tired' exterior melted away as he pinned me to his wall, kissing me hard. I quickly got lost in the heavy atmosphere, moving my lips in rhythm with his and heavily enjoying the way his hands slid under my shirt, holding me by my bare waist.
We finally broke apart for air, and I smiled as I watched him perk up and run a hand through his hair, just realizing the state of his appearance. I sat down on his bed, kicking off my shoes as I slid to lean back against the headboard. He sat beside me, resting his cheek on my shoulder and softly leaving little kisses in the crook of my neck. I melted at how soft he was being. Most nights, Jotaro wouldn't get all sweet on me until he was yawning every other sentence. I guessed he had really missed me.
I ran my fingers through his bedhead, twirling soft strands around my fingers and letting go. We lay with his head on my chest for a while, talking about the little things that had happened while we were apart. The pressures from before rolled off my shoulders like raindrops off a slicker. He fell back asleep as I told him about a nurse who tried to read me a bedtime story. I wrapped an arm over him, breathing in the pleasantly familiar smell of his shampoo and I allowed myself to drift off too.
**
We awoke to a knock on the door, followed by me being unceremoniously shoved into the bathroom to fix up my hair and try and make it look like we hadn't been kissing. Mr. Joestar announced that we were going out for dinner to celebrate my return. I rolled my eyes as I exited the bathroom and saw Jotaro's edgy exterior had returned entirely in front of his grandfather. It was amazing how he could turn on that attitude after spending hours curled up against me looking like a delicate angel. I almost wished I could tell Mr. Joestar because he'd get a kick out of it.
That night at dinner, I found myself staring a lot at JoJo as he acted coolly, he and I exchanging the occasional quiet joke that left us both cracking up to the other's confusion. It was a pleasant night, but my thoughts drifted to the thought I'd had before. If I could tell Mr. Joestar. It was a simple thought, which triggered a series of pressing questions I hadn't realized I'd had. What was gonna happen once this quest was over? Would Jotaro ever be okay with telling people about us? It had seemed that we'd both naturally assumed we'd keep our relationship a secret when it started for a multitude of reasons. Mr. Joestar and his daughter were nice people, but how would they react to their son dating another boy? It was uncommon, especially in Japan. No longer illegal, sure, but still treated as a foreign and terrible concept.
And then there was the talk. Even if Jotaro's family could accept it, there was no way we'd walk free of bullying and possibly some threats. Jotaro could probably beat up anyone who gave us a dirty look, sure, but it seems unfair for me to be the reason he's pushed further away from society as an outcast. No matter what happened, it sounded scary. I tried to forget about the future; after all, I had him now.
Mr. Joestar bought us all ice cream, and we walked home together under a full moon. We laughed along as Avdol and Polnareff joked back and forth.
"Yeah, Jean. We're gonna encounter a werewolf in the middle of the city."
"Hey man, loups-garous can be anywhere! Haven't you ever seen La Lupa Mannara?"
"Is that Italian? I didn't even know they had werewolves in their culture."
"Man, I WISH we would run into that werewolf. She was hot!"
We split up when we reached the hotel, and I was admittedly pleased to be alone with Jotaro again. I didn't bother to pretend I wasn't watching him take off his shirt, to which he smiled and to my surprise, left it off as he got into bed. "Damn, what are you trying to do to me, huh? I asked, relishing the blush that crept up onto his face as he replied in an equal tone.
"What's the matter? Really can't keep your hands out of your pants when you're with me, huh?" he asked. I looked down and noticed that only my thumbs were messing with my waistband, more absent-mindedly than anything else; but his joke was clever nonetheless. I scoffed as I shoved him away jokingly, and he retaliated by pulling me closer. I admittedly did get a little hot as my face pressed up against his bare chest. He flipped through the channels, one arm around my shoulder and settled on a nature documentary about crabs.
He was quickly engrossed in the show, but I couldn't focus on anything but the pressing question in my mind. Recently my head had been spinning, and I just wanted to finally feel at peace. Or at least get this out of the way. "Jotaro," I asked slowly. He hummed in acknowledgement, not bothering to look away from the crabs battling on screen. "When this is all over, what's gonna happen?"
"Hm?" he turned to look at me for a moment, seemingly confused by the question. "Didn't we already talk about that? It'll be like before, but we'll hang out and stuff."
"Yeah, but now that we're, I don't know, dating? Actually, we never even said-are we even dating?"
Jotaro shook with poorly-contained laughter. "Yeah, we're dating."
"Hey, how was I supposed to know! You never asked me or anything."
"Oh, so we've established I'm the one who asks, then?"
"Whatever," I mumbled. "The point is, now that we're...dating, what's gonna happen after this." He quieted down, mowing over the question for a few long moments before he said simply;
"We'll be together."
"But how?" I asked, feeling like I was pulling teeth.
"Well, once we get home we can tell my Mom," he said slowly. "She'd be fine with it, she's super nice. And she'll love you once she actually gets to know you," he went on. I smiled at the thought of Jotaro's mom liking me, knowing how much she meant to him. "And then we'll hang out, you know? You can come over and we'll watch movies, or you can show me some of your art. Or, we can go out somewhere nice maybe, on like a real date. I mean...if you want that?"
"Yeah!" I agreed eagerly to reassure him. "That actually sounds really cool." I tried to imagine being on a date with Jotaro. He didn't really seem like the dinner and movie sort. The idea of Jotaro in a fancy dinner setting seemed ridiculous, at least for now. I sighed, turning to the TV where one of the crabs ran backwards into the ocean in retreat, walking in a comedic manner that made Jotaro giggle. Suddenly, the perfect date idea came to mind...