He feels better. Its been slow recovery again, but..

It's been four months. Four months since he decided that death would be the best option. He was wrong, though.

Things went by nicely. He could walk, but not without crutches. It was very rare if he could, but even then he didn't really want to take the risk. He felt that he should have them with him at most, if not all times in order to truely feel secure. At least, until he was more confident in his body strength.

He had to take the last year of his high school year with Jotaro, the school permitted his skip ahead because his grades were still very much phenomenal. Being a quick learner came with perks of its own.

It was currently November, chilled air blowing in a soft breeze through the open window of the art room on the top floor. Jotaro had cleaning duty, so he was waiting for him to finish up that before walking on. He and Jotaro had become much closer, which he was grateful for. Jotaro had become unusually clingy towards him, though with what happened he wasn't surprised. And if he was being honest, he didn't.. really mind it.

He realized how much he actually felt for Jotaro in the hospital, waking up for the second time after he went into ANOTHER coma, and them being together almost the entire time was enough for him to truly understand his feelings. It was strange to like another man. Jotaro would probably just push him away like everyone else, call him disgusting.. they were just friends. Nothing more. Hell, Jotaro probably wasn't even interested in a relationship.. but Kakyoin can't help but fantasize what it'd be like, to hold hands, lay with him, kiss him.. were his lips soft? His own were, he knew that; he always used chapstick to keep them from cracking.. did he do the same—

"Nori." Jotaro's deep voice fills the room, causing Kakyoin to jump a little. An embarrassed blush crosses his cheeks as he drops the paints he had in hand, watching them splatter across the tile. "Don't scare me like that!" He laughed, legs wobbly as he stood up to grab a towel. He then crouched and placed his knees against the floor, starting to clean. "Tch—Don't hurt yourself trying to clean it, have you seen the rest of the floor?" Jotaro comments, walking over. Kakyoin only chuckles; he was right, there was paint everywhere.. but still, he was a clean freak. If he spilt something, or seen something he could clean, he'd do it.

"I'll be okay, Jojo. It's just a small mess." He said and stared up at him with a small smile, finishing up a few moments after. "Gh—can you help me up?" He holds a hand out and Jotaro clicks his tongue again at him, pulling him up with ease and handing him his crutches. "Thanks," He starts, walking to the sink and placing the palette in it before turning back around, "how was class? Good I suppose?" This earns an eye roll from the ravenette.

"It's class, how good can it be?" Jotaro remarks, his hand digging around in his pocket for the pack of cigarettes he kept on him. Opening it, he counted how many there were; 3. "I guess it was alright though. We need to stop by the corner store."

—

"I.. thought I was feeling twinges of pain—maybe I cut it when we crashed..?" Kakyoin rubs his bloodied wrist off with the handkerchief he kept in his pocked; but the sight of what seemed to be lettering caught his attention.

"Gah-! What's this?!" He blinks. It read.. "Baby... stand..? But—but how did they..? What does this mean?" He notices its his handwriting-or, well, carving. Odd. "I.. don't remember anything.. did I do this to myself..?"

The baby is giving him such a strange look. He can't help hut to feel a surge of anxiousness run through his body. He moves on his own. Its coming together, the baby HAS to be a stand user! Why else would he deliberately cut those words into himself, let alone not remember them?!

"Hey, Kakyoin—what are you doing?! That's no way to handle a baby, you'll strangle him!" Joseph's voice brings him out of his daze. What.. was he going to do? "Ah.. My apologizes..." He goes quiet again. "Hey, Jotaro... Kakyoin's really starting to loose it out here.. I wonder if he'll be able to make it through the rest of this trip.."

.

"Mr. Joestar—stop! Listen to me! I'm telling you, I don't know where that baby could have stored that scorpion—but i'm telling you, I think that baby is a stand user!" Kakyoin is obviously worried, shakily grabbing his sleeve. "I can prove that i'm speaking the truth-"

Yanking his sleeve up, he showed the cuts. "Read the letters—do you know what it says?! It's a warning! It had to have happened when I was sleeping earlier!" Surprised gasps come from the crew as they look at his arm. "Kakyoin... You didn't.. do that to yourself, did you?"

This startles the redhead, causing those terrified violets to flick up. "W-What?—" "It's—It's finally happened.. Kakyoin..."

"Oh my god.."

He's left to his thoughts. Did.. he make things worse? Maybe they misunderstood him—Well he doesn't have any other choice! He has to use force.

"Hierophant Green!—GHK—" "It's no use—Kakyoin's completely lost his mind.."

This wasn't what he wanted. He's completely certain of what he saw! J-Jotaro, you don't remember but his stand is the one we fought! The one in our dreams! Polnareff.. We absolutely can't fall asleep—Mr. Joestar! Believe me! Please..

Believe me.. we'll all be killed..

YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!
—

"Nori?" Kakyoin gets pulled out of his trance and pulled back to reality; he had remembered the time when.. no one believe him. It sent him back to when he was a kid.. no one believed him. Believed that he had a stand, a "friend" of his own. No one else could see them.

It hurt.

"Oh—sorry, I zoned out..." He feels like a burden again.. hut it's the past. Just, deep breaths, and you'll be alright. They've since apologized, and he's forgave them.. but, why did he remember that? Why, what triggered the memory— "You need anything?" Kakyoin looks up and blinks. "Ah? A drink would be fine, a tea of your choice." Kakyoin gives him a smile as he walks in before him, shuffling to the side. "Mm."

"Evening boys!" The clerk smiles lovingly at the two—or one, for now. "Good evening, Mrs. J. How's business?" He asks the lady, leaning on the counter with a soft smile. They usually stop here almost every day, so they're well acquainted with her. She's the owner, after all; plus, they go to school with her son. "As usual, slow but steady. The usual?" She asks, earning a nod from Jotaro who was approaching behind. "Add this too." He sets a container on the counter as well, Kakyoin blinking. It wasn't see through, so he wasn't sure what it was. She had already put it in a bag anyways, so he shrugged it off.

"Thank you Mrs. J, oh, and tell Sakurai I said hello!" Kakyoin waves before hobbling out and humming softly. "What was that container?" Kakyoin asks, his curiosity getting the best of him. What can he say, he usually doesn't buy anything else. "Cherries. Got em for you, they were on sale." He cracks open the drink for Kakyoin and holds it out to him. "O-Oh.."

There goes his heart. Beating like crazy.

"Well, thank you, that's very nice of you." He quickly regains what he could of his composure and takes a sip of the drink, having to pause his walking to before closing it back up and putting it in his side bag. Despite his seemingly cool attitude, he's flustered. Luckily his curl of hair blocks the view from the taller. "Mm."

As they approach the Kujo's home Jotaro slides the door open and lets him in, ignoring the sudden sound of footsteps; its his mother, obviously. "Joojoooo!" She basically launches herself into his arms, giggling up a storm as she rubs her head against her son. "Get off me, bitch!" She only smiles and squeezes more before letting go. "Okaay! Anyways! How was school?" She's hugging Kakyoin now, eyes closed. "It was alright, mostly the same as usual."

Kakyoin had been staying over for the last week, going home the next following week. It had taken a lot of bitching from his father to get him to agree, but it was worth it. "That's great, darling! I'm making dinner, it should be ready around six thirty!" She ruffles the redheads hair, then forcefully bringing Jotaro's face down for a kiss. He grumbled in response, but just walked forwards after pulling his shoes off. It took Kakyoin a bit longer to do the same, but gets them off nonetheless. He struggles to stand up, slowly gaining his balance again before walking after Jotaro and following him to their room.

Yes, their room. Jotaro suggested he slept on a cot in his room near him in case he has more nightmares; in which he did. Getting to the door, he slowly slid it open and managed to make his way in, but.. trips over the ledge. He stumbled forward and manages to catch himself with his crutches, legs shaking. Jotaro had already scrambled up from his cot and was holding out his hand, ocean colored eyes wide as he had a grip on his school uniforms jacket. ".....Are you okay?" Free hand moves to help him stand and Kakyoin took a moment to come off his sudden spike of anxiety. It wasn't the first time, but that doesn't make it any less scarier.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, thank you.." His voice is trembling as he attempts to slide his arms out of the cuffs attached to the crutches, swallowing hard. Jotaro helps him, sitting him down on his cot before seating himself once again. He holds the container of cherries out to the red haired; it was invisible to Kakyoin's vision due to the shade of his hat, but he has a blush painted across his tanned cheeks.

"Thank you.." He's still a little embarrassed from falling, and from the fact that Jotaro bought these for him. How adorable.. Thin hands grasp the cardboard before opening it and pulling some of the cherries out, humming happily as he popped one into his mouth. They were sweet yet bitter, tasting just right to him. "Want one?" He asks, offering the opened container to him. Jotaro pauses, looking at it before shrugging and taking one, putting it into his mouth.

They didn't taste too good to him, but he ate it anyways. The tartness was... an acquired taste, to say the least. And he wasn't the type to say no to bitter things. "Did you know? There's roughly 54 species of cherries! They're all different in their own ways; my favorite are these, the Benishuho cherry. There's a little acidity in them but they're overall pretty sweet. Cherries are said to prevent heart disease because of the antioxidants in them! I ought to be pretty healthy then, yeah?" He lets a laugh out, violets closing. Jotaro only lets a chuckled-grunt out, shaking his head.

"You're a fucking nerd."

—

"Dinner's served! Say your thanks!" Holly was mostly picking at Jotaro who often ignored simple table manners, earning a chuckle from Kakyoin. "Ugh. Fine.... itadakimasu." Holly grins and claps, repeating after him in sync with Kakyoin. It's Baked Tonkatsu, her mother's recipe actually. It's tasty, especially for Kakyoin; his family doesn't really make tonkatsu much, so it's a change. And even if he's trying to me nonchalant about it, you can tell Jotaro's enjoying it too.

After some time, Kakyoin leans back and sighs happily. "Thank you, Mrs. Holly—that was amazing, do you want help with the dishes—" "Oh, no no don't worry yourself over it! It's okay, a pleasure. Don't feel like you owe me!" Kakyoin blinks before looking to the taller before nodding. "Ah, well, okay.."

Jotaro helps Kakyoin up and actually gives his mom a hug; a half-assed one, but a hug either way. He walks back with the redhead, leaving Holly to smile to herself before eventually starting to clean up.

Jotaro grunted as he sat back on his cot, sighing lowly. "Do you want to shower first or what?" He asks softly, peering over at him. Kakyoin blinks and shakes his head. "No, go ahead. I'll take one after." Jotaro nods and sheds his jacket and slips his hat off, setting it to the side before walking out of the room, closing the sliding door and then heading to the bathroom. Kakyoin's left alone.

He doesn't like it.

It's only ten minutes, but the voices start up. He's overthinking.

'You know, you're just a burden. That's all you'll ever be. A burden. Troubling other people.'

"No, no.." He shakes his head. Jotaro was usually the one that helped him with that, as helpless as that sounds; but given what happened last time he tried to fight his own battles, he'd rather have the help. The only thing thats on his mind is Jotaro. Anything, just—anything that will help.

Eyes fall on his jacket. It's... risky. But he can't think of anything else. He uses Hierophant Green to bring it over, grabbing it and placing it around his body.

It's still warm.

"...." He slips it on and hugs his arms, burying his face into the collar and sighing softly. It's nice.. Jotaro has this odd scent to him but he adores it. It's just.. weird. A guy, liking a guy. Two men aren't supposed to be together. Jotaro probably hated things like that, and god forbid he made Jotaro hate him. Hierophant stared at him, head cocked. Kakyoin sighed and rubbed his face looking to the side. "You're the only person who understands me, who I can actually say things like this to." He laughed and sighed, leaning back with his eyes closed. He presses the cuff of the sleeve to his nose, taking a deep breath.

Calming and comforting..

The redhead curls up on the cot and sighs softly. At least with this, it's like he's there. Like he's comforting him. Like he wants to be, closer with him, but can't. At least, that's what he's told himself. Before he knew it, he had started to doze off. Luckily, it's Friday.. a shower can wait.

Jotaro came in a little bit later, pausing when he realized Kakyoin was asleep—with his jacket on. He blinks, letting a small smile come over his face before shaking his head and muttering a low "good grief." under his breath, covering the redhead up before cutting his light off and eventually laying down to sleep.

—

Morning peeks through the windows, casting over Kakyoin. He had a good sleep for once this week, slowly stretching out hut immediately pausing when he realizes the pressure behind him. He blinks, looking down. He's still wearing Jotaro's jacket, and there's a pair of arms around him. His heart starts beating faster and faster, swallowing hard and looking around before slowly shifting. Jotaro's sleeping face comes into view and he feels like his hearts about to jump from his chest and out onto the floor.

'Holyshitholyshitholyshit'

Of course, he's been like this before. But, he remembers not waking up. At all. That meant that Jotaro moved to his bed. On his own. He swallows and turns to face him, inevitably sinking into his hold again and closing his eyes.

This was nice.

"I wish it could be like this more." He mumbles this into his chest, eventually dozing back off.