Bound by Blood; Chosen by Fate

Chapter Twenty-Eight

*🐬*

My fingers danced over the screen of my phone as I leaned against the wall of the school, the cool brick biting into by back through the thick fabric of my coat. I glanced up as footsteps echoed through the small, near-empty courtyard. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he offered, brushing aside his hair with nimble fingers as he approached me. My eyes tracked to the smear of paint on his fingers, a dark blue that contrasted to his pale skin. 

"It's fine," I grumbled, pushing off the wall to fall into step with him. His eyes brightened, a warm violet that sparkled. The scars over his eyes had almost faded into his skin tone in the dim light of the heavy afternoon sun.

"He lives just over there," Kakyoin noted, gesturing loosely towards a neighborhood on our right. 

I grunted in acknowledgement, letting the silence slip easy and soft around us. Until a question fell from my lips before I could stop it. 

"How'd you get the scars?"

He blinked, though for his part seemed unconcerned. His fingers brushed over the raised lines as he considered the question for a moment. 

"I got them in Egypt, actually," he started, hand falling away to grip the strap of his backpack. "My family and I were visiting a local zoo."

He paused, gaze tracking a couple across the road. I watched him in silent, relieved that he didn't seem to be bothered by my blunt question. 

"You've heard the sentiment that 'stand users attract other stand users', I'm assuming?" He continued after I nodded. "Well, there was another one there that day. Except they weren't interested in keeping their powers a secret."

He gave a one-shouldered shrug as I blinked at him in shock. A small smile flickered over his lips at my attention.

"We ended up getting into a fight. He released some bird- I can't remember the type, but some large one- and it attacked me. Went right for my eyes. Thankfully, it didn't do any permanent damage, though I do have to wear contacts now."

I watched him, outright staring in shock now. His smirk, though it seemed like he was trying to hold it in, still escaped. The story seemed believable, but the more I got to know the red-headed stand wielder, the more I found myself unable to put fabricating that story past him. That sparkle in his eye and the mischievous smile twitching at his mouth didn't exactly help his case, either. 

What a little sh*t. 

I was intrigued. 

"Anyways," he said, laughter barely audible in his voice, "here we are."

He gestured to a dull-painted house that looked exactly like every other house on the street. Kakyoin led me to the porch, and after finding the door was unlocked, into the depths of the house. 

"Advol?" he called out, peering into the living room. "Are you home?"

Faintly, "back here!"

The voice sounded masculine, a little rough around the edges- though that could be attributed to the space between us. 

Kakyoin gave me a, plainly, unsettling grin before leading me through the hallway and kitchen, past a screen door that served as the portal between the house and his backyard. 

I jumped as a ball of something hit my legs. Kakyoin laughed, reaching down to pick it up. 

"Hello Cuckletta," he cooed, brushing a hand over the ball of feathers in his arms. I stared in shock at the chicken he was holding as his smirk widened.