#kakyoin MIGHT listen to metal (just like me)

[mag1c1ansred]

guys i think kakyoin would canonically listen to rock and/or metal !! rip kakyoin u would’ve loved AC/DC or KORN honestly

[silent-sanctum]

✧ Polaris ✧ - Jotaro x Reader

PART 10: LOYALTY

— The previous parts of the fic can be found in the pinned post of my profile. Hope you enjoy! —

word count: 7.3k

After days of traveling, Egypt was finally beneath their feet and they made it despite the many inconveniences on the way, namely the vehicular accidents, Stand encounters, or both.

Including their most recent one involving the now-sunken submarine and a metal-shifting Stand. But none of that matters now when everyone in the Crusaders made it on to land, no longer needing to deal with the enemy user of High Priestess after her teeth got beat in thanks to Star Platinum’s rapid, hard-hitting fists.

A nearby town by the sea made it more convenient for them to stop by and get their bearings to prepare them for the remainder of their mission.

It was there that Polnareff and Kakyoin were able to gather more stuff needed for their trip, for Avdol to get into contact with the Speedwagon Foundation regarding “back-up” being ready to help the team out, for Mr. Joestar and Jotaro to find a rental service for a jeep capable of traversing the desert, and for you to communicate with some of the locals to learn about the typical weather conditions, nearby cities, unusual sightings, and possible pit stops that the guys might need to rest.

By the time the transport was good to go and the necessities packed in the trunk, there was nothing that could stop them from proceeding onward.

It was Polnareff’s turn to man the wheel with everyone else settling to sit on their spots. “Hold up everyone,” Mr. Joestar spoke up, hopping out of the jeep and rushing over to the nearby telephone booth. “I got to make a quick phone call to Suzy. Me falling conscious was not exactly reassuring for her poor heart.”

You followed after the old man with the intention of calling your uncle. Considering the number of stressful events that happened for the past weeks, hearing his voice could soothe the lingering feeling of homesickness at the back of your mind. Though as you got a few steps in to Mr. Joestar’s direction, a hand placed itself on your shoulder.

With one look over your shoulder, you found yourself unable to contain a smile as you stared up at Jotaro standing behind you, falling in line to use the booth. “Well well~ missing someone are we?”

No response as you’d expect, though the pointed stare and red-tipped ears were enough giveaways that he missed his doting mother.

“Hm?… Really? What for?…. Alright sweetie.” Mr. Joestar turned to his grandson with a hand muffling the receiver. “Suzy wants to talk to you.”

A quick glint of surprise flashed in the delinquent’s eyes, not expecting a talk with his grandmother. Though, they did converse for a brief moment as the old man’s replacement before the submarine lost all its connections. Maybe, that’s why his grandma wanted a form of closure from her grandson.

And you can tell that he saw his grandmother with complete respect. There’s that characteristic softening of his eyes when he listened to her talk, the way he never raised his voice once during the whole conversation, and just like whenever he responded to you after that night, there’s a faint pink to his ears as if he feels a bit bashful from the support of the elderly woman.

His gaze free from tension was always a nice sight.

Their talk didn’t last long, most likely just her checking up on her husband and grandchild. Jotaro placed the phone back into its holder on the booth but didn’t let go. There was contemplation in the way he just stood there, not wanting to move away. Did he want to call Holly?

It wouldn’t surprise you considering he actively chose to embark on this dangerous journey to save her life. It would only be normal if he began to worry about her worsening condition. “Do…” You started, letting his attention draw to you. “Do want to call someone else? I can ask Mr. Joestar if you’re too embarrassed to do it.”

You knew he wanted to say “yes” in the long pause in between you, but with a deep sigh, he tipped his hat over his face. “It’s fine.” She’s going to be fine. You assumed as much and you let it at that.

“If you say so. Though, it’s my turn to use the booth.”

Jotaro nodded and stepped aside, standing nearby even as Mr. Joestar had already retreated to the jeep with the others. You clawed through the depths of your mind for that string of numbers you saved months ago. It was told to be a small “cure for homesickness” as someone said.

Eventually, you managed to find the right number and the phone begun to ring. In a minute, a kind-hearted voice you haven’t heard for a while picked up:

“Hello?”

“H-Hi pops…”

“Oh Y/N! It’s been a while since you’ve called! How are you? Have you been adjusting well over there?”

You bit your lip, holding back the tears building up in your eyes. Just like how the delinquent had missed his mother, it just struck you that you had also missed your adopted family back in your hometown.

“There were a couple of crappy stuff that happened, but I’m doing good I guess,” you replied.

“That’s a relief sweetheart. How about… uhm… your nightly terrors? Are you holding up?”

You didn’t want to dump him with the fact you broke down that one time. You didn’t want to worry the poor man when all you wanted was to hear him for a bit. “They’re… a lot but nothing I can’t handle.”

“I know you told us that it’s not necessary and all, but that always remember that if you’re feeling lonely, your auntie and I are always available, alright?”

“Oh but I’m not alone. I made a couple of friends for the past few months here.”

“That’s great news! Have they been treating you right?”

“They’re nice and fun to be around. I’ve gotten close to them a lot…” Warmth sprung to your cheeks with the next words that came next. “Some closer than others.”

Out of the corner of your eye, the delinquent’s face ducked away with his hat serving as the only cover for his equally tinted cheeks. “I would love to meet your new friends when we visit. Don’t forget to remind me!”

You chuckled. “I will.”

“I believe it’s time for you to go.”

“Yeah…”

“We love you Y/N. You take care of yourself over there.”

An abrupt honk startled you from the call and with one more look back, you smiled as the Crusaders began to call for you and Jotaro with the latter not budging from his spot, patiently waiting for you to finish. “You can trust me on that, pops.”

---

You’ve made a lot of progress driving across the sandy landscape when the sound of whirling blades drew close to the group from above.

Looking upwards, a helicopter with the Foundation’s logo painted on its side greeted the Crusaders. This must be that back-up Mr. Joestar had been talking about.

“Wow would you look at that, they actually did send back-up so far deep into this trip,” Polnareff said, low-key dripping with snark. “Could’ve been earlier I’m just saying.”

“It’s better than nothing, I guess. You don’t have to whine about it,” Kakyoin answered back.

Regardless, Polnareff put the engine to a halt and with the jeep parked, everyone got out of the vehicle the same time the flying craft made its landing. “Why can’t we just board that thing and fly ourselves over to where we need to be, old man?” Jotaro asked through the gusts of sand blowing through their faces.

“As much of an appealing offer that is, we have to consider that there’s too much of us. We might end up being too heavy for the craft and besides,” you said back at him. “They’re not Stand users. It’s better not to place more risk onto others.”

“Just a bit of a warning,” Mr. Joestar spoke up. “The guy’s a bit of a handful. That’s why it took so long for him to get here.” At the mention, you side-eyed the Frenchman just to see him reel back from his whining from earlier.

Though Avdol seemed to know who exactly the old man was talking about at the aforementioned warning. “Are you really considering taking him with us? Won’t his presence just hold us back?”

“As Kakyoin said, it’s better than nothing. Just be careful around him.”

“You both saying that gives off the impression that our new pal over there is a demon spawn from hell,” you retorted. “A back-up is a back-up. No matter how annoying the guy is, we’re just going to have to suck it up and deal with it.”

“Easier said than done Y/N. I’ve met him before and he’s… a lot. Being the user of The Fool, might cause a lot of inconveniences.”

“Look, if he is as handful as you two have been saying so far, then I’ll make sure he complies with us, alright?” you sighed. “Nothing’s more irritating than seeing unnecessary rebellion when we got dire things to do.”

As much as your words sent some kind of reassurance to the two adults in the group, Polnareff snickered in the sidelines. “I don’t know about you, but The Fool sounds like a stupid name in my opinion.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at that. Don’t judge a book by its cover, Pol. “You should consider this a blessing that he’s on our side. You can’t beat him.” Avdol said for you.

And just like their heated argument from India, Polnareff didn’t take his response lightly. He marched over to the Egyptian, grabbed his robes, and said, “I suggest watching your mouth if you know what’s good for you.”

“Pol,” you said, curt. “What did I say about taking things personally?”

The Frenchman spluttered, letting go of Avdol to face you. “But you heard him! He assumed I was weak and-”

“What did I say, Polnareff?” you repeated, this time with enough grit and punctuation on each word to drive your point across your companion’s emotional skull. “Or do you want one of us to nearly die again because of your stubbornness?”

Flustered at this point, he let his pride dwindle a bit and stepped away from Avdol, mumbling incoherent words with crossed arms. In some way of easing him, you placed a hand behind his back in a silent way of saying “thanks.”

Just then, the door opened for the pilot to step down and greet the team with formality. “Mr. Joestar, good to see you.”

“Thank you for bringing him here. It must have been rough.”

“I assume none of you is the alleged Stand user?” you commented before Jotaro could make one. “You both seem fairly polite.”

“You’re right ma’am. He’s there in the back.” One of them walked to the passenger’s door to open it, revealing nobody but a dark blanket covering the seat.

“Hey now, quit joking around you two! What’s the deal? This guy’s short or something?” The Frenchman laughed, smacking the fabric, only to pull back with sticky saliva on his hands. “Ugh what is this goop?”

The pilot responded in a panic. “Hey! Stop that! The ride here was rough so he’s in a sour mood!”

“Pol, you better get back here right now.”

“What’s the big deal? I’m just asking where-” Before he could continue, the blanket rustled violently and something jumped out of the seat it occupied.

A Boston Terrier. A dog.

What the fuck?

“The dog is the-” Kakyoin started, equally surprised as the rest of you, except for Avdol and Mr. Joestar.

“Mhm. His name’s Iggy and he’s the user of The Fool,” he said even as the canine continued to wreak havoc on Polnareff’s silver up-do with relentless biting and scratching. “He’s got the habit of ripping hairs off of people’s heads and to be honest, I don’t know where he’s from. It was Avdol who found him in the streets of New York.”

“And the fella also has a tendency to-” Not that his sentence matters when in the middle of Iggy’s manic biting, he stopped to let out one loud fart straight onto Pol’s face. “Do that.”

You didn’t know if it was the stinky gas or just your general tiredness in dealing with a 24-year-old man like a child, but you merely watched as the said adult drew out Silver Chariot to attack a small, rabid creature. As you would’ve expected, Iggy returned the favor with his own Stand- an entity made entirely of sand, forming together to become a larger mechanical canine.

The fight didn’t last long though. One minute you saw Polnareff sending Chariot to stab Iggy’s Stand and in the next, he’s back writhing on the sandy ground with an aggravated, feral dog chewing his stylized hair into a bird’s nest.

“Have you brought his favorite treats?” You turned to Avdol asking the pilot who nodded, reaching into his pocket to bring out a box full of what appeared to be… gum?

The sound of the packets inside were enough to alert Iggy and spare the remaining hair left on his victim. “Of course. We wouldn’t be able to bring him here otherwise.” With the box now in Avdol’s hand, the dog leaped out of Pol’s body and rushed over to him, giddy and possibly greedy.

Knowing how Iggy works by now, you could tell he wasn’t only after the single stick of gum the Egyptian was holding up. By the time the terrier reached a few feet away from him, one of Silent Sanctuary’s strips zipped past you to snag the box of gum out of Avdol’s hold before the canine could.

“If I learned anything from the orangutan, the dog’s got personality too.” You had the gum in your possession- coffee flavored of all things considered- and Iggy’s attention focused onto you next, growling. “You want the whole thing?”

You didn’t expect any response from him but an attempt to bite your arm. You sidestepped the second the dog charged at you. Iggy turned back, now frustrated. “Do you want the box or do you want me throw it all far away?”

Demonstrating, you let Sanctuary wrap itself around the box and prepared to launch it off into a distance. You heard the dog yelp and sands shifting violently.

“Y/N, what are you doing?” Kakyoin said, nearly off-balanced by the moving ground. “Can you just let him have it?”

“The Fool’s emerging again!” Mr. Joestar called out after him.

You ignored their pleas, focusing on your current task.

“Try intimidating all you want but your sand can’t hurt me or this cloth right here,” you said, patting the taut fabric beside you. “So, what’s it gonna be- a whole box of delicious coffee gum? Or none at all?” You didn’t waste anymore time as Sanctuary moved an inch-

Then Iggy whimpered, letting the sands rest with surrender. A wave of relieved sighs swept the air from the Crusaders and the pilots. “You done fussing?” The terrier got on his belly, head bowed. You huffed and approached him with the gum still inside your Stand’s wrap just to make sure he’s not pretending.

“Good boy.” You got onto one knee to level yourself with the growling dog. “I can still launch this to god knows where so you ready to hear me out?”

Iggy nodded, still sulking.

“I’ll give you this whole box now just like you want but,” you said. “What if I told you instead that Mr. Joestar over there will buy you a year’s worth of coffee gum as a reward for you helping us finish this mission?” At that suggestion, Iggy’s ears perked up and his tail wagged with interest.

“Hey now! When did I say that?”

“Do you want our back-up to actually back us up or not?” You quipped at the old man with a smile dripping with snark. And Mr. Joestar went silent, scratching his beard knowing you had a point. Beside him, you could’ve sworn you saw Jotaro’s lip curl ever so slightly. “Exactly.”

You turned back to Iggy, pleased he didn’t make any attempt attacking Sanctuary while you were distracted. “How about it? Ready to help us?” You slowly brought up a fist and with a bark, he raised a paw to place on top of it. “And I expect you to actually help us. No free riding just for the treats, got it? I’ll be watching.”

Iggy barked in agreement.

“Here you go. As promised.”

Sanctuary stretched herself to the terrier, unwrapping the cloth to drop the gum in front of him. Immediately, Iggy pounced on it and began to gnaw on both the coffee treats and the carton they were in.

“Unbelievable,” Avdol said in awe as you walked to where the guys were, dusting sand off your skirt and hands. “You got him to cooperate for the time being.”

“Classic conditioning does wonders to feral animals when done right,” you shrugged. “That and I’m used to talking to stray animals. Being a new citizen to the country can be boring at times.”

With the new ally dilemma resolved, everyone returned to replenishing their stash with medical supplies, additional food and clothing, tracking gears, and a brand new prosthetic hand for Mr. Joestar. In addition, the pilot handed over a camera for the old man’s Stand to utilize with convenience.

But having a camera wasn’t exactly for Stand reasons alone. “Hey everyone! Why don’t we take a group photo while we have this bad boy still in one piece?”

Never wanting to miss the opportunity, all the Crusaders agreed to it wholeheartedly. With the camera in the pilot’s hand, everyone gathered to one spot and got into position- with Polnareff, Mr. Joestar, and Iggy in front, and Kakyoin, Avdol, Jotaro, and you in the back.

The shutter went off and a polaroid photograph was made for the memories.

“Hey Mr. Joestar? Can I borrow that one second?” Before he could reply, you went to grab the device off the pilot’s hand, hurrying back to stand beside Jotaro, slightly caught off guard at the sudden pictorial. “Would you mind if I…you know…”

He hesitated a bit, but after one long stare-off between his borderline glare and your eager gaze, he gave in. “Alright… good grief.”

Excited, you got a bit closer to the delinquent and leaned back a bit, just enough so the angle was right. You pressed the button and heard the shutter activate. Without having to wait for too long, the photo came out as nice as you’d expect it- you smiling with a wink and your hand on your shoulder, with Jotaro closely behind looking at the camera with one eye open (mirroring yours), a subtle curl to his lip, and a faint red on his cheeks.

“Now this is a keeper.”

Jotaro looked at the picture for a second longer and nodded. “Whatever you say.”

---

Jotaro liked the photo. A lot.

He’d keep it if he could, but his stubborn facade held him back from admitting that to you. Besides, you wanted the picture in the first place and he wouldn’t want to take the memento away from you.

With their supplies now stocked and ready to go, time shouldn’t be wasted any further. The helicopter’s blades whirled to life once again, lifting the aircraft up just as the jeep revved with its engine switched on. However, you barely drove across any distance when out of nowhere, a strong gust of wind and sand pushed the vehicle hard, nearly toppling it over.

“What the hell was that?!”

Everyone, with the exception of Iggy who remained asleep, scrambled out of the jeep to look back at the source and to the team’s shock, they saw what had happened. “Is that-”

“The helicopter…” Before them, what used to be a fully functioning mode of transportation now lay in a complete wreck on the golden sand- its body bent in half, metallic skin appeared to be clawed down to its wiring, windows smashed, and its blades crooked and falling apart.

And beneath all that ruined material was a pilot’s corpse, jaw agape and nails bloody from the scratches it had done on the helicopter’s hard exterior. While Kakyoin, Avdol, and Pol went off to inspect the tail end, the remaining crew went on to investigate the shell-shocked cadaver.

Both the craft and its passengers didn’t show any signs that could have sabotaged either. Though in an attempt to pull the body out, Jotaro noticed something in the pilot’s open mouth. “See something?” Joseph asked.

At closer inspection, Jotaro’s brows furrowed with concerned disgust. “Water. Full of it in his mouth.” He grabbed hold of the man’s chin and turned it to the side, allowing the copious amount of fluid to flow out onto the ground. “Saliva doesn’t fill the mouth that much. So it’s not from there but from the lungs,” he said, clearly perturbed. “Shit, that means he drowned in the desert of all places.”

“Rapid water build-up in a dry area like this with no rain? An enemy Stand’s responsible no doubt,” you remarked, already surveying the area for any other suspicious activity.

“Guys!” Your team turned to the other direction where the other 3 was at. “It’s the other pilot! He’s alive!”

The Crusaders re-grouped, forming a circle around the aforementioned man heaving on the sand, incredibly dehydrated and parched. His skin cracked in every area of his body with his bones jutting out underneath. The poor guy struggled to speak but all he could muster were gasps and heaves.

“Quick, Polnareff! Water! He needs water!” Joseph pointed at the nearby fallen canister. The silver-haired adult retrieved the container and brought it to the old man’s hand. “Here, drink up. You need it bad.”

Jotaro would expect the pilot would immediately latch on to it, but suspicion continued to build up the longer the man would refuse to drink from it, let alone go near it even. He grew more frantic the more the stubborn elder kept pushing the canister forward.

And in the last moment, the pilot found his voice.

“GET THAT AWAY FROM ME-”

With no warning, something shot out of the water container and dug its claws into the man’s face, violently tearing at skin, muscle, sinew, and bone until the whole head detached from its body.

You screamed, losing balance as you flinched hard from the abrupt and brutal death. Shit! Jotaro caught you before you could tumble to the ground, pulling you close to him as he shielded your eyes from watching the entity force the fresh head into the canister.

“Everyone move!”

The team jumped off a fair distance away from the now-bleeding object. The delinquent turned to you, slowly removing his hand off of your face once that thing settled. Without asking, you looked back at him with a shaky sigh. “I’m fine now,” you muttered. “Thanks.”

Whose Stand was that just now? More importantly, where was the user to begin with? Throughout their course here, he hadn’t noticed anyone that stood out from the rest of the crowd, nor did he find any silhouette roaming about in the vast desert sands.

Could this Stand be long-ranged just like The Lovers? Or was it remote?

Jotaro took the stillness of the moment to assess his surroundings, bringing out a pair of binoculars to search further and Star Platinum for an extra pair of eyes. Beside him, you helped with scanning the areas behind. Joseph and Avdol lie still nearby, never leaving their sights on the ominous object in front of them.

“Anything?” Joseph whispered.

The delinquent shook his head.

Farthest from the team were Polnareff and Kakyoin, lying across from them arguing something about who’s Stand should be the first to attack it. If they’d be any closer, he might have a way to shut them up and stop them from being annoying in the middle of an ambush.

Then there it was again, a damp spot growing on the sand a few inches away from Kakyoin gradually growing more wet until-

“Kakyoin!” The enemy Stand sprang from the moistened ground to claw both the cherry-haired’s eyes with a single, nearly deadly swipe. Polnareff reacted accordingly and caught his body as it fell lax.

“Get over here! Hurry!” You yelled at them, distressed. At the same time, those close to the jeep climbed on top of the vehicle to get away from the enemy’s range.

The Frenchman wasted no time and got up with his friend in his arms, sprinting as fast as he can away from the hunting Stand. Helping close the distance was Silent Sanctuary extending strips of its fabrics towards them with impressive speed. They latched themselves around wherever they could on both their bodies and with one solid tug, pulled them towards the jeep’s roof before the Stand could land a cut on Polnareff’s leg.

“How is he?” You hurried over to inspect the injuries on the student’s face.

“He’s breathing at least so I guess he’s fine,” Pol panted, high with adrenaline. “He’s knocked out though. Probably will stay like that until his eyes are treated.”

“Look for some bandages. We should stop the bleeding for now.”

Leaving them to tend to his wounds, Jotaro drew his focus back to the sand. Where is it? Now that he knew what to look for, he kept lookout for any puddle appearances or formation of any dark patches. Where are you, you piece of shit. “How do we beat this thing if it keeps going into hiding every time it loses track of us?” Joseph said, concerned with their current situation.

“We need to lure it out somehow. I can burn it with Magician’s Red but only if it’s distracted long enough,” Avdol said in return.

For a moment, they didn’t know what to do. There was a solution in the Egyptian’s plan, but to pull that off was something that still needed a bit more time to polish. Unfortunately for them, time wasn’t given to them when out of the window seat, Iggy barked repeatedly as he leaped out of the vehicle. He continued to do so at them even when his paws landed outside.

You heard him and understood that as a warning. Why else would he jump off if he was fine sleeping in it minutes ago?

“Get away from the jeep!” The guys turned to you as if you had grown another head, questioning why should they when doing so put them on its radar, but you barely got a word out when the vehicle trembled. “Now!”

At the last second, everyone jumped off the jeep’s roof a second before the transport sunk into sand. All of you stuck a rough landing but made it out just in time. Though, you couldn’t move when the fluid Stand crept towards the team.

Beads of sweat ran down your back as Silent Sanctuary hovered above you, ready to provide defense. You’d find out that won’t be necessary when across from you, a watch’s alarm blared out. The hand retracted itself and launched its claws towards the corpse’s wrist, cutting the hand clean from the arm before hiding once again.

“Sound,” Avdol muttered. “It hunts using sound and movement.”

It would make sense. When it first attacked the pilot, the man had screamed in panic. Then its next target was Kakyoin because of his argument with Polnareff. The watch was next after due to the alarm, and last was the jeep itself because of the team’s discussions. Everyone seemed to get the memo with one shared eye contact when all of them remained still and silent.

Testing out his hypothesis, Avdol slowly reached for his silver bracelets. One-by-one, he tossed a hoop onto the empty space in front of him, done in a pace mimicking how someone would walk with cautious steps.

“Jotaro,” He glanced at you, and if he didn’t know whether to be concerned or not when you were already on one knee with a plan in mind. You whispered. “Find a way to traverse the desert without running. The user has to be around somewhere.”

What are you doing? “Avdol’s plan has a high chance of backfiring once he runs out. I have a back-up plan in mind and part of it needs you to do what I told you earlier.” He had his doubts but just as you said, the last of the Egyptian’s bracelets marked itself on the ground, luring out the water Stand to its position.

The delinquent looked back at you with furrowed brows, wanting to tell you that his plan was working and to get down. However, once Magician’s Red hovered behind it to launch a fire ball, the entity dodged it at the last second. Now it was aware where Avdol was.

“Now.” A strip of rose-gold zipped out to shield the adult’s neck where the Stand’s trajectory was aiming for. The same time Avdol retreated back, you bolted out of your safe spot and ran across the sands. “Hey! Over here, you little shit!”

With the taunt, the Stand swam its way to you and leaped. Though it couldn’t do any harm when Silent Sanctuary had a ton of impenetrable fabrics ready to defend its user. Each swipe of its claws could only scratch the silk surface of your Stand, unable to tear at its seams.

You locked one more eye contact with Jotaro and this time, he got to his feet as well.

Get around without running? How the hell will I do that? He looked around him to see what can help him do that. He turned to every one of his companions, gauging if their Stands could do shit relevant to his task. But then his gaze stopped at Iggy, staying put in one spot away from the group.

The user of a sand-based Stand able to form into anything it wanted. Got it. “Hey you,” he called out to the canine. “Think you can make something up to get us across in the air?”

Iggy growled, sharing glares with the delinquent. “Listen mutt, do you want your damn supply of gum or not? You heard what Y/N said.” There was still that reluctance present in the dog’s posture, but given that he’s unable to pass on the opportunity on free food, he begrudgingly complied.

In that moment, the sands went into motion around them, swirling around the canine until it rose to form The Fool in its entirety. Unlike its former appearance, a large glider had attached itself on the mechanical Stand’s back. It rolled forward to pick Iggy in its metallic paws. He barked at Jotaro, telling him to grab onto it to hitch a ride.

The delinquent cocked his head. I can’t believe I’m doing this. He grabbed hold onto The Fool’s arm and using Star’s force, he launched both Iggy and himself up into the sky with one strong leap.

Jotaro looked back to see what you were up to. Suffice to say, you still kept up the distraction as the clawed hand repeatedly failed in landing a single cut anywhere on your body thanks to the glint of silk protecting you. With you keeping it busy, the others used the moment to get the jeep above ground and get it running.

Focusing ahead, he brought out Star’s eyes and surveyed the surrounding areas for any sign of a lone Stand user. In front of him, Iggy sniffed the air, actually helping him search and in doing so, The Fool maneuvered itself to the direction of any foreign scent he could smell.

And after minutes of searching, Jotaro managed to find someone 400 meters away- a man cross-sitting atop a sandy hill, head bowed in concentration with a cane in hand connected to the ground. There you are. However, they couldn’t reach in time as they neared the ground.

“Damnit,” Once his foot grazed the sand, he brought Star out once again to launch themselves up into the sky. But by doing that, he gave away his location to the enemy and he could hear the once-distracted Stand approach, harshly swimming underneath the sands, causing multiple granules to sprinkle against the glider and emit a distinct sound as its trail.

Now that our location’s on his radar, it’ll only be a matter of until- The second the sandy rain stopped falling, the watery Stand leaped out of the ground, aiming straight for Jotaro. Star Platinum hovered before him in an attempt to block it, but to his dismay, the enemy Stand slipped past the humanoid’s fist and landed a clean cut across his shoulders and a hole on The Fool’s glider.

Losing flight again, they drifted low onto land, faster than earlier with a heavy tilt causing his shoes to drag across the ground. Jotaro cursed. The man was so close, so close that he could hear him chuckle as if success was within his reach. Would he even make it there without having to constantly deal with this deadly hand?

Fuck it. Jotaro let go of The Fool, allowing Iggy to swerve away to safety, and got into a stance where Star is able to lend its leg power for one more jump, preferably behind the enemy Stand user so he could get one solid hit to render him unconscious. There was the risk of getting attacked in a fatal area, with the pain radiating on his shoulder serving as a reminder of the danger, but if it meant ending this obstacle then so be it.

The delinquent could feel the shifting of the sand making way for the rapidly approaching liquid. He put all his force into his one leg and just as he made that leap, a voice yelled out in the back.

“Catch!”

Something flew past Jotaro’s leg in high speed and what once was targeted at him, the Stand changed course and retreated back into the ground, hurrying back to return to its user. Glancing back, he saw you from a distance standing on top of the recovered jeep with Pol manning the wheel. Silent Sanctuary floated close-by with one strip loosened being the one responsible for the throw.

But by the time the clawed hand made it in time to slice the item- the bleeding canister- in half before it could reach its user, Jotaro had already landed behind him, remaining still to not alert his position.

It wasn’t too long until the man realized that his target stood just outside the water barrier he set for himself. He made it known that he was honored by the way Jotaro decided to approach him, one that wasn’t simply walking up to a blind man to knock the living daylights out of him.

With silent agreement, their battle would end with one attack. Both would hold themselves for a bit longer until their attacks are fired at the same time just like all those Western movies Jotaro would watch as a kid. Their timer would be the cane the man held, letting it fall slowly from his grasp.

In the end, Jotaro was hailed as the victor of their duel, managing to deliver a heavy punch onto the man’s face while his Stand could only knock the hat off his head.

There were a lot to be asked now that they got one of DIO’s lackeys under their grasp, but that hope for any intel dissipated as the man let his own Stand run itself through his chest, piercing the heart inside. The act surprised Jotaro since he never had encountered someone who’d take his own life to evade questioning.

Even as the teenager asked him why he’d do such a thing when he had a life to live for, his reasoning was admirable even if it was twisted with lies of being given a purpose, and is rooted deep due to cult-like devotion. Even in defeat, his loyalty to his god and his fellow companions was unwavering, that he’d rather die than betray his fellow men.

Their conversation ended not too long after and the man named N’Doul breathed his last and died just like he intended, serving his master until the very end.

For the first time in his life, Jotaro gave genuine respect to someone of the opposite side.

The delinquent stayed around for a bit longer until the sun had set into the horizon, giving the blind man a proper burial grave to honor his sense of devotion one last time. His cane, planted on top of the small lump, acted as N’Doul’s personal headstone.

“You know you didn’t have to, right?”

Jotaro looked over to see you stand beside him, hands clasped over your skirt to pay your respects to the grave. “I know, but it felt… wrong to just leave him as is.”

“For you to treat him like this… I guess you both had quite of a chat.”

“Maybe.”

The sun continued to retreat in the distance. “We should head back,” you said. “Your shoulder has some patching up to do. Pol left some of the bandage used for Nori’s eyes.” Although the pain wasn’t that bad, Jotaro knew you by now that refusing treatment wasn’t in your choices. And so he nodded once.

A bark interrupted the both of you. “Guess who found your hat?” You smiled as Iggy crept up from behind your shins, holding his ripped hat with his teeth. “I gotta say, it’s quite impressive the man’s able to knock it off your head that far.”

“Would you look at that?” Jotaro got onto one knee and waited for the terrier to approach him with caution. He reached forward to grab it off his mouth. “Seems you’re not all that bad. Thanks.”

The teenager attempted to give Iggy a head pat, only for the latter to growl at him and run towards the direction of the jeep. In return, Jotaro scowled as he placed the hat back on its rightful spot.

“Little shit.”

“Reminds me of a certain someone, don’t you agree?” You smiled, cheeky.

“Shut up.”

---

Given how late the day had gotten, everyone in the group agreed to camp out in the middle of the desert, waiting out one night before they could continue on with their trip.

A fire was set up in the middle of their makeshift site filled with sleeping mats and cooking paraphernalia, providing a decent amount of warmth for the team in the midst of the chilly evening air. They had a simple dinner of cooked beans and biscuits, chatted with each other for a while, until majority agreed to hit the hay for the remaining hours.

Until now, you still couldn’t bring yourself to fall asleep. You haven’t gotten any sleep for the past hours and with the exhaustion taking over every inch of your body, you didn’t know whether you even wanted to sleep or force yourself awake. You didn’t want to end up in that manor again after all.

Figuring sleep wasn’t your best option as of the moment, you turned to look for the one person who you could trust yourself to be with at this hour.

“Hey…” You waved at the delinquent resting on top of his mat, staying upright against the surface of the jeep. He looked up at you, curious. “Would you mind if I… sit here?”

Not a word was said in return but Jotaro scooting over to the side was enough. You placed your mat beside his and sat beside him.

“Staying up again?” He nodded. “Don’t you feel tired though? You must have times where you just wanna sleep the night away.”

“It’s nothing new. A day nap or two can help me get by.”

“You’re lucky. What I would give to not worry about taking naps. I’m so tired but alas… here I am eyes heavy,” you sighed, resting your head against the vehicle’s surface. “I don’t want to go back there. Can you help me with that?”

“How?”

You shrugged. “Dunno… Maybe I just like hearing you talk. Your voice is really nice.”

A chilling gust of breeze brushed by, causing your body to shiver from the cold. You tried to keep it in, even shoving your feet in the mat as if that could help, until something lightly nudged at you.

You turned to see Jotaro offering you his gakuran without looking at you. From your angle, you peeked at the bandage wrapped around his shoulder courtesy of you. Trailing up, you could see his averted face bearing tightened lips, almost embarrassed with what he just did.

Either way, your cheeks flushed and you couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. You gingerly took the uniform without a word and let it drape over you, nearly covering your entire frame. In it, you could pick up on the faint smell of that citrus scent you recognized back in Singapore and the more obvious hint of tobacco laced with it.

The material itself was warm enough to shield you from the evening chill and you buried as much of yourself inside, savoring the warmth it gave as you grasped the edges of the clothing and tugged it over each other.

“You know I don’t talk much.”

“Didn’t seem like that back in the submarine though,” you said. “Longest I’ve ever heard you speak without a break.”

“It’s stupid.”

“It’s not!” You quickly butted in. “If anything, it made me stupid for the lack of knowledge I have on ocean life. But that just means you have more intellect in that head of yours than just being an ordinary bad boy. Hell, I might need you to tutor me on our future classes.”

Jotaro deadpanned at you, and you giggled. “I’m joking.”

In the minutes without either of you talking, he reached into his pocket and brought out his silver lighter. You thought he’d reach for his cigarettes next, but he didn’t. Instead he fidgeted with the item, flicking the lid open and close. “What… do you want to know?”

“Anything. Whatever you have stored in that memory bank of yours, lay it on me.”

With some reluctance, Jotaro began to share a couple more facts about all the things he might have read prior to their journey. From animal biology to the mechanisms of ships and planes, to the tropes of his favorite movies, you listened to him with full attention and you made sure he knew that by asking questions in-between, to which he answered to with ease.

Neither of you knew how long this went but you didn’t care. You were invested in the way he’d talk about the things he was passionate in, the way he unknowingly began to open more of himself to you without having the need to do so, and from the way you could see more of his youthful energy peeking through all his many layers of jaded stoicism and teenage angst.

It was endearing. Almost wholesome even. You did say you liked hearing him speak, and perhaps this was why.

It also didn’t occur to either one of you that you gradually leaned towards him until you had your arm pressing against his.

However, you still couldn’t hold back the need to shut your eyes as they grew heavier with each passing second, and accompanied by the baritone voice of your companion and the soothing warmth of his uniform, you gave in to its temptation with a drawn-out yawn.

Jotaro paused, taking the time to look at you. “I have to go back again. I’m so sleepy…”

“Then sleep.”

You closed your eyes as you leaned your head on his shoulder, mumbling out a few more words before fully falling into slumber. “But I don’t wanna hurt anymore…”

Silence. And then a response- deep and raspy, but at the same time soft and reassuring. “You don’t have to worry.”

“I’ll be here."

[jjba-hell]

Fate and Fortune

Part 7 (holy shit)

A bit of a filler but I swear the next part is gonna get juicy- the way I write Jotaro is just painstakingly layered in non-verbal communication so it takes longer to describe.

Content Warnings: familial loss, it is the Strength card arc (harassment) some sea sickness but that’s about it

For the moots keeping up with my bs: @risottoneroo @fyre23

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

“Vera?” Avdol’s voice rang on the other side of the metal door. “Are you alright?”

The concern was understandable- she wasn’t exactly used to sleeping in the top bench so when the ship took a particularly harsh hit she simply rolled off and with a loud thud landed on the floor. Too exhausted to move, she then simply pulled the blanket from the bottom bunk and tried to continue sleeping.

“I’m opening the door.” He warned before doing just that. The exasperated sigh that followed made her laugh to herself.

“What?”

“Vera, I was concerned you had hit your head.”

Once again she found herself taking his outstretched hand to get up, looking up at him with his hair half in and out of the signature buns atop his head made her laugh. “It’s an ungodly hour to still be working on your hair, don’t you think Avdol?”

“Oh and I suppose you’re willing to sacrifice your sleep for me?”

Vera dramatically held a hand over her heart like she was offended. “You think so ill of me, Avdol! After all that time of nightmares disturbing us both?”

She rose up from her blanket on the floor and with feign indifference fixed her pajama shirt. He only folded his hands over his chest, raising in an eyebrow at her in that same feigned annoyance.

“You can be so dramatic sometimes. Very well, Vera- could you please come help me tend to my hair?”

“Hmmmm, on one condition.”

“I’m listening.” He laughed.

“Just some fire from Magician for when I come back to bed, I’m cold.”

“That’s all?”

She nodded, strolling past him into the hallway, Avdol’s arms remaining crossed as he watched her wait all too happily outside in the hallway.

“Very well.”

Before Vera had as much control of her stand as she did, accidents were a common occurrence in Avdol’s house- Fortune being the cause but neither one of them noticing. One particular time, Avdol had burned just the tip of his finger on a stove top he believed had cooled down enough- using his usual hair care products in his hands annoyed him to no end. So she made him teach her.

Now she could do it with relative ease but the first time she did it, it was definitely a learning curve.

“I worry about you.” He had said as she was nearing the end of the last bun.

“Why? Because you find me on the floor with a blanket simply because I am too lazy to get back on the bed?”

“I’m more concerned for your nightmares. I haven’t seen you well rested ever since you came to Japan.”

She shrugged, knowing full well he couldn’t see. “You’re not wrong but there’s not much I can do.”

There was a stretch of silence and then, “What happens in your dreams? I’ve always been wary of asking you prying questions on the matter but perhaps speaking on it might help you resolve something deep within your soul.”

Vera’s hands shakily continued with Avdol’s strands, the lump in her throat growing bigger. “I dream of my mother, more than anything. I didn’t see my father’s face in death but my mother...”

With a shaky exhale she let the words pour out of her. “I never hear her, not like I hear my own screaming. I always just see her reaching out for me from the darkness- I’m always just a few inches short from reaching.”

She carefully wrapped the silk headdress over Avdol’s head, straightening out the little braid that ran down his back. “Embarrassingly, whenever I think of my father- the only face I see is yours.”

With a slight pat on the shoulder, like it would help him forget what she had said, Vera took her cigarettes from his bedside that she had brought and moved away towards the door.

Magician’s Red emerged from his user and offered a little flame in his hand. Fortune took the honor of taking it and with a smile she looked over at Avdol.

“You’re certainly an unexpected daughter, Vera... but I can’t think of a stronger person, even if I tried.”

“Thanks.”

And without adding any more sarcasm to ruin his good mood, Vera was off again back to her room, Fortune trailing behind with the little fire that seemed to warm her own hands in her pockets just as well.

The next morning she sat on the deck in the sun to get a better look at her bruised and splinter-filled leg.

For once it was Kakyoin using a metal tweezer to pull the splinters from her knee and shin- her head tipped over the backrest of the lounge chair she was seated on and a cigarette in her other hand.

“And you’re telling me it doesn’t hurt?” Noriaki laughed as he pulled a rather thick one out of the side of her shin.

“Of course it hurts but it feels more like an itch than stinging pain.” She answered, taking a drag and watching the smoke swirl up and dance with the subtle breeze around them.

“And you said it was from your fever?”

She threw her hands up, “Beats me- I just theorized that my nerve endings were burned half to death during the fever.”

Beside her, in her peripheral, she was watching as Jotaro’s eyes burned holes into Noriaki’s hand on her knee. He hadn’t ashed his cigarette in a while so she knew he was most certainly not casually smoking.

“And why is it that you refuse to heal yourself?”

Her attention returned to Noriaki. “Well for the most part, most of my injuries are from bad luck which is penance for manipulating fate. Also- I can’t revert my own luck. I can only move it forward under dire circumstances.”

Noriaki carefully disinfected the little holes literring her leg and had just finished wrapping up the ones still bleeding when a commotion below deck caught everyone’s attention.

Vera rose up and took hold of the first aid kit. She’d been trying to distract herself from the immense sea sickness that felt like a knife twisting in her gut but that last cigarette was the last straw.

On shaky legs she came to lean against the railing beside Jotaro, maybe a step too close for casual but she gazed up at him regardless. “I’m gonna take the first aid kit back- holler if you need me.”

He only gave a curt nod. She nodded right back, pushing off the railing and bumping into Jotaro in her disoriented state. He caught hold of her shoulder as she tried to regain her sense of direction.

“You look like shit.”

The comment probably shouldn’t have sparked so much anger in her but regardless she looked up at him and purposefully dropped the first aid box a hair width away from his foot.

“I’ll yack my breakfast out on you, Kujo. I’m well aware that I look like shit.”

With an angry shove away from him she pushed her way to the stair railing that led below deck. “Ms! Is everything alright?” One of the crewmate called from the bottom of the stairs and for once she was grateful to have someone help her down a flight of stairs.

She had just sat down in the captain’s quarters with a sigh when she looked down at the desk- a unopened letter with the Speedwagon Foundation seal lay on the top of a stack of paperwork. Her curiosity burned perhaps a bit brighter than it should have, so she let Fortune bring the letter to her hand- turning it around to see if it wasn’t open by any chance.

The letter was returned to the stack- after she realized it really wasn’t open- and then replaced by the piece of scribbled paper just below. At reading the name spelled in all capitals in the letter, her heart dropped to her already twisting stomach.

DIO.

“A false captain, huh?” Her eyes scanned the document further.

The sudden crash and tremors moving through the ship had her shoot up out of her seat and back towards the top of the deck. She was greeted my Mr Joestar’s wide eyes then slight relief. “Good, you’re not hurt- we’re evacuating the ship!” He announced to the crew.

“What? Why?”

“The captain was a fake- he’s gonna detonate the ship.”

She ran after him, trying to come up with a better solution than bobbing about on a dinghy. “Can’t we just find the bomb and I can delay the timer?”

Her duffel bag got put down right at her feet. “No time to look, ship’s too big.”

Internally, she was screaming as she picked up her duffel bag and ran to help grab the other guy’s bags as well before running up deck just in time to see them lowering the life boats.

It had been a few hours since they started aimlessly drifting in the water and Vera was losing her grip on whatever food had been pushing its way back up.

“I never understood when they said you become green when ill but I think I see it now.” Avdol joked from across the lifeboat from her.

The frantic laugh that left her lips had the whole crew watching as she pushed her head between her knees and think about solid ground and not the insistent bobbing of the waves around her.

“Funny joke, Avdol. Wanna lend me your robe?” She asked as she stuck a hand ahead of her.

Kakyoin’s hand rubbed soothing circles over her back, the subtle warmth on her back helping her ground herself. It was usually when Kakyoin as much as opened his mouth that Jotaro’s knee moved closer to her- the most subtle movement to bring himself closer to her. Vera couldn’t exactly complain- having his leg beside her helped her ground herself even more. But Noriaki, despite his flirtatious nature, was very careful not to move too close to her, even when she sat up, his shoulder rarely grazed hers- as if he was deliberately swaying himself away from touching her. Jotaro however, took his space freely- his arm was almost attached to hers and his knee only seemed to move away when he could tell Kakyoin was going to keep his distance.

So- in the name of gaining more grounding- she moved her other hand to extend across Noriaki’s lap. He seemed to get the message pretty quickly since he took hold of her extended hand, which was probably the ‘all clear’ signal for him since his knee moved against hers as well. Jotaro’s response was to lean his arms onto his lap- their arms touching once again.

“So which one of you are dating?”

Those words uttered by Anne was enough for Vera to end up feeling like the floor was ripped right under her. Both of the boys moved away from her, her head shooting up the overwhelmingly bright blue sky. Her eyes took a moment to adjust but there it was- another ship.

“We’re getting out of here!” She exclaimed.

Jinxed it.

Soon as she stepped on the stairs to the upper deck she stopped a moment. Jotaro was on the landing with her, watching her shakily bend at the knee to get closer to the water and rather undignifyingly let IT all out.

The strong hand on her shoulder came as a surprise though, as if holding her from falling forward into the water.

The handkerchief offered to her truly had her questioning if it was even Jotaro standing beside her. Did she miss something?

Without another word his hand left her shoulder and she stood up- now painfully unable to look him in the eye. He noticed just enough to give a huff of laughter before turning to walk up the stairs.

“Thanks.” She called back without looking back. Jotaro’s footsteps stopped for a moment.

“What did you say?” She could just hear the cockiness as he turned around on the step he was standing on.

Now this game she was not going to play. Vera spun around and walked up the stairs until she was one step below him, craning her neck to look up at him. “Thank you, Jotaro.” Her hand landed gently ontop of Jotaro’s hand holding the railing.

The smugness on his face slid off and was replaced by the same flat, stoic face with maybe a hint of surprise in the height of his eyebrows.

“Whatever.” He mumbled as he turned around and continued up the stairs.

On the upper deck she was asked to help Anne rinse off the saltwater in the bathrooms- she understood why but she was not into playing babysitter.

“You just had to jump onto a ship with a jean overall, huh kid?”

Vera ripped up one of her button ups along with the the last short in her duffel bag for Anne before standing guard at the bathroom.

Jotaro’s heavy step echoed through the hallway until he came into view and the first thing she asked was “Do you feel eyes on you?”

She’d say she started feeling as if she was being watched shortly after they saw that stupid orangutan sitting in its cage.

“I wouldn’t say eyes, but something does feel off.”

Vera leaned against the door frame, humming. They’d already had the suspicion that it could be a trap but the user would have made themselves known by now, wouldn’t they?

“Are you still sea sick?”

Her gaze trailed up at him, leaning across the hallway from her. He didn’t seem malicious in asking or even joking. The same stoic face looked back at her as he asked that.

“I feel a lot better but it’s kinda touch and go but thanks for asking.” It was probably the first time she didn’t answer with a bit that hint of sarcasm- instead answering him straight. The moment was gone the second a blood-curdling scream from the showers made her jump out of her skin and straight to where it was coming from.

Vera’s mind shut down at the sight of the orangutan holding her underwear, her duffel bag’s contents strewn over the floor of the bathroom and Anne cornered in a shower.

All discomfort she could ever have felt melted away in that moment and Fortune leapt forward faster than she’d ever seen her move. They had landed one good hit to the jaw, when the walls around her started to close in on her and her stand.

“What the hell?” She pushed against the metal boxing her in place with no success. “How the hell do you move like liquid in one moment and stay solid in the next.”

Out of desparation she brought Fortune back out and tried to push with her, the metal groaning in protest but not enough for her to get out.

When another scream on the other side sounded behind the metal walls separating them, desperation set in and she called out to Jotaro. “You boxed in?”

“Yeah. Any plans?”

“I’m gonna phase you in with her, you keep her safe- okay?”

She didn’t wait for an answer as she sent Fortune through the walls to where she’d guess Jotaro was and then dragging him through to the other side of the metal wall she heard the scream coming from. The walls started to cave in all around her, her arms starting to lose mobility the closer the walls crawled closer to her.

“To whoever’s stand this is, cop a good feel while you can motherfucker cause I’ll make sure you don’t have hands to feel with ever again!”

As she was about to attempt another struggle the walls seemed to slowly deflate like a balloon and on the other side was the busted up orangutan, Jotaro and Anne.

“Vera...” Anne started shakily as Jotaro almost marched with his back turned to them.

“It was the orangutan, the whole ship is his stand. We’ve gotta get off.”

She only listened with half an ear as she handed Anne the clothes she had originally intended for her to wear. Jotaro hastily grabbed her duffel bag and stuffed as much of her stuff in as he could before they booked it out of there- ending up right back where they started.

With Vera’s head between her knees trying to fight off the sea sickness.

[neon-ufo]

Answering some OC asks

cool-human-98 said:

Since there's not much info about Ness, I'm really interested in what he's like. What do you have on him so far? Of course I'm asking about things that are not spoilers

Ness is 17, which makes him the youngest character in the entire story, and he acts like it too. He’s very careless, loud and free-spirited, with a good sense of what’s right and wrong.

He absolutely doesn’t know when it’s not the right time to have a big mouth and can get himself in trouble by talking too much, or not following directions.

He’s very eager to meet new people, because he didn’t have many chances to do so in the past due to reasons I don’t want to disclose yet.

He makes very quick judgements and will often make a decision in the spur of a moment, not really thinking about the consequences of it. He’s very much led by his heart more than his brain.

He loves comics and power metal, and I think the fact that Gloryhammer is his favourite band says quite a bit about him.

My friend once said he's a personification of the Ultra Pink Monster Energy drink and that’s a pretty good summary of him (thought I’d say he’s more of the Pipeline Punch flavour).

behold-a-bastard-in-this-house said:

Are there any details on Ciril's curse, maybe? As in, how he gained it and when? Thank you much!

Without spoiling too much of the core conflict of the story, Ciril’s curse was basically caused by him being too curious and going to places he shouldn’t have gone to. I am not fully set on the timeline of how long ago he’s been cursed, because it has to be lined up with events regarding some other characters (Mario and Ren), and I haven’t really sat down and properly match it up yet, but he’s been cursed for a couple of years at this point.

The curse slowly saps his energy, making him physically extremely weak; there are times when he can’t even get out of bed, and some days he can only move around with a wheelchair. He’s only 32 years old but looks much older.

While the process of the curse is slow, living with it at this point is terrible, as he’s not just weak, but he also can’t taste food, he’s constantly cold, his overall feelings feel very numb. It’s clearly out to kill him, and he has no idea how to lift it. Because death is his biggest fear, and he feels like he’s running out of time, he’s very desperate to save himself by any means necessary.

Anonymous said:

Does Vivid have a favorite meme?

Dabbing & Minecraft, no questions about it.

blacksheep28 said:

What's Vivid's big dream in life?

He’s not really a person with any big plans for the future, he keeps his options open! One thing he definitely wants is to make things that bring joy to people.

In the current time, he’s an actor in a community theater. Sometimes he plays guitar and sings on the streets and then gives his earnings to those in need, since he loves to perform, but he doesn’t really need any additional income, so he just does what he can to bring some overall good vibes to his community. If any bars have an open stage, you know he’s there. 

He can play a guitar and piano, however he doesn’t want an actual career as a musician, or an actor, as he’d find that restricting. Basically, he’s just vibin’

bayygel said:

Who is most likely to cry when surprise punched in the face? Who is least likely to cry? I hope this question is up to your standards, Jim :) because I for one am very curious!

Vivid is a HUGE weenie when it comes to pain, his pain tolerance is non-existent. He will cower at any threat of pain, despite being pretty muscular and big. Being an actor, he’s able to put up an intimidating charade if necessary, but if his bluff is called he immediately retreats to avoid any further confrontation.

As for least likely.. About half the characters are pretty damn tough. Mario and Barbi would be hard to push to crying through pain (Barbi would cry from frustration sooner than from pain), and Ren is stone-cold. However, Otto is a clear ‘winner’ here, as life got him to a point where he’s too jaded to really care about much anymore, and that includes pain (which he has an extremely high tolerance for, he could probably lose a limb and not care)

Anonymous said:

I don't have a particular question but I'd love to hear more about ren! i guess if you need something more specific then maybe something about her sibling kind of relationship with mario?

Mario and Ren started off on pretty rough terms which caused her to be wary of him for a while. On the other side, Mario felt extremely bad about it and did everything he could to make her realize she’s safe and can trust him. Eventually, she came around and they’ve been really close ever since; he was the first person she ever felt calm with and he helped her a lot when it came to basically learning how to socialize, despite him being a total extrovert and her a total introvert.

Mario is an only child who always wanted a younger sibling, so meeting Ren filled that void for him and he protects and spoils her like a little sister, he’s willing to listen to her talk about her interests even if he doesn’t get it, he takes her out shopping, plays basketball with her, etc. 

Ren is very aware of this and deeply appreciates Mario for it. He’s constantly supportive of her, and while Ren is the kind of inexpressive and quiet person that might come across ungrateful to an outsider, Mario knows better than that and knows that this means a lot to her.

Anonymous said:

On a scale of 1 to 10, how huggable are each of your characters?

Ciril: Not huggable - bony and thin, will greatly oppose to hugs. Em: Somewhat huggable - might oppose at first, but it’s very possible for his motherly instincts to kick in and a gentle hug will be returned. Mario: Huggable - but your bones will be crushed Otto: Possibly huggable? Might not know what’s going on. Alternatively, he might think you’re upset and try to awkwardly pat your back. Ren: Not huggable, will flinch. Barbi: Only huggable for friends, otherwise she will headbutt you in the face Vivid: Extremely huggable. Possibly the most huggable. Will always hug back. King: Not huggable. Will not like it. Ness: Huggable. Will be happy to receive a hug and might spin you around.

Anonymous said:

Did Jojo inspire your characters designs? If so, are there any specific characters who inspired the designs? And on the topic of design, who is your favorite and why?

Araki’s work influenced me in general, not just when it comes to character designs, it basically changed how I look at art altogether. A lot of the characters are directly inspired by stylistic choices, rather than specific characters;

- Crop tops. - While Em was not inspired by Kakyoin directly, he was inspired by how I decided to stylize Kakyoin when I drew him. - Barbi’s hair is inspired by Araki’s rigid style of drawing hair which I love a lot - King’s hair was inspired by Diavolo’s hair, because I interpreted Diavolo’s hair as having a leopard pattern, and that gave me idea for King’s zebra pattern - Similar as with Em, this isn’t a DIRECT inspiration from JoJo, but the way I draw Mario is slightly based on the way I stylized DIO - Ciril’s two-tone hair was inspired by my initial interpretation of Abbacchio’s headband being differently coloured hair on top of his head. - Ren’s pitch black no-shine eyes were inspired by Mista, and her spiky hair is a mixture of Narancia and that 2000s scene style where everyone gelled the hair at the back of their head - The ‘holes’ between the strands of Ness’ hair were inspired by how Reimi’s hair was drawn, I thought that was really cool.

As for my favourite, I’m fond of all of them since I worked on streamlining their designs a lot, but if I had to pick, I think King is generally the one I like drawing the most for some reason. I’m very happy with how Inverness turned out too, and Em being kind of a fashionista is fun to design outfits for.

Anonymous said:

Do any of your OCs watch anime? If so what type?

Ren is a bonafide weeb. Kuroshitsuji is her favourite anime because she loves Sebastian. Her favourite genres are supernatural mystery anime and slice-of-life anime. She prefers older shows and doesn’t really dig the hype of the seasonal shows, though she will occasionally check them out. She generally doesn’t like the Shounen genre. She likes Dragon Maid too, Fafnir being her favourite (as you can see she has a type). She uses Picrew to make her avatars.

Anonymous said:

Who of your OCs is the least athletic? Who's the most athletic?

Due to his current predicament, Ciril is by far the least athletic one, as sometimes he can barely walk. Before the curse, however, he was a traveller, meaning he was in a pretty good condition.

If we don’t count Ciril due to his curse, then Em would be the least athletic one. He’s slim and elegant and makes sure to stay that way, but any work out he does isn’t really preparing him for any serious conditions, he’ll be the first to lose breath if everyone ran a race (not counting Ciril who, frankly, can’t run.)

On the other side, Otto doesn’t look like it and doesn’t live like it, but he’s pretty much peak condition among my characters. He actively works out as a way to cope with the mess that is his life and had military training in the past.

(Mario is also a good competitor for this, being a fitness bro, but he doesn’t have nearly as much experience as Otto, and despite their difference in size, Otto could absolutely take him down.)

Anonymous said:

ideas on how any of your original characters would deal with self isolation/quarantine?

[cheemerthelizard]

Crusader of Life (Kakyoin x Reader) Chapter 12

After crashing yet another plane, you and the others have to set up camp right where you were. The biggest problem wasn’t how to survive out there, but rather what would happen to the baby. After Kakyoin seems like he’s going insane, he reveals to you two words carved on his arm: BABY STAND.

“Baby... Stand?” You looked at the two words in horror. “Kakyoin, did you carve that into yourself?”

“I mean, it had to have been me,” Kakyoin replied. “It’s not like anybody would have written those words on me just to pull a prank. Enemy Stands are serious matters.”

You backed away a little bit. “Should I tell Mr. Joestar and the others?”

“No! No.” Kakyoin was oddly quick to turn that idea down. “I’m thinking that I’m just going crazy or something.” He gave a small laugh, then looked at you. “But I’ll be sure to keep my sanity. If not for me, then for you.”

You laughed a little to try to lighten the mood, but it didn’t do much. “You’re still super cute when you get protective over me,” you purred. “I’m gonna go eat dinner now. Wanna come?”

“I’ll join soon,” Kakyoin promised, and brushed your hair out of your face before kissing your forehead. “Go eat. You must be starving.”

“Okay,” you mumbled happily, leaving him alone for the second time that night. This time, however, you were even more worried about him. You thought he was truly going insane. A baby that’s already had homicidal thoughts, AND acting on them? Not possible. But you would keep your promise, and not tell anyone about his arm wound.

“So, did you get anything out of him?” Joseph asked.

“He’s just tired,” you lied. “He’ll be fine once he gets some sleep tonight. Anyway, what do we have for dinner?”

“Soup and sandwiches,” Avdol answered.

“Hey, old man,” Jotaro said. “We’ve got lots of soup that you would never get to try elsewhere. Why are you eating canned chicken noodle soup?”

“Because it tastes good!” Joseph answered. “Why try something new if you already know what’s your favorite?”

“He makes a point,” you replied, stuffing your face with pb and j.

“Good grief,” Jotaro sighed, grabbing a bowl of soup.

The five of you were happily munching away at your food, when Kakyoin came running over.

“Did you see that?” he asked, pointing at the baby. “He killed a scorpion! With his own two hands! There’s something fishy about him.”

Everyone looked at the baby in his cradle, and saw him looking at his hands while moving his fingers. Nothing suspicious there.

“Kakyoin,” you said, “I really think you need some rest.”

“No! There’s a scorpion in there somewhere!” Kakyoin started looking all through his covers. “Where is it? Where did you hide it?!”

“That’s enough, Kakyoin!” Joseph exclaimed. He took the baby out of the cradle and started holding it close. “You’re scaring him!”

“But...” Kakyoin stuttered. “But, do you believe me? It really did kill a scorpion!” He turned around to you, bent down to your height, and stroked your hair. “Oh, (Y/N), my precious (Y/N), don’t you believe me?”

You stayed silent.

“No,” Kakyoin’s eyes looked shiny, like his tears were just on the brink of flowing. “No, not you, too! I even showed you the writing on my arm!”

“Writing?” Avdol asked. “What writing?”

“This writing!” Kakyoin pulled his sleeve back to reveal the writing on his arm, just like he had done with you. “I must have done this in my sleep! It shows that the baby’s a Stand user!”

Everyone looked at him, including you, like he had lost his mind.

“Kakyoin, you’ve gone completely insane,” Jotaro said. “You’ve written on your arm with your knife, and asking us to believe what you’ve written.”

“Please, get some sleep,” you begged. “You’re not feeling well, obviously.”

“Fine,” Kakyoin sighed. “If you don’t see the point I’m trying to get across, then I’ll just have to do it with force!” He summoned Hierophant, and had him attack the baby. Before he reached it, however, Polnareff had summoned Chariot and hit the back of his neck, causing Hierophant, and in turn, Kakyoin, to fall to the floor, passed out.

You bent down, flipped Kakyoin around, and started playing with his hair. “He just needs some sleep, I’m sure of it,” you told the others. Although, you knew it was more to reassure yourself than to convince anyone else. “He’s gonna wake up the next morning and feel completely fine.”

“(Y/N),” Avdol put his arm around you. “We might have to kick him off the team if he keeps acting like this. If it’s too much for him to handle, then we might be better off without him.”

You didn’t meet eyes with Avdol. You still had to process what he had just said. The rest of the trip, without Kakyoin? There was no way you could go that long without missing him like crazy. But he was right. It would be cruel to make someone who couldn’t bear the constant Stand attacks suffer even more. Finally, still looking down at the passed out Kakyoin, you nodded. “I understand.”

“Thank you.” Avdol patted you on the back. “We’ll leave some time for you to say any last words. Even if he can’t hear you, it would probably be good to get it off your chest.”

You picked Kakyoin up, as best as you could, and held him close. “I’m sorry,” you whispered. “I’m sorry I don’t believe you. Even if it’s completely insane, I’m sorry I couldn’t defend you. I hope you understand. If you are sent back home, I’ll keep in touch every single day, I promise. I hope this is just you needing sleep, though. I’d hate to lose you.”

You looked back at the others, and nodded. “I think it’s time he went to his sleeping bag.”

“Alright,” Joseph replied. “Polnareff, will you help me carry him? He’s kind of heavy.”

As the two were carrying him away, you had decided to look at the stars. Hey, even if you wouldn’t get to enjoy the company of Kakyoin, you would still have four other friends, right? That’s gotta be something. Sure, none of them will replace the love between you two, but when this was all over, you’d get to see him again. Still, it just wouldn’t be the same.

“Hey,” Jotaro had snuck up on you, making you jump a little bit.

“Oh! It’s just you, Jotaro,” you laughed.

“You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” you replied. “I don’t want him to go insane. I don’t even want him to get hurt. I just want him to be okay.”

“Well, Kakyoin’s strong-minded. He’ll get over it sooner than others would.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

You and Jotaro looked at the stars together, and you laughed a little bit.

“What’s so funny?”

“Before I met you, I had heard from everyone around the school that you were some sort of delinquent. You always got in trouble, whether it was in school or not, you picked fights with people, all sorts of things. I would have never imagined that, out of all the people at the school, you would become one of my closest friends.”

Jotaro grunted a little bit, almost happily. “Yeah, I thought that, too. You’re not annoying, no, but you’re a softie. I usually don’t make friends with people who are super sensitive, like you. Especially if it’s a girl. But you’ve turned out to be a good friend.”

“That means a lot,” you looked over at Jotaro. “Really, it does. Especially coming from you.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” Jotaro huffed. “I only came to comfort you because I didn’t want you to cry. It’s annoying when people cry.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘you’re welcome,’” you giggled, getting up from the rock you had been laying on. “Anyway, I’m gonna get some sleep now. You should, too.”

Once you had gotten everything ready, you settled down in your sleeping bag. It wasn’t as comfy as the hotel beds that Joseph had provided for you, but that didn’t matter. It had been a long day, and you were ready to hit the hay. Slowly, your eyes got heavier and heavier...

And then, in an instant, they popped open again. This time, at the carnival from your previous dream. Now you remembered.

“No,” you shook with fear. “No, no, no! Not here again!” From the looks of it, Polnareff was freaking out, too.

“We should have listened to Kakyoin!” Polnareff cried. “He was right!”

“Wait!” You looked at the others. “If we put him to sleep, he should be here! I’ve gotta find him!”

You started running all through the place, looking for every nook and cranny. Although, you didn’t get far before you felt a tug on your shirt. You looked back, but nothing was pulling. Oh no. He had found you.

The shirt you were wearing suddenly turned to metal, and it was too much for you to wear, making you collapse to the ground. Unfortunately, you couldn’t get up, so you were stuck there.

“Lali-Ho!” There was the voice. The terrifying voice. “I told you before, Polnareff, my Stand is invincible! There’s no way to fight against it!”

“What did you do to Kakyoin?”

Death 13 turned to look at you.

“Well? What did you do? Where is he?”

Death 13 cackled. “He hasn’t arrived to this world yet, but I think I should give him a little surprise when he does, don’t you think?” Your shirt turned back to a soft fabric, but he grabbed it before you could run. “You know, if I remember right, aren’t you Kakyoin’s precious little girl?”

Your face went pale, and your eyes widened. “W-w-well, he n-n-never s-says it... l-like... that, but, um, y-y-yeah...”

“Wouldn’t it be devastating if he found you being tortured? And there was nothing he could do about it?”

That didn’t sound good.

“Maybe I’ll give you... special treatment,” he laughed maniacally. “Starting with your back!”

He flipped you around, and pulled your shirt up enough that your back was completely exposed to him. Luckily, he left the front part mostly covered up, but whatever dignity you would lose with flashing the boys down below looking at you (in fear, of course, you were at the enemy’s mercy) would have been nothing compared to the pain of Death 13’s scythe scraping down your back. You let out a piercing screech from the pain, and tears were streaming down your face.

“All done with that,” Death 13 said casually, and threw you onto a pole from a carnival ride. Before you could move, however, ropes came around you and tied you down.

“I’ll deal with you soon enough,” he snickered. “For now, how about you watch all of your friends die, right before your eyes?”

“No,” you trembled. “Please, just let me die quickly.” You knew that scraping on your back was only a taste of what would come. You didn’t even want to think of what could come next.

“Lali-Ho!”

“Lali-Ho,” a familiar voice repeated. On the back of Death 13 was Hierophant Green. Was... was he really here? Kakyoin? All of your questions were answered as soon as Hierophant started strangling Death 13.

He is here! Kakyoin is here! You were too caught up with celebrating that you didn’t even notice the ropes holding you down loosening up. Once you felt your hands and arms feel freedom again, you turned, and there he was, giving you that comforting smile.

“Kakyoin!” You latched onto him like a magnet, shaking in fear. He wasn’t expecting a hug, nor was he expecting you to be so distraught, but he quickly put his arms around you, too.

“It was awful,” you ranted, “just awful. He, he, he, he said he was gonna give me special treatment, and, and, and he carved into m-m-my back, and he, he,”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” Kakyoin whispered. “Death 13 can’t hurt you now. Hierophant’s going to take care of him.”

“Kakyoin!” Polnareff ran over to him. “You’re alive!”

“Kakyoin, I think we all owe you an apology,” Joseph said.

“No, no, this was bound to happen,” Kakyoin reassured him, still holding on to your trembling body. “It couldn’t be helped. Really, if it weren’t for Polnareff, I wouldn’t know that I could fall asleep with my Stand summoned.”

“Oh, really?” Polnareff blushed. “I don’t know, I still feel kind of bad...”

“Now, as for you,” Kakyoin glared at Death 13, “you're lucky that (Y/N) will forget about all of this in the morning, because anybody who intentionally traumatizes anyone else deserves the death sentence. But even though she’ll be fine when she wakes up, your neck will still be broken.”

“Kakyoin, Get Hierophant off Death 13’s back!” Jotaro ordered. “He’s going to try something, I can tell!”

Right on cue, the clouds started moving closer to the baby’s Stand, and formed into a fist of some sorts. That fist grabbed the scythe, and swung at Death 13’s, and Hierophant's, lower half.

“Kakyoin!” everyone yelled as he started falling to the ground.

“Fools!” Death 13 cackled. “My body is completely hollow! Now with your only hope gone, there’s nothing you can do!”

Surprisingly, however, Kakyoin had brushed himself off, and gotten up again. “Just kidding,” he said. “Did you really think that I would be so careless as to leave Hierophant there forever? Take a look.”

As Kakyoin pointed to the enemy, everyone else looked over, and there was Hierophant, turning back into his tentacle form and entering Death’s ear. Slowly but surely, the baby’s Stand started to move his arm closer to his neck, taking his scythe with it, up until the blade was practically meeting up with the head.

“Now, if you don’t want to die right now,” Kakyoin threatened, “how about healing the wound on my arm? Anything can happen in a dream.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Death 13 answered. He quickly took care of it.

“How about healing (Y/N)’s wounds, as well?” Kakyoin asked. “I don’t want there to be any chance that she’ll remember what happened tonight.”

“Right away, sir.” In an instant, the marks on your back had disappeared.

“Alright, now that that’s taken care of, release us from this dream. I don’t trust you, and I know you’ll have another trick up your sleeve if I leave you like this.”

“Of course, sir.” With a wave of his hand, you had gone back to a peaceful sleep, with the memory of the dream all but lost.

Your eyes peeped open from the long slumber. You slowly rose up from your bed, and yawned.

“You’re up early.”

The sound of Kakyoin’s voice immediately put a smile on your face. “Look who’s talking.”

“I went to bed earlier. It might have been by force, but it still counted towards my sleep. You went to bed at the same time as everyone else.”

“I don’t need that much sleep compared to others.” You stretched your body as you regained your senses. There seemed to be something sizzling. You sniffed the air, and it smelled like bacon. Kakyoin must’ve gone through the trouble of cooking breakfast. “Ugh. I had an awful dream last night.”

“Really?”

“Yup. It’s strange, though, because I don’t remember a single thing.”

“That is strange. Kind of like what happened to me.”

“But I feel like it’s a good thing I forgot about it. Like I would be traumatized if I didn’t. And I also feel like it ended on a happy note, although I can’t remember what it was.”

You had been so caught up in your dialogue that you hadn’t even noticed Kakyoin coming to sit beside you. “Well, if someone ever traumatizes you, I’ll make sure they get what they deserve.”

“What if I get it from a dream?”

“Well, that’s your fault isn’t it?”

You giggled a little bit. “What if you accidentally traumatize me?”

“Trust nobody, not even yourself.”

You had to burst out laughing from that, almost waking the others in the process. “Oops,” you whispered, still snorting a bit. Finally, you let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you just needed sleep.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” you said, “the boys had decided that if you were still acting like you were last night, we’d have to kick you off the team. I reluctantly agreed. I hoped that it really was just sleepiness getting to you, but I was genuinely afraid you’d have to go. I would miss you.”

“I see,” Kakyoin nodded, then smiled. “Good thing we don’t have to worry about that, right?” He ruffled your hair, and went back to check on the pan in the oven. “Oh! Breakfast is ready. Would you mind waking everyone up?”

“No problem,” you chimed. One by one, you woke everyone up. After some bacon and eggs, and a few gawks from Polnareff at Kakyoin’s sane state, the whole crew was ready to go. After getting the baby to a nearby hospital safe and sound, the six of you rented a boat. Destination: Egypt.

“Well, there’s one more stop we need to make,” Joseph explained.

Destination: a small island off the coast of Egypt.

[cheemers-writing-archive]

Crusader of Life: Chapter 12

“Baby… Stand?” You looked at the two words in horror. “Kakyoin, did you carve that into yourself?”

“I mean, it had to have been me,” Kakyoin replied. “It’s not like anybody would have written those words on me just to pull a prank. Enemy Stands are serious matters.”

You backed away a little bit. “Should I tell Mr. Joestar and the others?”

“No! No.” Kakyoin was oddly quick to turn that idea down. “I’m thinking that I’m just going crazy or something.” He gave a small laugh, then looked at you. “But I’ll be sure to keep my sanity. If not for me, then for you.”

You laughed a little to try to lighten the mood, but it didn’t do much. “You’re still super cute when you get protective over me,” you purred. “I’m gonna go eat dinner now. Wanna come?”

“I’ll join soon,” Kakyoin promised, and brushed your hair out of your face before kissing your forehead. “Go eat. You must be starving.”

“Okay,” you mumbled happily, leaving him alone for the second time that night. This time, however, you were even more worried about him. You thought he was truly going insane. A baby that’s already had homicidal thoughts, AND acting on them? Not possible. But you would keep your promise, and not tell anyone about his arm wound.

“So, did you get anything out of him?” Joseph asked.

“He’s just tired,” you lied. “He’ll be fine once he gets some sleep tonight. Anyway, what do we have for dinner?”

“Soup and sandwiches,” Avdol answered.

“Hey, old man,” Jotaro said. “We’ve got lots of soup that you would never get to try elsewhere. Why are you eating canned chicken noodle soup?”

“Because it tastes good!” Joseph answered. “Why try something new if you already know what’s your favorite?”

“He makes a point,” you replied, stuffing your face with pb and j.

“Good grief,” Jotaro sighed, grabbing a bowl of soup.

The five of you were happily munching away at your food, when Kakyoin came running over.

“Did you see that?” he asked, pointing at the baby. “He killed a scorpion! With his own two hands! There’s something fishy about him.”

Everyone looked at the baby in his cradle, and saw him looking at his hands while moving his fingers. Nothing suspicious there.

“Kakyoin,” you said, “I really think you need some rest.”

“No! There’s a scorpion in there somewhere!” Kakyoin started looking all through his covers. “Where is it? Where did you hide it?!”

“That’s enough, Kakyoin!” Joseph exclaimed. He took the baby out of the cradle and started holding it close. “You’re scaring him!”

“But…” Kakyoin stuttered. “But, do you believe me? It really did kill a scorpion!” He turned around to you, bent down to your height, and stroked your hair. “Oh, (Y/N), my precious (Y/N), don’t you believe me?”

You stayed silent.

“No,” Kakyoin’s eyes looked shiny, like his tears were just on the brink of flowing. “No, not you, too! I even showed you the writing on my arm!”

“Writing?” Avdol asked. “What writing?”

“This writing!” Kakyoin pulled his sleeve back to reveal the writing on his arm, just like he had done with you. “I must have done this in my sleep! It shows that the baby’s a Stand user!”

Everyone looked at him, including you, like he had lost his mind.

“Kakyoin, you’ve gone completely insane,” Jotaro said. “You’ve written on your arm with your knife, and asking us to believe what you’ve written.”

“Please, get some sleep,” you begged. “You’re not feeling well, obviously.”

“Fine,” Kakyoin sighed. “If you don’t see the point I’m trying to get across, then I’ll just have to do it with force!” He summoned Hierophant, and had him attack the baby. Before he reached it, however, Polnareff had summoned Chariot and hit the back of his neck, causing Hierophant, and in turn, Kakyoin, to fall to the floor, passed out.

You bent down, flipped Kakyoin around, and started playing with his hair. “He just needs some sleep, I’m sure of it,” you told the others. Although, you knew it was more to reassure yourself than to convince anyone else. “He’s gonna wake up the next morning and feel completely fine.”

“(Y/N),” Avdol put his arm around you. “We might have to kick him off the team if he keeps acting like this. If it’s too much for him to handle, then we might be better off without him.”

You didn’t meet eyes with Avdol. You still had to process what he had just said. The rest of the trip, without Kakyoin? There was no way you could go that long without missing him like crazy. But he was right. It would be cruel to make someone who couldn’t bear the constant Stand attacks suffer even more. Finally, still looking down at the passed out Kakyoin, you nodded. “I understand.”

“Thank you.” Avdol patted you on the back. “We’ll leave some time for you to say any last words. Even if he can’t hear you, it would probably be good to get it off your chest.”

You picked Kakyoin up, as best as you could, and held him close. “I’m sorry,” you whispered. “I’m sorry I don’t believe you. Even if it’s completely insane, I’m sorry I couldn’t defend you. I hope you understand. If you are sent back home, I’ll keep in touch every single day, I promise. I hope this is just you needing sleep, though. I’d hate to lose you.”

You looked back at the others, and nodded. “I think it’s time he went to his sleeping bag.”

“Alright,” Joseph replied. “Polnareff, will you help me carry him? He’s kind of heavy.”

As the two were carrying him away, you had decided to look at the stars. Hey, even if you wouldn’t get to enjoy the company of Kakyoin, you would still have four other friends, right? That’s gotta be something. Sure, none of them will replace the love between you two, but when this was all over, you’d get to see him again. Still, it just wouldn’t be the same.

“Hey,” Jotaro had snuck up on you, making you jump a little bit.

“Oh! It’s just you, Jotaro,” you laughed.

“You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” you replied. “I don’t want him to go insane. I don’t even want him to get hurt. I just want him to be okay.”

“Well, Kakyoin’s strong-minded. He’ll get over it sooner than others would.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

You and Jotaro looked at the stars together, and you laughed a little bit.

“What’s so funny?”

“Before I met you, I had heard from everyone around the school that you were some sort of delinquent. You always got in trouble, whether it was in school or not, you picked fights with people, all sorts of things. I would have never imagined that, out of all the people at the school, you would become one of my closest friends.”

Jotaro grunted a little bit, almost happily. “Yeah, I thought that, too. You’re not annoying, no, but you’re a softie. I usually don’t make friends with people who are super sensitive, like you. Especially if it’s a girl. But you’ve turned out to be a good friend.”

“That means a lot,” you looked over at Jotaro. “Really, it does. Especially coming from you.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” Jotaro huffed. “I only came to comfort you because I didn’t want you to cry. It’s annoying when people cry.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘you’re welcome,’” you giggled, getting up from the rock you had been laying on. “Anyway, I’m gonna get some sleep now. You should, too.”

Once you had gotten everything ready, you settled down in your sleeping bag. It wasn’t as comfy as the hotel beds that Joseph had provided for you, but that didn’t matter. It had been a long day, and you were ready to hit the hay. Slowly, your eyes got heavier and heavier…

And then, in an instant, they popped open again. This time, at the carnival from your previous dream. Now you remembered.

“No,” you shook with fear. “No, no, no! Not here again!” From the looks of it, Polnareff was freaking out, too.

“We should have listened to Kakyoin!” Polnareff cried. “He was right!”

“Wait!” You looked at the others. “If we put him to sleep, he should be here! I’ve gotta find him!”

You started running all through the place, looking for every nook and cranny. Although, you didn’t get far before you felt a tug on your shirt. You looked back, but nothing was pulling. Oh no. He had found you.

The shirt you were wearing suddenly turned to metal, and it was too much for you to wear, making you collapse to the ground. Unfortunately, you couldn’t get up, so you were stuck there.

“Lali-Ho!” There was the voice. The terrifying voice. “I told you before, Polnareff, my Stand is invincible! There’s no way to fight against it!”

“What did you do to Kakyoin?”

Death 13 turned to look at you.

“Well? What did you do? Where is he?”

Death 13 cackled. “He hasn’t arrived to this world yet, but I think I should give him a little surprise when he does, don’t you think?” Your shirt turned back to a soft fabric, but he grabbed it before you could run. “You know, if I remember right, aren’t you Kakyoin’s precious little girl?”

Your face went pale, and your eyes widened. “W-w-well, he n-n-never s-says it… l-like… that, but, um, y-y-yeah…”

“Wouldn’t it be devastating if he found you being tortured? And there was nothing he could do about it?”

That didn’t sound good.

“Maybe I’ll give you… special treatment,” he laughed maniacally. “Starting with your back!”

He flipped you around, and pulled your shirt up enough that your back was completely exposed to him. Luckily, he left the front part mostly covered up, but whatever dignity you would lose with flashing the boys down below looking at you (in fear, of course, you were at the enemy’s mercy) would have been nothing compared to the pain of Death 13’s scythe scraping down your back. You let out a piercing screech from the pain, and tears were streaming down your face.

“All done with that,” Death 13 said casually, and threw you onto a pole from a carnival ride. Before you could move, however, ropes came around you and tied you down.

“I’ll deal with you soon enough,” he snickered. “For now, how about you watch all of your friends die, right before your eyes?”

“No,” you trembled. “Please, just let me die quickly.” You knew that scraping on your back was only a taste of what would come. You didn’t even want to think of what could come next.

“Lali-Ho!”

“Lali-Ho,” a familiar voice repeated. On the back of Death 13 was Hierophant Green. Was… was he really here? Kakyoin? All of your questions were answered as soon as Hierophant started strangling Death 13.

He is here! Kakyoin is here! You were too caught up with celebrating that you didn’t even notice the ropes holding you down loosening up. Once you felt your hands and arms feel freedom again, you turned, and there he was, giving you that comforting smile.

“Kakyoin!” You latched onto him like a magnet, shaking in fear. He wasn’t expecting a hug, nor was he expecting you to be so distraught, but he quickly put his arms around you, too.

“It was awful,” you ranted, “just awful. He, he, he, he said he was gonna give me special treatment, and, and, and he carved into m-m-my back, and he, he,”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” Kakyoin whispered. “Death 13 can’t hurt you now. Hierophant’s going to take care of him.”

“Kakyoin!” Polnareff ran over to him. “You’re alive!”

“Kakyoin, I think we all owe you an apology,” Joseph said.

“No, no, this was bound to happen,” Kakyoin reassured him, still holding on to your trembling body. “It couldn’t be helped. Really, if it weren’t for Polnareff, I wouldn’t know that I could fall asleep with my Stand summoned.”

“Oh, really?” Polnareff blushed. “I don’t know, I still feel kind of bad…”

“Now, as for you,” Kakyoin glared at Death 13, “you’re lucky that (Y/N) will forget about all of this in the morning, because anybody who intentionally traumatizes anyone else deserves the death sentence. But even though she’ll be fine when she wakes up, your neck will still be broken.”

“Kakyoin, Get Hierophant off Death 13’s back!” Jotaro ordered. “He’s going to try something, I can tell!”

Right on cue, the clouds started moving closer to the baby’s Stand, and formed into a fist of some sorts. That fist grabbed the scythe, and swung at Death 13’s, and Hierophant’s, lower half.

“Kakyoin!” everyone yelled as he started falling to the ground.

“Fools!” Death 13 cackled. “My body is completely hollow! Now with your only hope gone, there’s nothing you can do!”

Surprisingly, however, Kakyoin had brushed himself off, and gotten up again. “Just kidding,” he said. “Did you really think that I would be so careless as to leave Hierophant there forever? Take a look.”

As Kakyoin pointed to the enemy, everyone else looked over, and there was Hierophant, turning back into his tentacle form and entering Death’s ear. Slowly but surely, the baby’s Stand started to move his arm closer to his neck, taking his scythe with it, up until the blade was practically meeting up with the head.

“Now, if you don’t want to die right now,” Kakyoin threatened, “how about healing the wound on my arm? Anything can happen in a dream.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Death 13 answered. He quickly took care of it.

“How about healing (Y/N)’s wounds, as well?” Kakyoin asked. “I don’t want there to be any chance that she’ll remember what happened tonight.”

“Right away, sir.” In an instant, the marks on your back had disappeared.

“Alright, now that that’s taken care of, release us from this dream. I don’t trust you, and I know you’ll have another trick up your sleeve if I leave you like this.”

“Of course, sir.” With a wave of his hand, you had gone back to a peaceful sleep, with the memory of the dream all but lost.

Your eyes peeped open from the long slumber. You slowly rose up from your bed, and yawned.

“You’re up early.”

The sound of Kakyoin’s voice immediately put a smile on your face. “Look who’s talking.”

“I went to bed earlier. It might have been by force, but it still counted towards my sleep. You went to bed at the same time as everyone else.”

“I don’t need that much sleep compared to others.” You stretched your body as you regained your senses. There seemed to be something sizzling. You sniffed the air, and it smelled like bacon. Kakyoin must’ve gone through the trouble of cooking breakfast. “Ugh. I had an awful dream last night.”

“Really?”

“Yup. It’s strange, though, because I don’t remember a single thing.”

“That is strange. Kind of like what happened to me.”

“But I feel like it’s a good thing I forgot about it. Like I would be traumatized if I didn’t. And I also feel like it ended on a happy note, although I can’t remember what it was.”

You had been so caught up in your dialogue that you hadn’t even noticed Kakyoin coming to sit beside you. “Well, if someone ever traumatizes you, I’ll make sure they get what they deserve.”

“What if I get it from a dream?”

“Well, that’s your fault isn’t it?”

You giggled a little bit. “What if you accidentally traumatize me?”

“Trust nobody, not even yourself.”

You had to burst out laughing from that, almost waking the others in the process. “Oops,” you whispered, still snorting a bit. Finally, you let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you just needed sleep.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” you said, “the boys had decided that if you were still acting like you were last night, we’d have to kick you off the team. I reluctantly agreed. I hoped that it really was just sleepiness getting to you, but I was genuinely afraid you’d have to go. I would miss you.”

“I see,” Kakyoin nodded, then smiled. “Good thing we don’t have to worry about that, right?” He ruffled your hair, and went back to check on the pan in the oven. “Oh! Breakfast is ready. Would you mind waking everyone up?”

“No problem,” you chimed. One by one, you woke everyone up. After some bacon and eggs, and a few gawks from Polnareff at Kakyoin’s sane state, the whole crew was ready to go. After getting the baby to a nearby hospital safe and sound, the six of you rented a boat. Destination: Egypt.

“Well, there’s one more stop we need to make,” Joseph explained.

Destination: a small island off the coast of Egypt.

[jojotier]

My secret santa gift for @eri516 for @jjba-secret-santa‘s event !! My apologies in advance for how long it took to get this out for you, but I hope you enjoy anyway!

Title: Ice Try

Rating: PG

Pairing: JotaKak

Some of the genres you wanted to receive were romance, fluff, and comedy, so I just combined all three of them into one! I hope you enjoy this, even if the premise itself is just some simple ice skating stuff, haha

(actual fic under the cut since it’s a little long...)

“Jojo- aren’t you coming out here too?”

Jotaro glanced to Kakyoin as he glided his way across the ice over to him, leaning against the unstable, sharp metal rods that someone thought would be less of safety hazard than the piles of snow surrounding the makeshift rink. Kakyoin tilted his head at him, bang threatening to fall out from where it had been tucked up under a beanie. His cheeks were flushed- probably from the couple of minutes of sustained ice bullfuckery he’d been up to- and in the background, some kid shrieked.

“No.” Jotaro said, bemused. He wasn’t really one for this kind of thing. It was tiring just watching Kakyoin speed his way through several complex jumps and loops- and he already got enough exercise dealing with stand users and his fan club on a regular basis. Dancing around on knife shoes didn’t really appeal to him, even if Jotaro liked watching Kakyoin go well enough.

Kakyoin pouted at him, as if a look could move Jotaro from his spot, and leaned forward, leaning his arms on top of the arms that Jotaro had on the railing. The metal poked into his flesh, lending more to the feeling that he was trying to set up trade negotiations with a foreign tyrant or some frivolous shit. Said redheaded tyrant of Jotaro’s leaned forwards a little as he asked, “Why not? It’s getting lonely out here, surrounded by a bunch of rambunctious toddlers. Besides, I think it high time that we do something suitably sappy, hm?”

“You’re right at home with those rambunctious toddlers.”

“Says Mister Fashion Disaster in your obnoxious purple peacock overcoat. Maybe you can make the outfit work if you wore some skates…”

“I don’t skate.” was all Jotaro said.

“What, too much of a big die hard tough man to go out on the ice?” Kakyoin teased, snorting a little.

“I just don’t skate. I’ve only done it once.” Granted, that once was back when he was about five years old and had his mother holding his hands throughout it, a time that he’d disliked so strongly for a reason he could never remember that he adamantly got out of every subsequent attempt to go back to any kind of rink, but it was there.

Kakyoin blinked for a moment before grinning widely. “Oh Jotaro, why didn’t you just say so? If you don’t know how, I can just teach you- you can lean on me, and we can go a little slower than the toddlers screaming behind me so we can get you back up to speed.”

“I would prefer not to.” Jotaro deadpanned. Kakyoin leaned forwards more, both pressing down a bit more and leaning in closer to him, as if that would help his case.

“It’ll be fun, JoJo! Just you and me, leaning against each other and trying not to let your massive body topple us into the cold depths. Think of the danger, Jotaro.” Kakyoin whispered to him ostentatiously, eyes twinkling with some kind of mischief that never meant anything good for Jotaro.

“You’re making up needless danger.” Jotaro said. “It’s putting flimsy blades on your feet and then trying to balance on them.”

Kakyoin thought for a moment before adding, “And backflips. It’s also about the backflips, and execution thereof. So if it’s not dangerous, I don’t see why not...”

“Literally only you are doing those, and I’m starting to think those are illegal. It’s tiring even looking at you go…” Seeing all that energy that Kakyoin still had made him dizzy sometimes, and mostly like he needed a nap. Either that, or that was the cold making him lethargic.

“We don’t have to start you off on any of that for right now- even being out on the ice with my wonderful, open minded, beautiful Jotaro is all I need.” Kakyoin smiles, looking up at Jotaro through his lashes.

“... Don’t think being cute is going to change my mind.”

“C’mon, baby- this is the exact kind of scenario where being cute should work.”

“You’re always like that, so I don’t-”

“I can kiss you until you change your mind.”

Jotaro paused. He stared at Kakyoin, smiling like the Cheshire cat like that, because the little bastard knew exactly what he was doing.

“.... Hm…”

Kakyoin leaned up and kissed the corner of Jotaro’s mouth, and that mouth was far too warm for this freezing day. They were still out in public, sure, but what few others were there were too busy trying not to fall or paying attention to their own sweethearts to really give a second glance. Damn Kakyoin, using Jotaro’s only real weakness against him. Kakyoin pressed his lips against Jotaro’s cheeks, his nose, and just as he was trying to reach up to get his brow, Jotaro cracked.

“... Fine. Let’s go get some skates.” Kakyoin grinned at that and finally eased up, allowing Jotaro to free his arms and move along the side of the rink to where some entrepreneur or another, seeing the opportunity of the place, had set up a small booth and had a myriad of skates on display.

It was just skating. How bad could it really be?

Bad. It could be very bad. Jotaro suddenly, vehemently remembered why he hated being out on the ice the moment that, after his careful shuffle down the makeshift path through the snow ended, his foot hit the actual ice.

The biggest problem was that, for the goddamn life of him, Jotaro wasn’t able to balance.

The ice was slippery, because it was ice. That hadn’t changed. And now he trying to stay upright on it, all 195 centimeters balanced precariously on two thin skate blades of honestly dubious quality. This was the absolute stupidest thing that he had ever done, in his life, easily, and he once ignored literally any sign that his Kakyoin had been replaced by a weird slobbery impostor even though said impostor grew to be taller than him over the span of an hour. Jotaro was about to go ahead and ask Kakyoin how it came down to this, but at seeing his face, the words died in his throat.

Jotaro was suffering- there was no doubt about that- but Kakyoin’s entire face was lit up in that way that made his eyes shine a little brighter. The smile on his face was sweet, and he spoke with the undercurrent of excitement he always got when he was teaching someone something new. “Here, baby- relax a little, alright?” Kakyoin held onto Jotaro’s arm to steady him a little, offering up a happy smile that made Jotaro’s insides flutter a bit.

Good grief. Kakyoin was going to be the death of him, one day.

Jotaro decided to just hold out, if only because Kakyoin was warm against him and also talking, which Jotaro realized he hadn’t even been listening to whatsoever for the last minute. His arm was tugged a bit, and Kakyoin, seemingly bemused, just said, “Here- let’s just take a step here…”

It still felt like his feet were sliding out from underneath him, but he was able to step forward without incident. Beside him, Kakyoin was laughing a little under his breath. “Hey, it’s alright- there’s really no need to be nervous, JoJo! You’re doing fine.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“The hand currently trying to cut off blood flow to the lower half of my body begs to differ.”

Jotaro suddenly noticed that he was gripping the side of Kakyoin’s waist tightly and loosened up a little, pretending that that death grip hadn’t happened at all. It must have just been a figment of both of their imaginations. So was the fact that Star Platinum’s arm materialized in his stead, immediately clinging to Kakyoin’s waist like a parasite. That wasn’t actually happening either, so Kakyoin should get that smug look off of his face.

After that, it was fine for a little bit. Jotaro didn’t have to lean quite so heavily on Kakyoin, and he actually got somewhat of a hang on balancing himself once he was actually gliding along the ice. It was starting to get a little dark- probably their fault, for getting sidetracked after stumbling across this place on an evening walk- and the rambunctious toddlers from before had been thinning out for a while by then.

Kakyoin slowly inched away from his arm, hand reaching down to hold onto Jotaro’s hand instead, intertwining their fingers as they fell into the lull and sway of skating together. Even through thick gloves (that still had Noriaki complaining about the cold, somehow), Kakyoin was warm and seemingly humming with energy that was just waiting to explode out. Holding onto him was like trying to hold onto a bolt of lightning- though Jotaro felt infinitely less guilty (or really, no guilt at all) about his selfish want of having Kakyoin nearby and his.

It was basically just the two of them out on the ice. It was stupidly cheesy and sounded exactly like the kind of shit that happened in really bad romcoms where something was about to go monumentally wrong, but Jotaro would be lying if he said he didn’t like it.

Just as he was thinking about the fact that he might actually have this entire balance thing down, Kakyoin suddenly broke out of Jotaro’s hold, sliding easily out from under him and through his fingers. There was an ostentatious show of an overly dramatic 180 degree turn as Jotaro was left to pitch forward slightly, suddenly out something steady, and grinned in that wide, mischievous way that only meant trouble for Jotaro. As soon as Jotaro regained some semblance of balance, Kakyoin’s grin widened to an almost disturbing degree and he just gently skated far out of Jotaro’s possible reach.

That cheeky bastard.

“Come on now, JoJo-” Kakyoin said cheerfully as he turned, looking coyly over his shoulder. “No need to give me that dour little look, dearest- think of this as a test! Catch me and you’ll have graduated from the level of rambunctious toddler to a full grown man of moderate proficiency!”

Jotaro stared after him, just giving him a look. “I don’t have to prove myself to you.”

“You don’t,” Kakyoin admitted with an overlong sigh, “but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a little fun here, does it?”

Jotaro skated forwards a bit (and he didn’t slide at all or look like some clumsy gorilla with how much his back bent to keep himself from lunging forward, so fuck off), staring at Kakyoin. Now that he was just kind of standing there on these flimsy things, with a complete lack of being able to glance at Kakyoin by his side, this entire idea had sunken right back down to being utter shit. Kakyoin skated backwards a bit, somehow, keeping his posturing easy and still even as an eyebrow raised.

“Is that a challenge, Mr. Kujo? Or are you taking me up on mine?” Kakyoin accused, eyes shining at the prospect of some kind of competition. Which also didn’t bode well for Jotaro. A mischievous Kakyoin was one thing- a Kakyoin that thought that there was something to be won was likely one of the most terrifying forces of nature put on Earth. If he took another step further, all bets were off- he’d be playing with fire.

And honestly, Jotaro had had enough fire for one day- he just wanted to have his arms wrapped around his boyfriend again, dammit. Preferably without the ugly bladerunners, but he could deal with them if they were something that Kakyoin enjoyed.

So he summoned Star Platinum. The stand waved at Kakyoin as Kakyoin blinked, looking to Jotaro with some confusion that was soon frozen on his face as time around them stopped. It didn’t take long to get the momentum up, especially since everything was so still around them, and once the few precious seconds were up, he was right in front of Kakyoin, right within the perfect distance for snatching him back up.

Kakyoin gave a shrill squawk of a sound and then Jotaro realized that 1) he was probably going far faster than any sane person skating ought to and 2) he had no fucking clue how to stop.

He slid forwards quickly, one arm having already hooked through Kakyoin’s as he accidentally knocked the both of them off balance. Which was an especially stupid move since only one of them was actually competent with this shit and now they were both sliding forwards, straight through the uneven metal ‘railing’ (it was more like a fence of deadly spikes, and not for the first time Jotaro wondered what asshole even designed this makeshift place) and into one of the fluffy mounds of snow beyond.

They both ended up rolling forwards a bit before they settled in a mildly contorted pile of limbs and coats. Kakyoin’s bang had long since been freed from the confines of a beanie mysteriously nowhere to be found, and Jotaro felt his own hat dunked back on his head along with a metric ton of snow. Kakyoin looked down at Jotaro from where he was sprawled out partially on top of him. Jotaro looked back up at him and said, “I’m never doing that again.”

Kakyoin snorted, cheeks going rosy and face twisting up with a bright smile. “I figured you might say that. Still, I’m glad you at least tried this out with me.” Kakyoin leaned forwards, pressing his lips to Jotaro’s chastely. When he tried to pull away, Jotaro gently slid his hand into Kakyoin’s hair, bringing him back down for another kiss.

Once they pulled apart, Jotaro said, “I want food.”

“Eloquent as always, I see- though I suppose we’ve definitely earned a good, hot meal after all that.” Kakyoin said, as if his stomach wasn’t immediately loudly and embarrassingly growling at the thought of dinner. Which it was, and Jotaro had heard it, so there was no hiding it no matter how many pleading looks were sent his way.

Kakyoin got up, offering up a hand to Jotaro. Jotaro took it, letting himself be hoisted up as he said, “Consider it payment for the stunt you tried to pull.”

“The stunt I tried to pull?” Kakyoin’s eyebrows raised, “And we’re not going to address the tackle and tumble we both just went through. Because I don’t know about you, but that seemed pretty stunt like, just glitching through reality like that- one might even say damn near close to shenanigans. Maybe even hijinx, if we really want to label it.”

“I told you I don’t skate. What did you expect?” Jotaro reminded him.

Kakyoin laughed a little, slipping his hand into Jotaro’s slightly damp coat pocket. “Oh, nothing much- general competency, maybe a little more grace… then again, you’re just one big oaf in the end.”

“Rude.”

“Well, you’re my oaf.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

Jotaro slipped his hand into the pocket with Kakyoin’s, slowly closing his fingers around it. Kakyoin looked up at him, and for a moment it was quiet. Jotaro caught sight of Hierophant retrieving Kakyoin’s beanie from somewhere in the mounds of snow, periscoping up and proudly once he had it, and then Kakyoin moved Jotaro’s attention back to him just by squeezing his hand. A deep warmth seeped into Jotaro’s fingers, and he couldn’t help but squeeze back.

“Now then, shall we go?”

[sexy-nikiforov-trash]

Twenty people I'd like to get to know better

Tagged by: @haventsleptfordays

Name: Jessica

Nickname: Jess or Jessie J

Starsign: Sagittarius

Sexual orientation: idk man might be asexual might be bi idk

Hogwarts house: hufflepuff I think XD

favourite colour: blue so much so that my hair has been blue for a very long time

Cats or dogs: both but if I may add an even better option sloths

Favourite fictional characters: okay kids listen up viktor nikiforov, yuri katsuki, every jojo from jojos bizarre adventures and kakyoin, shell overlord, bum from ks, hinata from haikyuu, 11th doctor, cas, ichigo and so many more.

Favorite musical artists: I s2g I love so many I go from hardcore metal to kpop in 2 seconds flat some would probably be big bang, exo, bts, slipknot, muse, fall out boy, panic at the disco, Asia, babymetal, ladybaby, hasely, prvis, ACDC and just so many more

Dream trip: Japan all the way my man

When was this blog created: 5 years ago XD I was a stupid 13 year old to give myself a URL like that I s2g I want to punch 13 year old me in the face.

Number of followers: 1015 most are porn bots though XD

when did this blog reach its peak: it was like 2 years ago when I did a photo set of Dan and Phil of unseen and rare photos of them

I shall tag @jinlian @teambullshitsfakefan @vityanikiforova @groovybookworm @tenderlyimportanttimemachine @yachidere @smaug-at-221b-baker-street @adraughtofamortentia @victors-tears @yellowbobi @fujoshichansan @yazzihowell @yoi-acan @linetteavery @bleedingtoothpaste @feroxai @historiii @story-kat

[jjba-hell]

Fate and Fortune

Part 5

Part 4, part 3, part 2, part 1

Content warning: Familial loss, Dissociation via PTSD, blood, injury, Dio’s nasty ass fleshbud and hinting/quick mention of assault

For the moots: @risottoneroo and some new followers (seriously like ya’ll make me so giddy (⌒▽⌒)) @fyre23 and @comeationmeerer

A/N: Aight time zones are strange and I might be a bit ahead but this piece is gonna be published a few hours before NYE for me so I consider this the final piece to a VERY cursed year. Thank you so much for the support on this series thus far, it means so much to me and don’t worry- I’ll be continuing it into 2021. TwT. Oh and Happy New Year ya’ll!

Don’t have the word count but it feels long lol

Vera turned the picture of Holy and her son around in her hands. Looks like Mr Kujo’s been out of the picture for a while. Maybe not legally but definitely socially.

“Stop being a creep.” Jotaro grumbled as he passed her in the hallway to the kitchen.

“Oh cut an orphan some slack, would you? All my baby pictures are court property.” She feigned sadness as she put the picture frame down and followed into the kitchen where they were cheerfully greeted by Holy who put two platefuls of eggs Benedict in front of them- with Jotaro sitting with three eggs and an extra serving of rice.

“Just shout if you want some more, Vera.”

Jotaro looked her over as if she’d materialized at the table beside him.

“Yes, my name is Vera.” She extended a hand out to him over the corner separating them. “Vera Astbury.”

“Astbury.” He frowned, taking her hand for a nonchalant shake.

She chuckled, opening the napkin over her lap. “Yeah I don’t think it suits me either but it’s what I got. Just stick to Vera though.”

They sat in comfortable silence over breakfast- not minding much as she enjoyed a cup of coffee over the newspaper.

“Can you even read that?” He asked after he finished the bowl of rice.

Her gaze shifted to him as he continued to scoff down a glass of water. “I’d rather not wait for manga translations to make it to the shelves where I live.” Was all she answered as she continued to read up about an excavation of 20 tombs in Egypt.

“Shoujen gets you that excited, huh?”

Fortune moved before Vera could quite catch her but she herself didn’t move. The butter knife met the table right between his fingers- Fortune’s faceless head staring him down.

“I’d suggest you rethink the sexist stereotypes you hold me to. Or at the very least keep those comments to yourself.” She said flatly, she wasn’t about to make him think he was getting under her skin.

Jotaro’s stand emerged and gave Fortune a hard shove away from his user- Vera feeling the phantom touch on her own shoulders.

She narrowed her eyes at him, sitting up straighter and looking him straight in the eye. “You wanna tussle, Kujo?”

Jotaro, admittedly, had a strange effect on Vera. Her usually calm and calculated demeanor seemed to slip around him, her temper flaring dangerously whenever he’d open his mouth around her. What was it that made her want to punch that stupid scowl off his face? It couldn’t be because she wanted to prove something to him, could it?

He only gave a disinterested ‘tch’ as he stood up from the table. “Don’t try it.”

Nope, she definitely wanted to prove she could floor him...

Avdol entered the kitchen soon after and without so much as a good morning, Jotaro was out the door- Holy running after him to see him off. Watching her beg him for a simple goodbye made her blood boil hot enough to put her own shoes on and feign a walk in the neighborhood.

Fortune tripped him up just enough for her to catch up to him and snatch his cap from atop his head.

“You’re a damn pest, you know that?” He grumbled as he knelt in front of her.

She swung the inner brin of his cap on her finger as she peered down at him. “I told you to quit the punk act with your mom.”

“Why do you care?” He straightened, his stand reaching for her but Fortune blocking the reach. Vera nonchalantly placed the cap on her head and started walking ahead of him. “Because I’d kill to have a chance to say goodbye to my mom.”

Soon as other students started coming into view, Vera tipped the cap off of her head, letting his stand grab it before it landed on the floor. She was off the path, heading back to the Kujo residence. Holy refused to let her help with any laundry and soon enough she was shooed into the same room as Avdol and Mr Joestar.

“Tea or coffee, Vera?” Avdol asked. She looked down at the traditional green tea alongside the little tin of coffee. A pick-me-up would have been nice, so she picked the coffee up and took a whiff to see if it would be worth it. The smell she got instead nearly made her cough.

She closed the tin immediately and looked at Avdol in confusion. “Are you testing me or something?”

“Why do you ask such a question?” Mr Joestar interjected, “ it’s so much less work than tea.”

Vera peered down at the nameless metal tin with disgust. “Mr Joestar, I would have to ask if that’s the best coffe you have because that... stuff... is only coffee scented.”

Beside her Avdol chuckled as he prepared the two cups that would hold their tea. “I suppose that was why you begged for ground coffee from home, Vera?” He spoke with a slight smile.

“Avdol, they were labelling the coffee grinder scrapings as ‘columbian roast’- it was daylight robbery!”

Mr Joestar chuckled, handing his mug to Avdol to prepare a cup of tea for him as well. “You have a fine nose for such things?”

Vera opened her mouth to explain but when the ominous shadow of Jotaro spilled into the room the conversation was forgotten. She and Avdol moved in tandem, clearing the room of the table and tea ceremony supplies to lie the redhead down on the floor.

“You said he attacked you-“ her gaze moved up from Jotaro’s head to his knee right in front of her. She forgot what she was saying as she let Fortune start healing his leg first but was called back to attention for the redhead. Mr Joestar revealed the ugly little fleshbud sitting on the guy’s forehead.

“Can’t you just extract it and heal whatever was hurt?” Jotaro asked over her shoulder.

“I move time and the healing process forward but the brain doesn’t regenerate. I could revert its state to what it was before the fleshbud but for that to work it needs to be removed.”

Jotaro bent down and held Kakyoin’s face while bringing his stand out. “I’ll extract it and you fix whatever I damage.”

“Wait, did you...?” Before she could even finish her sentence his stand was already reaching for the fleshbud. She brought her own hand to Kakyoin’s face, focusing her stand’s energy. The fleshbud shot two tentacles up into Vera and Jotaro’s arms, the subtle sting challenging her focus for just a moment. Vera focused Fortune’s energy into any damage being done to Kakyoin’s brain, forcing on turning the dial back. She spared a glance up at Jotaro, where the fleshbud was inching into his neck. Peering down at her own, she noticed hers wasn’t too far behind.

Kakyoin’s eyes shot up and instinctively Vera’s hand flew out to keep his eyes shut. “Not to rush but could you hurry it along?” She hissed at Jotaro.

The fleshbud separating from Kakyoin’s head sounded like separating Velcro to her. It flew through the air for a moment and like catching a wishbone between two people, Fortune and Jotaro’s stand grabbed hold of the two ends of the fleshbud and pulled. It bounced out of their grasps as it ripped in three and was finally finished off by Mr Joestar but definitely not by his stand- or maybe she was just seeing things.

Fortune’s dials turned frantically as they healed three people all at once, Vera bending down to check if the hole in Noriaki’s head was closing up.

The redhead looked between her and Jotaro and then asked the golden question... why did they save him?

Vera got up from kneeling beside Kakyoin, “I don’t know, morals, I guess?” She shrugged as she left the room to find the first aid kid, Holy stopping her in the hallway to listen to Jotaro’s answer.

His answer meant less than nothing to Vera but to Holy, she smiled and inclined her head in the direction his voice was coming from and smiling- almost as if to say “see what I mean?”

All Vera could do was smile and nod, pulling her back a bit to quietly ask for the first aid kid.

The next morning Vera got up a bit later than usual, the night before she had slipped out of her room for a smoke break. When she returned to her home she had slipped up a step and scraped up her knee.

She had only wrapped it in gauze before crawling back into her futon but waking up she realized it wasn’t just a simple scrape- she’d need to stitch it up.

So with a soft groan she got up, hopped through a shower and with wet hair still hanging over her shoulders slid Noriaki’s door open after her knock.

The first aid kit was left in his room and he was still asleep as she slipped into the bathroom he was given and sat down on the floor, knee propped up.

Over time she’d gotten used to patching herself up- the nurse at the boarding school got sick of her relatively quickly the first few months she was there, at the time she used Fortune for anything, especially to make sure teachers didn’t check for homework but that didn’t quite fare well when in turn, she’d end up with food poisoning or bloody noses.

Pain wasn’t much of a bother for her anymore- she’d poured enough hydrogen peroxide into open wounds to not flinch anymore.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” A velvety voice asked behind her as she wiped her newly stitched new clean.

She looked over her shoulder at the redhead in the doorway. A smirk spread over her face. “If you’re still sworn allegiance to Dio, I’m gonna have to politely ask you to give me a minute? I just closed this up.”

Kakyoin took a sharp breath through gritted teeth, about to say something when a commotion disturbed them both.

To her, it didn’t feel real. She felt like she was floating through the motions of finding the other three men in the kitchen with an unconscious Holy and then laying her down in her futon- concerned for her sake.

It felt like she was stuck, watching as Mrs Kujo strain against her own body to draw a single breath- behind her Jotaro and the others were finding to pinpoint Dio’s location but she had very little care for it at that moment.

It wasn’t until Jotaro gave her shoulder a light tap that she seemed to shake herself out of it. “Take a breather, outside.” Her gaze travelled up to meet his face, that same scowl on his face as always. “Might also wanna go wrap your leg up.”

True to his word, she was bleeding through her jeans. All she could do was nod and leave the room. Another hydrogen peroxide soak and this time she decided to busy herself with Avdol in the library.

“I never asked you this but, could you ever explain how you overcome your stand fever?” Avdol asked as she leaned against the entrance of the library. She moved closer, pulling the next books Avdol had his eyes on into her arms.

“I can’t really say. I heard a lot of voices while I was sick but in a sense... I’d say it was just my reluctance to die.”

“So- Mrs Kujo could survive that fever?” Noriaki asked from the doorway this time.

“Unlikely.” Vera and Avdol had answered in unison.

Kakyoin seemed confused by that answer. “But you just said-“

“Vera is the first of, close to a thousand cases I’ve ever seen to survive.”

She rolled her head back to peer at the redhead. “Not to sound too special.” Her attention returned to the stack of books she held for Avdol. “Not that I’d wish that fever onto anyone- except maybe Dio.”

“What does it feel like?” Noriaki continued to prod.

A groan left her lips. “You born stand-users, honestly. It’s the most accurate remake of being burnt alive- I haven’t been able to feel pain normally ever since.”

Avdol peered down at the note in his hand and then at the page of the encyclopedia. “Look familiar, Vera?”

Deadmatch.

“I had had my suspicions that he might have left Egyp but it seemed he stayed.” Avdol pondered with Mr Joestar, Holy still unconscious on her futon.

“So I’m going home.” Vera sighed quietly, bending down to feel over Holy’s forehead.

Kakyoin announced his help and when asked why, he spared a glance at Vera, saying “I don’t know- morals, I guess.”

They stayed one more night at the Kujo residents, waiting for the Speedwagon Foundation to arrive for Holy. She had once enjoyed a quick smoke break at the dead of night when once more she found herself face to face with Jotaro.

She pulled a cigarette from its pack and handed it to him. “I’m heading to bed.”

“No,” he reached his arm out to stop her leaving. “If you’re coming with us, you’re gonna explain some shit to me.”

Vera peered up at him, unphased, hand on her hip. “You got questions. And I got answers. Ask away.”

“Why don’t you just heal my mom?”

“I can’t cure curses. A stand fever is like immunity for life- I can move it forward or back but it doesn’t change your body’s ability to make a stand.”

“So why don’t you heal yourself?”

She shrugged, “I could but I’d rather take a stitched up leg over another assault case on my counselor’s case.”

The scowl on his face disappeared and was replaced by a slack-jawed shock.

“As hard as this will be, Jotaro, you’ll have to learn to trust me. I wouldn’t expect you drive without experience. In the same way you have to trust that I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”

Jotaro dropped his harm back to his side, letting her stroll by calmly until he spoke again.

“At what cost?”

“I’ll deal with the costs-“ she turned to face him. “But uhhh I’d appreciate if you stuck around when I told you I felt unsafe.”

Jotaro didn’t say anything, only nodded before turning to light his cigarette and Vera turning down the hallway to bed.