Chapter 29: Train

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You smiled at Nori, who was sitting next to you on the train. Jojo sat across from him, telling him about how you scared the shit out of Yellow Temperance. Noriaki was grinning as he glanced over to you. Warmth flooded your face, and you turned back to Jotaro.

After the attack, you, Jotaro, and Anne had gone to get the train tickets. Jotaro even stayed a while to see if the little boy in the cable car had arrived back to the station, but to no avail. He seemed a little upset he couldn't keep his promise to the kid. He just pretended to shrug it off, and you all started back to the hotel.

When the three of you had returned, you saw Noriaki pacing nervously in the lobby. As soon as he made eye contact with you, he rushed over and enveloped you in a hug, lifting you to your toes. Your heart fluttered as you wrapped your arms around him and assured him you were alright. He looked you over anyway, all the while mumbling about how he should have been there to look after you and Jojo. After he was sure you were fine, he turned to Jotaro and began to check on him, too. Jojo was a bit more pushy with boundaries, telling Noriaki not to touch him and that he was fine, dumbass.

Noriaki didn't stray far from your side after that. He was terrified that something like this would happen again and that he couldn't be there to help. You could take care of yourself. He knew that. But you, along with Jotaro and Polnareff, have been the only people in a long time to care for him the way you did. He didn't want to lose that. He couldn't lose that.

Back on the train, Jotaro and you explained what happened during the fight.

"Then Y/n beat the shit out of him, and he went down." Jotaro said. "I don't think I even saw Angel. She moved so fast."

"I think that was the fastest I've ever made her move." You laughed. "He had his stand wrapped around you, and I just lost it."

"I probably wouldn't have hit him the first time if it wasn't for her." Jojo told Nori. "She had this, like, death glare pointed right at him. It looked like he was pissing his pants!"

"I'm sure he was." Noriaki grinned, glancing at you. You blushed pink, but didn't break eye contact. You smiled when he held your gaze. Those bright purple eyes were ones you could look at all day.

"Hello? Noriaki? Y/n?" Jotaro waved his hand in front of your faces. You frantically shook off your trance.

"Huh? Yes?" You stumbled, still smiling. Noriaki flushed red and turned away to look at Jojo.

"Are you done admiring each other?" He teased. "Polnareff has something to say."

Your face went from pink to red instantly. You gave him the finger. Jotaro just smirked. Noriaki grabbed your hand, covering the gesture, and muttered under his breath. His hand practically swallowed yours. He brought your hand back down to your side, but he didn't release it. Instead, he weaved his fingers through yours and gently squeezed. Butterflies exploded in your stomach, and your head spun. You turned away to look at Polnareff, but returned the squeeze just as affectionately. Oh my god. What the hell. Why did he grab my hand? I can't- why? Why me? He likes me?

"Where'd Anne run off to?" Polnareff asked. "She was with us before we got on the train, no?"

"Yes, she was." Joseph replied. "She was hanging around Singapore Station right before our train departed, but..."

"I'm sure it was time for her to meet her father." Avdol finished, smiling.

"I don't know." Polnareff drew out the phrase. "The story about her dad sounded real fishy to me. I bet she's a runaway! But, it is a bit lonely without the little rug rat, right, Jojo?"

Jojo just smiled softly, humming in affirmation. Noriaki turned back to Jojo and you. He was rubbing his thumb over your hand now, and you found the feeling comforting. You just realized how tired you were.

"It's eerie," he said, "to think a stand could disguise himself as me."

"Seems he had already turned into you by the time me and Y/n left the hotel." Jojo replied.

"It was awful." You muttered, sqeezing his hand. "I genuinely thought you had been possessed or something."

"Not a pleasant experience, no." Jotaro grunted.

A comfortable silence washed over the three of you. Joseph, Avdol, and Polnareff were still discussing what the group was going to do after you arrived in India, but you didn't want to listen right now. You were tired. You could tell Jojo was, too. Small bags hung under his eyes, and he yawned often. You remembered the freighter, how emotional he had been after you left him by the railing. The weight of his mother's life and the destiny he was to fulfill was on his shoulders, and it was taking its toll.

"Jojo, are you going to eat that cherry?" Nori broke the silence softly, drawing you from your thoughts. He was pointing to the two cherries left on Jojo's plate after they had eaten. "Not to be greedy, but they're my favorite. Could I have one?"

"Yeah, sure." Jojo shrugged lazily.

"Thank you!" Noriaki exclaimed in English. He popped the cherry in his mouth happily and began swirling it around with his tongue. He was muttering "rero" while he did and turned to look out the window.

Jojo and you cringed, recalling what had happened earlier that day. Noriaki felt your hand shift beside him, and he turned to look at you. He raised his brows in question and glanced between you and Jojo.

"What?" He asked.

"It's nothing, Noriaki." You told him, smiling. "I was just thinking about the fight again. How many more users did he say there were?"

"Yare yare daze." Jotaro murmured to Nori. He pinched the bridge of his nose, but spoke to answer your question. "At least four: J. Gail, Death, The Emperor, and the Empress. I'm sure Dio has a lot more than where that came from, though."

"Agreed." Noriaki frowned. He squeezed your hand gently, giving himself comfort. "But we can worry about that bridge when we cross it. For now, we need to try to relax. The both of you are tired, and I wouldn't mind a nap, myself."

Jotaro grunted, but laid his head back and pulled his hat over his eyes. You smiled at Noriaki, your cheeks dusted pink. He met your eyes with his soft gaze and returned the smile. You decided then that you didn't care if he liked you or not. You liked him, and you were going to make it very clear. You rested your head on his shoulder, and butterflies filled your stomach. His breath hitched, and his grip on your hand tightened for a moment before he relaxed. You took one last look at him, his red hair falling into his face and those purple eyes that entranced you every time, before closing your eyes and going to sleep, still clutching to Nori's hand.
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A/N:

I'm currently writing this at close to midnight, and I keep nodding off. I haven't proofread it, yet, but I'm sure it will be exciting to read the absolute gibberish my half-asleep self writes. Additionally, I probably won't write a whole lot the next couple days because I'm doing a band thing and it's gonna take all day tmr, Friday, and Saturday. Sorry! Okay, I'm ready for sleep now. I'll try to post this in the morning 🫠

So, it's the morning.😀 I had to fix a couple sentences that didn't make sense. One of which being, "still clutching Nori's hsnfcx" I fell asleep and pressed random keys lol. Anyway, Nori held your hand!! BTW, he was absolutely terrified when he grabbed your hand. Jotaro finds it hilarious to tease him about it. Once you fell asleep, Jojo started to tease Noriaki before sleep took him, too.

Our next chapter will be "India"!

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