#both Avdol and Kakyoin would tell Jotaro off when he is being a fucking idiot and that's why they had to die

[iviin-855]

I've seen time travel fix-its where Jotaro goes back but the Hierophant is the guide to the divine. Imagine Kakyoin's mind is sent back and he has to secretly try to guide the group towards a better outcome while letting things stay similar enough Dio still ends up getting defeated and so he can still predict what happens from his memories. If the crusaders knew they would change too much so he has to act as a secret guide (even though he is getting some suspect looks, mostly from Jotaro and Avdol)

As to why he went back? Maybe he somehow knew they needed to be at full strength (the will to reject impossibly) to prevent Dio from ever being brought back (and while it often gets tossed aside in favor of milf hunter jokes Kakyoin has more than enough reasons to go after Dio, he just doesn't voice them)

[jjba-hell]

Fate and Fortune

Ok so this one I just HAD to do and you’ll see why in my next chapter. Might switch over to a Part every two days since y’know- life but here ya go.

For the moots: @fyre23 and @risottoneroo (you’ll like the end I promise)

Part 12

When they ended up in Saudi Arabia, the first trip Vera had to take was to the clothing shop. Out of customary respect she had to switch to a considerably more conservative choice of clothes, slipping out of the shop to meet Polnareff outside. “It must be boiling underneath. Are you alright?”

“Oh you’d be surprised how cool this fabric is.” She gave a twirl of black fabric. “Also, this isn’t my first time here, Avdol and I...” she forgot she needed to be mourning him in front of Polnareff.

He placed a gentle hand in her shoulder, giving his best sympathetic smile. “I understand you had many adventures while you waited for him to be your confirmed guardian?”

She nodded, wringing the strap of her bag over her shoulder. In truth she did miss him terribly, but unlike Polnareff she knew he was still breathing. “It was more trying to understand ourselves and helping developing stand users. Unfortunately the true niche of his research he kept even from me.”

The hopped in the car- Vera sliding into the front seat while the others were speaking on their next steps on the journey. She figured they’d have to cross the desert sooner or later but she still dreaded the intense heat they’d have to travel through- even though, she supposed, she was best accustomed to the heat.

Or at least she hoped.

After guzzling enough water to last her well into the night and smothering her face in sunscreen she lead the camel to its knees with a handful of grass and hopped on. Vera admittedly had some experience doing this but she wasn’t going to teach the others how to do it- it was, after all, so entertaining to watch Mr Joestar struggle a bit. “I’m sorry- I though you had experience with camels, Mr Joestar.”

She tossed an apple in front of her camel and hopped off to help- moving to Polnareff first. “Honestly Polnareff, I’ve taken trips to Paris- surely you’re aware of the state of the town isn’t that cleanly as you make it out to be.”

Vera wrapped the grey scarf around his head and neck loosely, letting him lure his own camel down. Once he was up she moved to Kakyoin who was constantly looking over his shoulder. “Do you feel... watched, by any chance?”

“I’m not sure- I kind of feel like my intution’s been thrown off since Pakistan. Everything feels kind of off- like I’m just constantly....phasing?”

His hand slid up her covered arm, brows knitting in concern. “Jotaro told me the night terrors were rough last night. Are you sure you wouldn’t ride with one of us?”

She bit back to wide of a small, playing with the extra fabric of the shawl on his shoulders. With a playful snap she pulled him a bit closer, standing on her tiptoes as she kissed his cheek.

His cheeks dusted a lovely pink color and she couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re sweet but I’m still prideful- much like you.” She gazed up at him through her fluttering lashes before moving back to the task at hand.

If they were really being watched then she was hoping she just placed a target on her back. How much Dio was letting his minions know was still debatable but if they believed her to be vulnerable then that was all she needed.

To drive the point home she came to Jotaro who had seemed to manage just fine on his own- strapping the water to his steed in silence while Mr Joestar was floundering about. “You also feel watched?”

He only nodded, turning to look her head on. “I think Star would have seen something by now, wouldn’t he?”

It seemed the same thought crossed Jotaro’s mind- his gaze moving to look out over the horizon- as if he’d see what it was that was watching them.

Moving with Jotaro was slow but she took the moment to hold out her hand to him which he took, softly entertwining their fingers together as she moved to block her from view of the rest. “Are you sure you can make it through? I know you didn’t get much sleep in.”

She squeezed his hand, laughing at how both the boys thought she was only coming to them for aid. “I think I can handle myself just fine, JoJo.”

It was her turn to make the move- she squeezed his hand gently then moved in for a casual hug before moving on ahead with the journey.

Vera had believed she was used to the heat, that the sweltering fire beating down on her was normal and it would be over soon but the sun didn’t move. When they stopped a moment and realized the time she knew something was very very wrong. “Eight? As in 20 hundred?”

She moved closer to Jotaro to check and the realization hit her hard. “It must be a stand.”

“Vera, can’t you make it return to its user?” Polnareff asked but she was already off her camel and heading towards the rock nearby.

“No. Stands define Fortune.” Her back hit the rock with a thud and with a heavy swallow she tried to gather her thoughts. “It has to be short ranged- the power that thing holds is vile. So where could the user be?”

She materialized Fortune from her and allowed them to start walking straight ahead of them. Kakyoin used Hierophant Green to spread out and look as well.

She had to pull back quickly after Kakyoin got injured by the barrage of flames raining down on the group. And that’s how you ended up in the a hole in the ground sweating through your eyeballs.

“Jotaro- do you ever get tired of using Star Platinum vigorously?” She wondered out loud, laying down on her back. “Or haven’t you quite tried.”

“The latter. I know- waiting this out isn’t going to work out, is it?”

She shook her head- putting her feet up on the bigger water canteen she’d phased into the cave. If only her head would work long enough to think straight she could have come up with a solution but she couldn’t even turn back the time on their bodies.

When Kakyoin finally broke out in a laughing fit she thought she’d lose him. Then Jotaro joined and she knew it was too late. Vera sat up and tried to bring Fortune closer to reverse the possible brain damage from the heat but Kakyoin only took her wrist gently, pulling her snug against him and showing precisely what they were laughing at.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” She had Fortune move out of the cave and toss the stone at the mirror they’d been looking out on and soon enough the sun was gone and the sparkling night sky took its place.

The second it was allowed she was first to March out of the cave after the stand user. “Motherfucker!” She shouted up at the sky at the sight of the user dislodged from his perfectly little air conditioned spot behind the mirror.

“Took the stand meaning a bit literal there, didn’t he?”

They made camp after the abused the residual heat from the stand battle before settling in for camp. Of course someone had to keep watch and none other the Jotaro volunteered.

Vera was glad Kakyoin and Jotaro seemed a bit less phased by her presence with one another than before. What she wasn’t expecting was finding Kakyoin leaving Jotaro’s look out spot- looking awfully disheveled and finding none other than Jotaro without a jacket.

It took everything out of Vera to not cackle out in glee- instead letting a smile crack through the facade as Jotaro tried to cover the hickeys on his neck with a palm. “I could heal that for you, or is too personal?”

He didn’t answer, almost looking as if he felt ashamed of what he had done until she stripped off her head dress and top to sit beside him in her tank top as well. “Hey, relax- I’ve messed around with more girls than guys anyway.”

Another quizzical look which earned him a shrug. “My boarding school’s divided- curiosity was bound to take over. Kind of realized I didn’t have a preference- boys are just a bit meaner though.”

Jotaro had to clear his throat to say, “I thought I knew until you came along. Girls annoy the shit out of me so I thought I knew but-“

He ran a hand over his hair, Vera only then noticing that his cap was missing. “I don’t know.” He growled in frustration. She moved in closer, touching his cheek to let him look at her. “I’m not mad, you know. I’m not asking answers either. All I ask is the same curtesy.”

It was a side-tracked idea she hadn’t considered in a long time but which one, if any, of the two she was in love with- she wasn’t sure- then they turn around and like each other and suddenly it seemed both less and more complicated. Could they all be content with a polycule. She hadn’t noticed she was overthinking until Jotaro brought both his hands to cup her face, looking her in the eye and asking. “Can I kiss you?”

She must have seemed shocked because he added, “Just so I can make sure?”

And in that moment it felt impersonal, as if they were just two idiots trying to traverse a topic neither one could think through. “Yeah.” Was all she answered as her hand wrapped around his left wrist and their lips met.

He was clumsy with his kiss, that was for sure. She couldn’t decide if it was the inexperience or simply because his face- and therefore lips- simply dwarfed her own but it was wet and all she could taste was mint cigarette and something fruity she couldn’t quite place.

When he moved away, they stared at each other in disbelief and she couldn’t help but sigh. “Please tell me I’m not the only one that liked that.”

[cesarinthefreezer]

Chapter 1: Fearless

You were never scared of anything, even as a child. Never scared of the dark, or spiders, or even guns. In fact you were good with guns even since your grandfather taught you to shoot you became an excellent marksmen, tracker and hunter. You never hesitated to take the life of an animal, even when you could see fear in its eyes, but that was your favorite part. Your lack of fear is what drew DIO to you ,even face to face with a being of his power you never flinched. He was sure you’re fearlessness would make you a strong game piece in his plans to eliminate the Joestars. Planting a flesh bud in your head and giving you exact orders you made your way to Japan. Your task; kill Jotaro Kujo.

Being only 18 years old you were able to attend the same school as your target. You watched his every move ,memorized his every habit. After weeks of watching you decided today was the day. Loading you gun in the thigh holster beneath your uniform skirt you head to school on your motorcycle. As you park on the street you see Jotaro approaching the grassy area in front of the school at 7:45 right on schedule. At 8:15 he’ll come out the the yard for his first cigarette of the day and that’s when you’ll pull the trigger. Sitting on your parked bike you wait patiently your heart never skipping a beat in anticipation, you were completely calm. 8:14 rolls around, it’s almost time, a minute later Jotaro makes an appearances. As he looks down to light the cigarette you pull the gun from your thigh holster underneath your skirt. You want to see the fear in him before he dies, you make sure the click of the hammer catches his attention. Jotaro stares right into your eyes as you pull the trigger. You expect to see Jotaros body on the ground but instead he’s is standing where he was, but now there is a ghostly purple hand in front of his head where your bullet was aimed. Jotaro has look of extreme anger in his face, yet you do not fear for yourself, even now when he’s running full speed at you. Staring you motorcycle up you steer it to leave the school but when you got to accelerate you don’t move. Looking behind you you see the same ghostly arm gripping the back tire of your bike. You are then meet with Jotaros gaze, lifting his hand he reveals a Bullet in between his finger tips.

“I figure you might want this back you bitch”

Seconds later you black out from the hit landed from Jotaros elbow on the side of your head.

~

You didn’t dream much or rather if you did you didn’t remember them but now was different. You were standing in front of DIO his cold smile revealing pure white fangs.

“You’ve failed me (y/n) I have no use for you now”

He takes a few steps till he’s almost inches from your face, raising his hand he pushes his sharp fingernail into the top of your forehead. The pain is excruciating, but this is a dream how could you be feeling this much pain?

~

With star platinums steady fingers Jotaro pulls the flesh bud from this strange girls forehead. He throws in towards the light of the sun where it turns into ash. He looks to kakyoin who watching the (h/c) girl spasm in her sleep

~

The pain is too much for you to handle, you open your mouth to scream. In a matter of seconds you wake up, springing to a sitting position, screaming. Hand rushing to the top of your forehead you feel for a wound but there is nothing there. Looking around you see 2 men standing above you, you move to run away but you find yourself restricted by several Green tendrils.

“What the hell.... let me go!”

You writhe around trying to free yourself when the man you know as Jotaro Kujo bends down and grabs your chin.

“Will you shut up already you stupid bitch we have questions and you better give us some answers”

The red haired man who seems to be controlling your restraints smacks swiftly at Jotaros arm.

“Jotaro, be gentle with her she probably confused and scared”

You look to the red haired man

“I don’t need your help asshole and I’m not scared of you idiots, I was sent here by some DIO person to kill Jotaro I don’t know why but I heard a voice telling me to do so”

Jotaro and the red haired man take a seat on the floor. The green tendrils release you and the red haired man looks into your eyes

“My name is Noriaki Kakyoin, I was once where you are, we aren’t going to hurt you we want to help you and hopefully you can help us”

Your body relaxes

“My name is (f/n) (l/n) I don’t k ow where I am or how I got here, I just remember DIO telling me he admires my fearlessness and marksmanship. I don’t remember much after that other than my mission to kill Jotaro. But now I feel free I’m not being told to kill anyone.”

You pause and try to remember more

“I was in Egypt with my father for his business trip when I met DIO and I’m pretty sure my father is dead now”

You start to feel choke up and faint. You fall backwards from your sitting position, before you head can hit the floor you feel a strong hand on you back. You look to see that it’s Jotaro, still looking pissed but he gently lowers you to the floor.

“I’m sorry I tried to shoot you, you’re lucky to have that purple ghost with you”

Jotaro raises an eyebrow as a very muscular purple ghost like man appears behind him. Your eyes widen

“You mean you can see my star platinum?, you don’t appear to have a stand”

You look at him confused

“A stand?”

Kakyoin places a hand on your head to check your temperature. But he then realizes you’ve passed out. You are shaking and sweat beads are forming on your head.

“She’s burning up, we need to get her to a bed Jotaro”

With a quick smooth motion Jotaro picks you up bridal style and carried you to one of the guest rooms. He covers you in several blankets and leaves you to rest. Laying there shaking and covered in sweat you slip into the same dream. But the difference in this dream is the figure standing next to you, she is about your height with pale blue skin and all black eyes. But she doesn’t appear to move she just stands beside you. Once again as DIOs finger nail pierces your forehead you sit up screaming, but you haven’t woken up yet. You are trapped in the painful dream. And for the first time in your life, you are scared.

Jotaro rushes into the room to see you shaking and crying but you are still asleep. He rushes to restrain your spasming body when a pale blue figure raises a sword to him.

“She’s manifesting a stand” he says under his breath

“STAR PLATINUM!”

Jotaros stand appears pinning down your stand with a loud ‘ORA’ Jotaro looks your stand in the eyes

“I’m just trying to help her I don’t want to hurt her”

Your stand disappears and Jotaro pulls you into his chest to keep you still. You wake up covered in tears with your face pressed into something warm. Jotaro lets go of you and you pull back quickly. In that moment your stand manifests next to Jotaro. You lunge back and reach to you thigh to pull the gun that is no longer there

“Where’s my gun, what is that thing!?”

Jotaro rolls his eyes

“Your gun is safe, away from you for the time being.... you might shoot someone if I give it to you now. And this is your stand, it’s a manifestation of your soul. Something must have triggered it recently if it’s only appearing to you now, besides DIO has anything in your life changed?”

You swallow nervously remembering you dream and you shave your head.

“For the first time in my life.... I was scared”

Jotaros gaze softens

“If you’ve never been scared then you never needed anyone to protect you and now that something has changed your stand appeared to protect you”

You bring your knees to your chest and take a moment to process everything. What the actual fuck is happening to you. You look up to see Kakyoin standing in the doorway.

“(Y/n) are you alright?”

You nod at him as your stand hovers over to meet him

“So she does have a stand after all, I’ll have to find Avdol and Mr. Joestar and explain the news”

Kakyoin turns and walks away but Jotaro still remains seated in front of you on the bed. Your hands are still shaking as they rest in the tops of your knees. Jotaro places one hand over both.

“You’ll be fine, I’ll let you get some rest”

He stands up and turns to leave when you grab the sleeve of his jacket.

“ can you stay and sit with me for a little bit ?...please”

He rolls his eyes

“Good grief you’re a grown woman you’ll be fine”

Your grip tightens on his jacket. He stares at you with annoyance but you don’t let up. He finally sits back down on the bed.

“I know I said it once already but I’m really sorry I tired to shoot you”

You look into his eyes that are almost hidden by the shadow of his hat.

“You couldn’t help it, just don’t think about trying it again. But I have to admit you’re a good shot”

You smile at him

“Thanks.. I guess”

The two of you share a few more words before Jotaro finds you asleep resting in his shoulder. Realizing he’s stuck there he kicks off his shoes and throws his hat in the night stand.

“I didn’t know you were such a softy Jotaro”

Jotaro looks over to see Kakyoin in the doorway

“ not a word kakyoin or I’ll kill you”

Kakyoin nods as he pulls the door shut and leaves. Relaxing his body Jotaro drifts off next to you.

Notes

Chapter 2 coming soon hope y’all enjoyed

[fanficsforpogchamps]

Could I possibly get a headcanon for the crusaders reactions to a stand user reader who comes along with Iggy on the plane and their stand can calm anybody or thing down just by releasing a type of mist into the air (a close range type of stand)? Maybe like their first thoughts on them (if that's ok ^^°)

Well of course darling! I will be ever so happy to write this!! I do apologize that it took so long, I’ve had some personal things I’ve needed to iron out before I could start writing again!

Jotaro Kujo-

;Jotaro was… less than pleased to find out ANOTHER person was going to be joining the crusade. Like…

;He is surrounded by idiots, and there’s going to be another potential idiot joining? Yare Yare Daze... 

;When you took your first step off he was shrugging you off, watching as you smile and softly chuckle at the antics of Iggy, before shaking his grandfather's hand in remembrance to say “Yeah, I’m here,” Honestly? Doesn’t care that you’re here.

; The only time he WILL notice you, however, is when you’re standing right in the ground, feet planted firmly in the stand in order to not raise suspicion from N’Doul, the water using stand. He hasn’t attacked you yet, but the panic in the air was making you shiver and fret- as you weren't well built for stress.

;You stand came to life, tall and lean with holes of every size varying across it’s purple body. The legs were too long and thin, the same as the arms were- for the strong looking midsection it had. Its head was incredibly frightening however, as it hadn’t any eyes- simply one longer slit across the upper half of its face, where Jotaro would have assumed its eyes were.

;The thin sheen of sweat across your face was not from the glaring sun beating down on you, Jotaro had initially guessed, but from the yelling of Polnareff for Kakyoin, and the general aura of fight or flight when the stand user initially attacked.

;Because it was just you standing in the sand, the granules sinking your feet ankle deep from the refusal to move

;That’s when he noticed a thin cloud starting to appear over his head. Thin like when you burn incense sticks but smelling so much incredibly better than those stupid wooden sticks.

;It smelt like lavender to him, freshly picked lavender because he knew his mother enjoyed those. More often than not, if he had a few spare coins of change he would go and buy some, to replace the dying ones in the vases at home.

; Not outright giving them to her- but just quick enjoy to make it seem as if those lavenders were in fact not dying, but everlasting.

;His jaw had untensed and eyebrows relaxed, the calming effects of your stand affecting him increasingly and allowing him to do what is known as…

;A pro gamer move. He had launched himself off of the jeep and onto Iggy's stand, riding it like a plane.

;When he had returned, you sat by the boxes, standing at your side as Kakyoin's head rested in your lap. “He’ll be fine,” You spoke reassuringly, calmly swiping away the hair that rested against his fresh wounds- ones you wrapped up gently with spare bandages

;He thinks you’re… interesting, but often uses your stand as a relaxant afterwards- small words and gestures leading you to believe that this teenage boy had been fighting the chance to stay calm.

Kakyoin Noriaki~

;Kakyoin was never one to fret, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched DIO hop from one building to another.

;You sat by his side, silent as always and vigilant for the big baddie.

;Kakyoin had been skeptical when you first arrived, but nonetheless welcomed you with open arms, and apparently it had been you who rested with him those lonely nights before getting him to the hospital to keep him calm and allow him to recover until specialists could look at him.

;He appreciated you greatly, but now was not the time to visit old memories as now was a time for action and patience.

;You noticed the thick tension in the air, and could almost sense Kakyoins anxiety through unspoken words, and the way he constantly tried to crack his knuckles. He was sure this plan was going to work.

;”It’s okay Kakyoin,” You smiled, raising your hand, but your stands arm appeared first and cupping his other jaw, forearm right underneath his nose as a soft mist of purple began leaking from the holes in its arm. “Just breathe it in, and you’ll be fine,”

;The intimacy of the touch nearly caused the student to faint, cheeks flushed red and eyes dilating to try and wrap his head around why. But he figures you could tell he was anxious.

;The mist was calming, soothing, made the knot in his mind unravel and allow for the burning wood and wet forest smell to invade his senses. There was almost a taste to it, but Kakyoin was far too concentrated to find it. There were many things Kakyoin could be thinking about, but the one image that pops to his mind was Jotaro.

;The image of him being hovered over him, stand pulling out the bug that DIO left planted to fester in his brain. The first image of a friend he never knew he would have, the man that accepted his offer to help his mother on the basis that she was kind, and well natured. He loved his parents, but Jotaro refused to allow Kakyoin to sit and sulk, inspiring him to go forward and do what he wanted.

;There was a snap, and both you and Kakyoin looked towards the noise. It had worked! DIO had triggered Kakyoins stand- yet he was easily deflecting the Emeralds like it was nothing. “Don’t do anything stupid,” You requested, your stands hand sliding from his cheek to rest in your lap. “Don’t die,” You asked of him.

;And there was that glint in his eye, the one that knew he wouldn’t break his silent promise to you, as his friend.

Jean-Pierre Polnareff~

; Polnareff was incredibly charmed by yourand your stand, its lean body looming over you like a great oak, its yellow beady eyes occasionally peering out from between the slit over its face and making huffing noises at the jokes Polnareff was making instead of you replying.

; He figured you were shy, or rarely spoke, but let your stand do it for you because- well- what’s more intimate than letting your own soul speak for you? NOTHING I TELL YOU! ; JP was incredibly swooning over you, offering you his hand to you when you had to walk down a few steps, or offering to buy you the most expensive jewelry and food just to impress you.

; Does Polnareff give a shit if you’re male, female, in-between, trans, black, white, asian, american, english or from fucking Antarctica? No! 

; He views you for you, and despite how incredibly gorgeous you look to him, he enjoys your general calming and sweet presence in the group- much better than the ever so stoic Jotaro.

; When Alessi came to attack, however, it was a different story.

; You worried, pondered, and scurried across stalls and market places looking for Polnareff, already missing his sarcastic and flirty nature. The general comfort of having a loud mouth besides you feeling unnatural as Jotaro was much more… quiet.

; And Polnareff? Jesus H Christ he was upset. There was no longer and sort of calming being for him to lean on, for him to get a kick out of. He was a child, covered in his baggy clothes and stupidly cut hair that made him look like a fanboy to his older self.

; Squealing in french was the only way to get anyone to notice, and noticed he got.

; You had come running over when you saw a small boy crying against the window of a store, clearly distressed and wanting help. Jotaro followed behind you, muttering some nonsense of how this was pointless, and that you had to keep looking for Polnareff.

; Yet you hushed him, finger to your lips as you calmly approached the child and touched his shoulder. “Excuse me, little boy, are you alright?” That voice! He knew it! Turning from his wettened arms he stared at your face, hot tears bubbling from his lower lash line. “Que?” he asked, wiping his tears and looking at you once again.

; He knew your name, but the tip of his tongue seemed to have been caught by something as there were no words leaving his mouth. It was a shame, but he knew both you and the larger man standing behind you, gazing at you with such annoyance.

; You began reassuring him, hand carefully stroking through the silver hair that seemed way too familiar to leave alone. Your stand appeared from behind you yellow balls from behind that damn slit staring right into Polnareffs soul. The mist it released was… nice. Calming, soothing. Thick enough to see but thin enough to not become a fog. And the smell? God, it smelt like when you walk past a bakery! Hot pastries and warm, melted chocolate! Just like those stuffed croissants that always costed too much money to buy, but Polnareff could stare at them through the window until smacked with a broom.

;He can remember when his sister was 9, and he used what he had left of his pocket money to buy one, just for her. Her first one was amazing, her eye lit up and there was this sort of glow about her when she realized it was chocolate filled.

; He’d never forget that day, and as the tears dried you began to realize that you had forgotten all about your missing friend. “I’m sorry little one but I must go. I’m searching for a friend. Please stay safe out there!” were your parting words and before Polnareff knew it, you had been whisked away in a crowd of people, leaving him unknowingly open to Alessi again.

Muhammed Avdol~

;Avdol knew you were a saint, fingers wrapped around the coffee mugs delicately in the submarine when you smiled and offered him a hand in knowing.

;Not yet had you met him, the way his smile seemed to bring warmth to your skin.

;It was illuminating and Avdol enjoyed your calming presence. It reminded him a lot of Holly, and how relaxed everyone seemed to feel when they were around. Finding her on the floor that day was uncomfortable, even for Jotaro.

;So when you entered the submarine with him, he could feel the loving nature of your aura.

;It was.. refreshing.

;The coffee was a good wake up call as he listened to your stories of N’doul, Alessi, Maria and more- those stories making him laugh harder than he had before. The vivid and exaggerated details made his eyes crease in laughter, and you stand seemingly huffing in happiness whenever he laughed.

;Your stand was also incredibly intricate with design that he was sure he’d memorized by the time that the next stand user attacked. Every dip and crevice, every deepend hole that seemingly fell into nothing but darkness, and tried to view what was behind the thick shielded faceplate with that slit and nothing but yellow and darkness. He had yet to find out what was behind it.

; He was able to find out what your stand did when you were all knee deep in water as the submarine sank further and further. Joseph had glanced over his shoulder at you, making sure you was okay until he saw the panicked look and saw you struggle to slip on the diving gear, shaking hands nervously fidgeting and missing the buckle every time.

; You stand had arisen, looming far above your frame and released the smoke from the holes in its body, thin fog encasing the room and seeping into the water that was now mid thigh.

; With it encasing the room, he breathed in the smoke, and could immediately feel the effects on his body as his shoulders relaxed and his arms untensed as the dewdrop and food stall smell seemed to get stronger and stronger with every breath he took inwards.

;The memories of being crowded in India coming back greatly, as he stared at his friends' discomfort with how many beggars surrounded them. It had been all in great fun, but he could never forget how refreshing it was to be back in a familiar country, especially one he so thoroughly enjoyed! India was like a second home to Avdol, his knowledge on the food and tradition, the almost unbearable heat, the constant chatter and laughter that emitted from the crowds and flocks of people who were haggling or just buying. He loved India with everything he had in him.

;And so such a familiar smell allowed for him to relax further, to the point where he sauntered over (to the best of his abilities of course) and clipped you in, making sure it was adjusted comfortably. “You should have just asked for help,” ; “Thank you-” Joseph Joestar~

; Joseph was… a loudmouth. He was kind, caring, determined and confident but… 

;Got you guys into quite a bit of trouble. The loudmouth nature he had got you into trouble on too many occasions, and this one was one of them. The look you gave him as he shoved his arm elbow deep in oil made his begin spouting off at how this was the only way

;You knew the stand that grew on his arm was no more than a stand user however, the panic began setting in when he pulled his arm out and saw the lump of the face still there.

;When it rose up and screamed, you jumped and got scared, hands shooting out as you began pushing down on the face, watching as its skin pops between your fingers and its scream became muffled.

;Joseph began yelling at you, telling you to run and other nonsense. “I can deal with this on my own!” He cried out, trying to swat you away before a long, purple hand wrapped around his hand. Your stand!

;The fog had already begun filtering its way into his nose before he realised it, thick purple had seeped from the holes in your stands arm. It smelt like… sweet perfume. The French Connection Eau De Toilette he knew so well had been a gift given to his wife by him, metal fingers wrapped around the box as he watched her face light up. It had been her favourite and long gone from the store's shelf. He had found some strings to pull in order to get some of the last batch ready.

;He smiled softly and relaxed, before you finally smacked the lump and it seemingly disappeared.

;Your stand disappeared, before you removed your hands and stared at the dripping oil. “You owe me,” You snickered, before wiping your palms on your clothes.

[blasphemings]

morning star

morn·ing star noun

1. a bright planet or star when visible in the east before sunrise. 2. the meaning of Lucifer's name; although the morning star may be the first light of dawn, the sun eventually rises, drowning out the light of more distant stars.

you can read this on ao3 if you want

It should have hurt more, he thought, how Caesar looked exactly the same as he had when he turned on his heel and stormed away for the last time. Not because he was particularly surprised at the accuracy of the apparent afterlife, but because at the time, being younger than Caesar himself, he hadn’t processed just how short his life had been cut; his grief had been immediate and burning, more about his having lost Caesar than Caesar having lost his life.

It had been a selfish way to grieve. He had been selfish, back then. He had believed he was at peace with his regrets, as impossible as he knew it would be to forgive himself for the actions that had built them, but looking at Caesar’s face now, he felt as though he were nineteen years old again, screaming for an answer from a voice that would never again speak his name, or any other.

“Joseph.”

“…Hey,” he croaked, and was surprised at the smoothness of his own voice underneath the cracks. He sounded like a young man.

“Hey?” Caesar chuckled. “All these years and all you’ve got is ‘hey’?”

“It’s…” Caesar. “…good to see you.”

“I wish I could say I felt the same way.” His smile faded slightly. “You shouldn’t—oof!”

When he looked down at his hands, clutching the back of Caesar’s shirt where he’d yanked him into his arms, he saw them unlined and young. He hadn’t been imagining anything. Of course Joseph was, now, in this place, as he remembered himself as he was when they had last been together.

Caesar stiffened at first before hugging him back even harder. It was familiar.

“Joseph,” he began again after a moment, but Joseph shook his head fiercely.

“I missed you,” he mumbled into Caesar’s shoulder. “I miss you.”

“Joseph, you can’t stay here.”

He snorted. “I guess hell isn’t out of the question, all things considered.”

“That’s not what I—”

“Wait.” Joseph looked over Caesar’s shoulder with wide eyes.

Caesar sighed as he extracted himself and turned to watch them once more. “Yeah.”

He had kept his distance out of respect and to allow them space to watch over those who still fought, knowing all too well how they felt. Caesar usually stayed near Joseph, as a matter of principle, but he had seen enough of all of them for the past few weeks to understand what they were to one another, and to see these losses for what they were.

“The older one got here first,” he told Joseph quietly. “Then the dog. And then the…” Caesar swallowed. “Joseph…how old was he?”

“He’s Jotaro’s age,” Joseph murmured. “He’s seventeen.”

“Fucking hell.” He stared at the red-haired boy, who had been shifting in such a way that it was clear he was operating in two places at once. His soul was still linked to another’s, and he had watched Jotaro’s movements with a familiar intensity that broke Caesar’s heart. His fists had unclenched for the first time since his arrival only once Dio’s body shattered on the concrete, but still he sat curled on his heels, staring out at a face only he could see.

“Sometimes I wonder who’s more cursed, you know?” Caesar said, still looking at Kakyoin. “Never really sure if the bad luck is the Joestars’ or just the idiots who fall in love with them.”

As they watched, the dog trotted over to him and licked Kakyoin’s hand once before flopping at his side. Joseph wondered who it was that Iggy wanted to see.

“Caesar,” Joseph said at last. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. No point.”

“I—”

“Your train home’s almost here.” Caesar smiled sadly. “Last one.”

Joseph blinked at him and suddenly he, too, was in two places at once, his soul a split image, both there in the in-between and in a speeding ambulance, flowing back into the body he had abandoned. His blood, he realized.

“I don’t want to…” Joseph shook his head again. “I don’t—”

“Life isn’t through with you yet, you see?”

For the first time, he realized that Caesar was blocking his path. He wouldn’t allow him to move beyond the limbo from which they watched the living, pushing him back slowly, gently, but firmly. Pushing him down, and he felt the weight pull at his chest, at his lungs, as though his body were trying to remember how to hold his breath in a way that meant he was alive enough to breathe.

“You think life was through with you? You think I was ever through with you?”

“Joseph.”

“I don’t want—” He took a shaky breath. “I don’t want. To leave you behind again.”

“Still so slow to catch on, are you?” Caesar smiled, reaching up to catch a tear on its way down his cheek.

Joseph stared at him as life tugged at him in a way much more unwelcome than he would ever have imagined it could be.

“You never did anything like that,” he said. “Or maybe it would make more sense to say that it was me who never left you behind. Don’t really know which.”

“Fine, I—what do you want me to say? What do you want?” Joseph pulled away angrily. “I don’t want to go back without you! Don’t you get it?”

“You couldn’t go anywhere without me even if you wanted.” Caesar’s hands were still as rough and warm as ever, though the scars he remembered from their time together were gone, and the steadying effect of the pressure on his shoulders was a familiar one. “You should know that by now.”

Joseph glared at him.

“You’re never alone,” Caesar said quietly.

“I missed you,” he repeated.

“I miss you, too. Trust me, I—but, I, it would be selfish of me to keep you here simply because that’s what I want for myself. There are people out there who still need you.”

They watched Jotaro for a moment as he stared intently at the withered body before him, the desperate gleam in his eyes when he realized the color was slowly returning. With a sinking feeling in his chest Joseph gazed down at him, then back at Caesar.

“And what if I need you?”

Caesar squeezed his shoulder. “You know I’m always with you.”

“Can’t believe you’re jumping ship again,” Joseph mumbled.

“Me? Jumping ship?” He laughed. “Come on.”

Joseph smirked, looking, for an instant, exactly as he had when he had been as young as he now appeared.

“I’ve watched you trip over your feet every day for decades,” Caesar said. “You thought those strokes of inspiration that have been saving your ass were you?”

“I—” He paused and winced.

Caesar nodded. “It’s nearly time, I think.”

“Wait—Mr. Joestar—”

When Joseph turned, he found himself facing the three of them: Avdol, hanging back slightly with a strange look on his face; Iggy, mournfully scratching at one ear; and Kakyoin, who had called out to him in a tone that was almost feverish.

“Oh—Kakyoin…I’m—”

Kakyoin shook his head quickly. “Don’t say you’re sorry. It’s all right.”

“It shouldn’t have been like this,” he muttered. Seventeen.

“Can you—will you do something for me?”

“Of course. Of course.”

“Tell Jotaro…” He swallowed, and Joseph tried not to let his face betray how much the hoarseness of that young voice broke his heart. “The—letter, the one I gave you…Polnareff has one too but I—I think it should be you. You have to get it to him.”

“Kakyoin—”

Kakyoin chuckled wearily. “You know, I was going to ask you to—shred it, or something. If I…if things had turned out differently, I would have…I told myself I would tell him in person.”

“I’m sorry,” Joseph said, and this time Kaktoin didn’t bother to cut him off.

“I knew it might turn out this way,” he mumbled. “I knew there was—Mr. Joestar—Joseph. Will you please just promise me?”

Caesar looked at the younger man with arms folded across his chest. He had though about much the same things, back when it had been his turn to leave without saying goodbye; the foresight Kakyoin had displayed in having left a message behind was admirable, and one that Caesar wished he could have had for himself, although he knew well enough that by the time he realized that was the day he would die it was far too late to be writing letters.

“I…” Joseph closed his eyes. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

He watched Joseph carefully. It was strange, to see him like this again, after watching him grow older for so many years. It must have something to do with how he was remembered, because despite all of it, whenever Caesar thought of Joseph he always thought of the last time he had seen his face on the day he left him behind. Exasperated, defiant, a little afraid, a little worried. He had thought of apologizing many times, but now that Joseph was here, he found that when it came to apologies they had nothing to say to one another.

“There is so much more I wanted to tell him,” Kakyoin said softly. “But for now it’s just important that he knows I loved him until the end. The rest will wait.”

They glanced at Avdol, who smiled and shook his head.

“He knows,” he told them. “Jean-Pierre already knows.”

Joseph nodded. “Thank you, Avdol.”

“Good luck,” Avdol said softly. “And…”

His fists were clenched a little too hard, the expression on his face too calculated in its neutrality to deny that his heart, too, was racing through the Cairo streets in a different ambulance, locked to a different still-living soul.

“He knows,” he repeated. “But you just make sure he doesn’t forget.”

“You…” Joseph looked at Avdol, at Iggy, at Kakyoin. At Caesar. “All of you deserved more than this.”

“Yes,” Avdol said evenly. “We know.”

They looked away as Caesar approached him.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something stupid to make your entrance with,” he said.

“Well.” Joseph patted his shoulder. “I have to make it interesting for you somehow, don’t I?”

“Always so thoughtful.”

They looked down at the hand Caesar had braced against Joseph’s chest, where he almost imagined he could feel a heart beating once more.

“Time to go?”

“Time to go,” Caesar whispered, and before Joseph could react he had darted forward and kissed him once, hard, before shoving him back, away from the place where the dead waited for those they had left behind.

Good luck, Jojo.

For another long moment, those who remained were silent, watching for the moment of Joseph’s return. Kakyoin’s face twitched when he realized what the old man was up to, but his focus was on Jotaro, on the way he coiled back in what Kakyoin alone recognized as panic rather than anger before understanding.

“He’s going to get himself killed again,” muttered Caesar.

“It seems in bad taste,” Kakyoin said quietly. “Jotaro has…it’s too much, what he’s been through.”

He felt a warm hand grip his shoulder tightly and closed his eyes.

“I said I wouldn’t lose again. I failed—I couldn’t—I failed him.”

“Noriaki. Look at me.”

Reluctantly he raised his eyes to meet Avdol’s, and the equal depths of grief and compassion he found there nearly had him undone in an instant.

“You did not lose.”

“I—”

“No. You did not lose. Not to Dio—you failed no one, not yourself, not any of us. Least of all Jotaro. Do you understand me?”

Kakyoin shook his head, his voice caught on the lump in his throat that somehow still seemed to appear despite his body not quite being his body. Maybe he was just too much used to feeling it, too used to keeping it quiet.

“You did beautifully,” Avdol said firmly. “You were fierce until the end, and I hope you know. I hope you know how proud of you I am.”

His head snapped up and Avdol tried not to read the look on his face, because if one of them were to keep his composure it needed to be him, it had to be him, and he could not allow himself to recognize that this boy had clearly never heard those words in his life.

“Thank you,” Kakyoin managed eventually. Avdol nodded.

When he turned and Caesar met his red-rimmed eyes, an understanding passed between the two of them as though the chains wound around their souls were visible, as though they could be seen looping back through the stars from which they had formed and locking them to the hearts still burning for them below. It was too much to conceive of the shape of the scars they would leave behind, of the empty spaces left in beds and on couches and at tables without really knowing why, the bottomless absences carved with a name.

Was it harder to be lost? Or did the tragedy rest with the alternative, the slow eroding around a snapped red string?

Kakyoin opened his mouth to speak, but Caesar shook his head and placed a gentle hand on his arm.

“I know,” he said.

“How do you bear it?” Kakyoin murmured.

“You don’t.”

He inhaled sharply, his attention on Jotaro once more. He was too tall to curl his legs up like that when he was upset, Kakyoin thought. He wanted to smooth the matted hair back from his forehead. He wanted to let Jotaro squeeze his hand until he lost feeling in the tips of his fingers.

I wanted to see you one last time.

“All we can do is stay with them. All we can do is make sure they aren’t alone when it comes for them.”

Kakyoin looked up at Caesar, the glittering of his eyes unmistakable.

“How?”

“I saw you with him,” Caesar said. “It seems to me that you already figured it out.”

It had been fleeting, surely, the moment for which Kakyoin had returned to Jotaro’s side. Caesar had known the moment he saw his white-knuckled hands press down. He had seen the edges of the boy’s form flicker and he had known.

“I just…I couldn’t let him,” Kakyoin whispered. “I couldn’t let him.”

“It’s all you can do.”

Caesar gazed down at him, and for an instant his grief threatened to swallow him whole.

It’s all you can do.

Jotaro hugged his knee closer to his chest, sinking deeper into the corner of the ambulance. He felt as though he were being watched from some impossible angle, but he had already checked the vehicle twice with Star. There was no one there.

At least in a corner he could feel a little safer. He shuddered. He wondered if he would ever be able to leave his back open again without feeling like a hunted animal.

“Jotaro,” Joseph said, breaking the silence. “There’s—something…”

He blinked down at the old man, who was fishing for the battered piece of paper in his pocket. “What?”

Joseph took a deep breath. “Kakyoin…”

Jotaro stared silently at the ground, jaw set.

“Kakyoin, he left…he left you a—here.”

He eyed it as though he feared it would burst into flames. “A letter?”

“It’s important to him that you have this,” Joseph said.

“Was,” Jotaro corrected him.

“No.” Joseph shook his head. “Is.”

Jotaro stared at the paper in his hands, too exhausted to berate the man for speaking nonsense. The handwriting was gently slanted, neat and looped, and it occurred to him that he had never had occasion to see Kakyoin’s handwriting before. There had been too many moments torn away from them. There hadn’t been enough time for any of the things they had needed to do for one another. Carefully he tucked the letter into his jacket pocket.

Joseph watched the horror twist his grandson’s face as he listened to a message about the body traveling through the radio. Jotaro felt as though he were equally likely to laugh or scream. Less than an hour had passed and he somehow felt more numb and more raw than he ever could have imagined would be necessary. He felt stupid. He felt weak. He felt alone.

You promised.

And yet…

“Old man,” Jotaro said slowly, before he could realize how what he was about to say would sound and and stop himself. “Something…happened.”

New sirens began to wail somewhere in the distance.

“Tell me,” Joseph said.

Only a moment.

If he could just hold out for a moment. If his heart would listen to him when he needed to come back, he could brush against death as many times as he wanted. It just wouldn’t stick, it never did, and he needed that final silence for himself, if only to use as a weapon. He hadn’t realized, until he felt himself fading in a much more permanent way, how difficult clinging to life would be when your heart wasn’t in it.

But there had been something in the way.

It still felt like too much to ask for, to call it someone. It felt like the wishful thinking of a child, even as he had looked up through death-dull eyes and felt it pressing down on his chest, pinning his soul to his body. He would know those hands anywhere. He would know that touch anywhere. It was an anchor, just as he had always been.

For an instant, just after he had knocked his heart free, he imagined that they met one another’s eyes. He imagined that the grim expression on the face he saw had softened into a smile that hurt all the worse for the impossible warmth of it.

I didn’t want to leave you.

I didn’t want you to go.

“Jotaro?”

“Do you…” He shook his head to clear it. “Do—do you ever feel like he’s still…?”

Joseph nodded. He didn’t need to ask.

“Yes,” he said. “All the time.”

“I—can’t tell if it’s just—something I want to be true, or something I…”

“I know.”

He glared down at his hands, looking at the shake that had persisted even after he clenched them into fists tight enough to leave nail marks in his palms. Kakyoin had commented on his tendency to pull himself tighter when he was afraid his control was slipping, had said he should try to exhale more often instead of reflexively holding his breath. And Jotaro had never thought about it, how no one else had looked close enough to notice until someone finally did. He had never before felt grateful to be seen.

The hand on his back may as well have been another knife for all the good it did him.

“How do you bear it?”

“You don’t.”

I wanted to say it to you in person, and if you’re reading this, it means that something happened to remove that as an option. I know how trite it is to write postmortem confessions, believe me, but it’s important to me that you know this, no matter how much of my pride I have to swallow in order to get it to you. If you are reading this, the first thing I will tell you is that I’m sorry.

The second thing I will tell you is that you never could have saved me. In a million lifetimes I could be offered that choice; whether I wanted to know you and die, or live on never even knowing how empty my heart was because I would never have had you to show me there was another way to feel. I would choose to go to my death for you every time.

Jotaro, when you speak, people listen. And you have no idea; the things you think you mean to us are nothing close to the truth. You are so much more than you think you are and it’s because of what draws people to you, because you make people feel safe, you make them want to be more. They will always want to stand behind you because everyone except for you can see what you are.

You shine so brightly I have often feared that I might be blinded. It feels right, to me, that watching you should feel like staring at the sun; yours is, in so many ways, the presence of a star that came close enough to touch. You are fierce, and brave, and you fight like the devil, but at heart you are something else entirely. You burn and burn and you can never be extinguished. I know you will keep going. You might not want to and you might not think you can, but you will. Even when you’re not sure. I know it because I know you. And though this lifetime may turn out cruel, you will never, ever be alone.

I am not sure if I should tell you I love you, whether that will make things easier or worse, whether it’s selfish to want that to be part of how you remember me. My only regret is that my presence in your life and in your memory will be even more pain you never deserved. I wish I had been brave enough to say it to your face before now. If I survive tomorrow, and this letter becomes an archive for my own purposes rather than for yours, I’ll tell you everything.

If I don’t, then, I think I may have earned the right to be a little selfish. The world may well come to stand behind you, but always remember that I was here first. They will never silence you, and because of that, they will never silence me.

In the city of Cairo, on the front steps of an unfamiliar hospital, an unusually tall teenage boy sat crouched with his knees drawn up to his chest. Beside him lay a torn-looking hat, and in one hand he held a crumpled piece of paper. When he buried his face in his hands, he seemed to be trying to escape into the letter as well; and for the first time in years he cried, and he cried, and he cried.

If you caught the light right, it may have appeared, briefly, that there was another boy with him. The figure clutched his shoulders, red-haired and wearing a Japanese school uniform, the grief on his face and the tears in his eyes a mirror of the other.

They were together, they were separated by a lifetime, and the dawn came for Jotaro no matter how unprepared he was to face it.

I love you tonight, and I’ll love you tomorrow, no matter what happens to us. I would prefer not to say goodbye so soon but if this is it, then, good luck. I’ll see you again.