A Torn Journal - Noriaki Kakyoin - Status: Alive

Come Back

I opened my eyes to see darkness. This is... Familiar. I looked around, but everything was black. I couldn't feel or see anything. I know I've been here before. But where...?
     I suddenly realized what was going on. This is just like the place I saw on the plane! Which means I must be dreaming again... That 'visitor' that came to me the first time is here somewhere. I have to know what they were going to say.
     "Hello?" I called. No response. "Is anyone out there?" My voice echoed through the empty space. For a moment I thought I was alone. But after a few seconds, I heard a reply.
     "Is that..." It started, "Noriaki Kakyoin?"
     "Yes," I told them, glad to have heard something else in the silence. "You've contacted me like this before, but a companion of mine woke me. We should have time to speak now."
     I heard my visitor sigh. "Good. Then first and foremost, I should tell you that... I'm not entirely sure what to tell you."
     What is that supposed to mean?
     "This ability to contact you in your dreams is very limited," they continued. "Yes, I can speak to you. But to do so, I also have to be sleeping. And under that condition, I can hardly remember anything from my time awake."
     I was starting to understand. "Do you remember your own name?"
     "Not at the moment." The distorted voice laughed a little nervously. "I remembered yours, though, because you're the one I need to talk to."
     "But what do you have to tell me?" I was growing a little frustrated. "From how you spoke the first time, it seemed important."
     "The first time, I knew what I was supposed to tell you. Right now, I only remember two words, but I'm not sure what they could mean."
     "What are they?" I asked. "I might be able to decipher them, if you can't."
     "'Come back.'"
     There was silence for a moment.
     "Is that it?" I'd expected something more clear. Maybe a name, or something?
     "That's it," my visitor confirmed. "I hope you can figure them out. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep coming back like this."
     "Does using your Stand tire you?"
     "Just as much as it does you," they noted. "How long has it been since you've had a decent night's sleep?"
     "Days," I groaned. "I was even attacked once in my sleep."
     My visitor chuckled. "That sounds horrible. I should let you rest, shouldn't I?"
     "Actually, I have a few questions before you go."
     "Ask away," they said. "I'm listening."
     I thought for a moment before responding. "First of all, If you're trying so hard to tell me this, then why don't you do it while we're both awake?"
     "I don't know. My awake-self has their own reasons... Maybe I'm not near you?"
     Not near me? That changes a lot. "All this time I've been assuming that you're one of my companions and that we simply don't know who has this power." Thinking over it now, it could really be anyone. "Are you saying that you're not one of the people fighting with me?"
     "I don't think so," the visitor responded.
     "Do I even know you?"
     Their voice seemed a little bit less uncertain when they answered. "Yes. You do know me, but I don't know our relations. I just feel like... You're someone really close to me."
     Really close? If they aren't one of my companions, then who could possibly be contacting me?
"I'll try to decipher that phrase you told me," I said. "In the meantime, we should both get some rest."
My visitor chuckled. "Sorry for interrupting your sleep, Noriaki."
Something seemed extremely familiar about that statement. I know that laugh. I've definitely heard it before... Despite thinking hard about it, I still couldn't decipher the voice through the distortion. But if I've heard that laugh numerous times in the past, then it must be someone who smiles often. I'll keep that in mind.
"Have a good night," I told them. "When I figure this out, I'll find you."
"I don't think I'll remember this conversation."
"I will," I reassured. "Don't worry."
That was where our conversation ended. Afterwards, I probably slept for about twenty minutes- And it was like spending twenty minutes in Heaven. I'd almost forgotten what it means to have a good night's sleep. And I certainly didn't want to wake up when I felt someone shake me.
"Wake up." It was Jotaro. I wanted to murmur 'leave me alone' but my rest was too blissful to try to interrupt it any further. Jotaro didn't seem to think so. He shook me again. I growled something incoherent, and pulled the sheets over my face.
     This isn't even fair, my thoughts grumbled. I finally get a chance to sleep and here someone comes trying to wake me. Let me sleep just a bit longer... An hour, maybe. I mean, I could settle for ten minutes if I have to...
"Please," I managed to mumble at last. "Go away, I need... sleep..."
"Good freakin' grief," Jotaro sighed. "It's past ten in the morning. You slept all night, now get up."
He wasn't going to let me win, but I wasn't ready to give up so easily.
"Come back and get me..." I yawned. "In ten minutes."
"That's what you said ten minutes ago."
     We must've already had this exchange. If I don't get up, he'll drag me. I groaned quietly. Jotaro began to tap his foot, growing impatient. I guess I don't have a choice then.
"Fine," I mumbled. I slowly tossed the blankets over and rubbed my hand over my face in an attempt to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. My right eye stung to the touch. Ouch, I thought, surprised. What was that about? I touched around the eye again, more carefully this time. It stung like a burn or deep scrape. Like... A Void wound. I glanced at Jotaro.
"Does my right eye have Void covering it?" I asked him. He looked over at me, a little bit of surprise forming on his typical dark expression.
"Yeah, it does," he responded. "Can you even see through it?"
     I covered my left eye. My sight was a little off- colors appeared paler- but I could see pretty clearly in general.
     "For the most part," I told him. "The colors are... Darker. But I can see."
     "It's... unsettling," he said. Wow, blatant, I thought. But probably true, nonetheless. I always found Caesar's Void eyes a little eerie. It actually might not have entirely been the blackness that I didn't like, but also the feelings that it always seemed to carry. Sad, dark, hopeless. The look of someone who's life is being destroyed... I know that Void must've taken him by now. I hope that he at least feels less pain in that state.
     "Have you talked with the others yet today?" I questioned Jotaro as I looked at my face in a mirror near the edge of the room.
     "No," he replied, leaning darkly on a wall. "I think we all woke up a little late."
I bet no one knows that Caesar's gone yet, I added silently. I wonder how Mr Joestar will react... Right after they reunited, even. A small surge of determination shot through me. We'll save him. I know we will.
"We should start searching early today," Jotaro said gruffly, "before we get attacked again."
     I smirked. "When is there ever a time that we're not being attacked?"
     I fixed my hair a little bit and changed into my green school uniform- and when I say I changed into it, I really just mean I put it on over the loose t-shirt and light trousers I already had on. I wore them every day underneath my school uniform. Of course I didn't always sleep in a normal t-shirt and pants, but I didn't have any extra clothing with me. I hadn't packed anything at all. I was too busy talking to Kanna while I was at my house to think about taking anything for the journey.
     Once I deemed myself halfway presentable, I followed Jotaro out into the hall. Though conversation between us was still a little scarce, I could tell that we had both gotten over our fight. I was a homesick spirit that only wanted the best for everyone, and he was a regretful teen trying to outrun his past. Despite what we were, we had to be heroes now, and tearing ourselves apart from the inside wasn't going to help save the universe. So we had to get over our petty disagreement, and we did. I still didn't know how to feel about the whole thing, but I at least felt a little bit sorry for him, for all the things he had to go through. I was glad we were both able to stand in the same room again without the atmosphere getting dark.
     As Jotaro and I approached, Joseph and Avdol were already waiting outside their room. Their expressions were dark.
"Good morning, Jotaro, Kakyoin," Joseph greeted us. "I've got some bad news." They know, my mind said. I can already tell. Joseph continued with a sad look. "When Avdol and I woke up, we visited Caesar's room to find that he was gone. We think The Void took him during the night."
     He ran a good race, I thought. Even if he didn't do much actual fighting, we probably wouldn't have made it this far without him. And all of the information he's given me about Void and about our new Stand powers will be priceless as this fight comes to its climax. He's done a lot for us. Now we finally get a chance to repay him by taking out Void. I was suddenly filled with a burning determination and drive, like fire flowing through my veins.
"Well then," I said, perking up everyone's mood a little, "What are we waiting for? Let's go kill this corrupt Stand and get him back." Joseph smirked, determination beginning to grow in his gaze as well.
We met Iggy and Polnareff outside the hotel. Polnareff had brought everyone breakfast- they were just lunchmeat sandwiches but tasted great nonetheless. And, since he brought some food to us, we didn't have to stop anywhere to eat. That would give us even more time to search for the enemy.
After talking some things over, we ultimately decided to split up into three groups of two. Polnareff with Avdol, Jotaro with Joseph, and Iggy with me. Each group carrying one of Hermit Purple's photos, we all headed off in different directions, looking through any alleyways and streets that Void could be hiding in.
"Can I take another look at that picture?" Iggy asked after we'd walked around for a few minutes. I handed it to him and he held it in front of his face using The Fool. I know I've mentioned it before, but the photo had little to nothing special about it. An alley with a couple of trash cans and... A sidewalk. There seemed to be a door in the entrance to the alleyway that was presumably where Void was hiding. But the lighting was too dark to make out anything particular about it.
"Last time we had to search like this, you were the one who found the mansion, weren't you?" I started, glancing down towards Iggy. "So why haven't you found this street we're looking for?" I was halfway joking, but he was the one who found Dio's mansion.
Iggy scoffed. "That was just good luck and a lot of snooping around."
"Paris isn't nearly as big as Cairo," I noted.
"True," he said. "But this time we're looking for an alley instead of a giant mansion." He held the photo closer to his face, inspecting it carefully. "It might help if this picture was a little more-" he stopped with a gasp.
"What is it?"
"Kakyoin," he murmured. "Do you have something of Caesar's? In your pocket?"
     Caesar had given me his headband the night before. I'd asked him if Mr Joestar should have it, but he only laughed and said that 'JoJo burned it last time.' Caesar had apparently kept it in his pocket all this time, but refused to wear it in an effort to keep his identity hidden. And now I had it. He thought it would be dishonor to himself to keep it around while he was on the enemy's team, so he let me keep it for him.
"I have his headband," I told Iggy, and pulled it out of my pocket. "How did you know?"
"I could smell it." An excited expression lit up his face. "Not to brag, but I'm the best tracker I've ever known. And I don't know what Void does with his slaves, but I'm sure he wanted to examine his prize once he captured Caesar. Whatever the case, as long as Caesar was there, I think I can find that alley." He used The Fool to hand the photo back to me. "So let's take a look at that headband, huh?" I took the photo from his hand and let Iggy begin his search.
I hadn't thought about the fact that we had a literal dog on our team. And taking into account how hungry he always is, I bet he really is good at tracking things. He's probably had a ton of practice back in New York.
So I just followed Iggy for a while. He seemed to know what he was doing, keeping his nose to the ground and having me look out for anything that looked like the alley. Almost everything looked similar in that city- it all looked very nice, don't get me wrong on that- but it made it hard to find anything specific.
"I wonder how Polnareff's doing," I noted as we wandered around. "He should know more about this city than any of us, right? He lives around here somewhere..."
"Didn't he say one time that he grew up in the countryside?" Iggy responded, keeping his nose next to the sidewalk.
"I think he did, actually." I'd forgotten about that. "When do you think he moved to Paris?"
"Probably after he got back. Maybe he got a job around here somewhere."
We were quiet for a little bit, Iggy concentrating on the sidewalk. He took a deep breath.
"This place reminds me of New York," he sighed. "Beautiful..."
"What was your life like, Iggy?" I asked, glancing down at him.
"Perfect," he murmured. "I was the most famous dog in the city. The others, they practically served me, 'cause they knew I had some power they didn't." Nostalgia filled his gaze. "I would steal food all the time, so the dogcatchers were always after me. But they could never catch me. And so, my life was pretty carefree. I had a lady, you know that?" I assumed he meant a lady-dog. His lovestruck expression told me that much. "She was a Cocker Spaniel, and she was just stunning..."
"I bet you miss her."
"Yeah. And, it having been over a month since I last saw her..." he paused. "I should have a litter of pups waiting back home for me. Turns out I won't be coming back, huh."
These are hard times for everyone. "Sorry you'll never get to meet your pups," I comforted. He shrugged.
"It's no worse than what you have to go through."
"I think Kanna will be okay without me," I murmured, though I don't know if I really believed what I was saying. Maybe she'd be okay without me, but what about my parents? "My mother and father can persevere, but... They're probably depressed right now. I hope my sister can lift their spirits in times like these." I'd give nearly anything to go see them now. My parents think I'm dead, and that there's nothing they can do now- no way they can see me anymore. It hurts having to stay away from them. And Kanna knows I'm here on Earth, but she knows she can't see me for the greater good. I can't begin to imagine how much she must want me to come back... That thought echoed in my mind. How much she wants me... To come back. I was hit with shock as a distorted voice played through my thoughts. Come back. Of course! Kanna is the only person who can really say they're close to me! When I was told to 'come back'... Could that really have been her? She's not a Stand user, but that would explain why I'd never seen the Stand power before. I thought it over for a moment. Is this explanation practical, or just wishful thinking? No matter what it is, I have to make sure. I have to check on Kanna somehow. Even if I'm just overreacting or if I'm completely wrong, I have to know for sure... I decided not to say anything about it yet, as Iggy seemed too concentrated to really care at the moment.
He suddenly perked up and looked around. "Hey Kakyoin," he said. "I think it's this one!" He pointed his nose towards a dark alley a few meters away from us. I took a glance at the picture- the two places looked almost exactly the same.
"This has to be it," I noted. "We should let the others know we found it. What street are we on?" I looked around, trying to determine exactly where we were in the city. Iggy was oddly silent.
"No," he muttered.
"No?"
"We finally found it, and you wanna walk away?" He assumed a fighting stance. "This is our chance. We can end this, right here, right now." He began to approach the door, summoning The Fool.
"Iggy, are you insane?" I demanded. "The two of us against an entire army? We can come back here and kill him once we find the others- walking in there now is suicide!"
He looked back at me with a darkened gaze. "He's got nothing on us. We can just walk in there and kill him, no sweat. Then we can finally get out of here."
It's Void, I realized silently. Iggy's cocky and prideful. Of course Void will attack those traits first.
"If you won't come, I'll kill him without you," he mentioned, continuing to head towards the door and opening it with his Stand.
"Iggy, he'll be here when we get back with the others," I tried to convince him. "Don't go in there." I can't let him get himself killed. We can't take on an army of Shadows on our own.
"You're not stopping me from finishing this, Kakyoin," he growled. "You're either with me, or you're a coward." At this, he stepped into the darkness of the rugged door. Out of sight. Now is the worst time for Void to enter his thoughts! But I can't let him go in there and get killed. I looked around. There were hardly any people in this part of the city, and the others were likely miles away. Think, Noriaki, I ordered myself. What's the smartest thing to do in this situation? I'd clearly have more of a chance if I went back and found the others. I took a step back. But that could take hours, and Iggy won't have that much time. If I go in there, I won't make it out... Sighing to myself, I made my decision.
Hang in there, Iggy. I'm coming.