:The Glitch in the System: [Jotaro with tics AU]

Bloom [Chapter 3]

"Nori?"

The nickname that Jotaro had tagged to the bedridden redhead got said redhead's attention. He looked up weakly. 

"Jojo?" 

Jotaro felt pure joy swell in his chest. He was ok and alive. A sigh of relief escaped him as he tipped his hat down and smile. 

"Hey, I left school to come see you."

"Jojo!" the teen exclaimed in response. "You shouldn't prioritize me over your studies!"

"Ah, why does it even matter? I'm not even gonna use half that stuff they teach in my future career."

Kakyoin shook his head, and lightly gestured to the seat beside the bed. Jotaro sat down on the chair as prompted, and leaned back in it slightly with one leg bouncing. The redhead pretended not to notice, but it dug at him. Something was off about Jotaro. Kakyoin took a breath, opening his mouth to speak, when he saw Jotaro's head flick upward violently. Jotaro groaned, and grimaced as he had before. The dark tone of the groan was followed up by the lighter tone of a squeak. The redhead chuckled. 

"Are you ok Jotaro? That looked like it hurt."

"Yeah I'm fine, it happens alot-"

The male was cut off by quite a few head jolts and accompanying noises of "bark" and "ora" and "woo!" He sunk down in his chair, tilting his head down. He grumbled something as Kakyoin looked on in worry. 

"Jojo... I'm worried about you."

"Its fine, it just hurts my neck and makes me look stupid."

"That's not 'fine'. When did your head jolts start?"

Jotaro fell silent. 

"After.. him." 

He mumbled, a shiver running down Kakyoin's spine as a sort of understanding of who "him" was. The bedridden teen tried to piece things together in his mind. He had heard about this stuff happening after traumatic events, but he couldn't remember what they were called or who he heard it from. A gentle mumbling came from the redhead's mouth as he deciphered his thoughts, playing with his hair curl gently as he tossed the problem around in his brain. Jotaro looked anxious, his brain telling him that Kakyoin was silently judging him. He looked at the floor in attempts to disperse those thoughts. He didn't wanna be seen this way. Kakyoin seemed to have reached a conclusion. 

"I've heard of what's going on with you, but I can't remember what it's called. I know it starts with a 'T' though."

"How do you not remember the name of something so awful?"

"Jotaro, I almost lost my entire midsection. I pretty much got a fuck ton of memories knocked out of me in the process. The blood loss didn't help."

Kakyoin hissed, Jotaro shrinking up in his seat as he was berated. "Christ, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition." the raven-haired male remarked, looking up at the door after he spoke. He chuckled to himself, thinking back to that one re-run of Monty Python he saw on his TV one restless night. Kakyoin arched a brow. 

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just-" He paused, his words trailing off into laughter. He managed to speak again. "j-just a funny memory from something I watched on TV." He said, laughing the whole way through. 

Kakyoin gave him a confused smile, but was glad Jotaro was laughing. He hadn't heard him laugh since that one stand user attacked the crusaders. The redhead tittered as he thought back to it, trying not to laugh too hard for obvious reasons. The two laughed together for a little bit. 

The hospital was dark and dull, but Jotaro seemed to light it up for Kakyoin.

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

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606 words unedited

Hi! Kira here. My writing schedule will get a bit more smoothed out because I'm on break now! Yay! Maybe I'll give y'all a Christmas chapter 👀 And yes, I do watch Monty Python and that bit did in fact make sense bc SDC takes place way after the release of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Anyways, I haven't anymore to say, Happy Holidays and Happy New Years! Stay safe and healthy!! Cheerio!

~Kira