The day passed in almost complete silence. Kakyoin rarely spoke other than strictly about the job at hand.
With each passing minute, the 2 hearts in the room broke a little more.
By the time they quit for the day, Jotaro felt ready to give up. He'd tried everything throughout the day to strike up a conversation. His efforts were met with the redheads most vulgar and insulting replies. This time, when they left, it was Jotaro who stormed out of the room, leaving Kakyoin a bit startled at his abrupt departure.
Kakyoin watched him walk out of the room and it hurt. It felt like all those times he'd been hoping Jotaro would visit him in the hospital and never did. It felt like the pain from dealing with his parents' deaths alone. It hurt and this time, it was his fault, not Jotaro's.
The part of his mind that screamed to push Jotaro away was slowly losing ground to the part that simply wanted his friend back. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered why it would be so terrible to give Jotaro a second chance. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he was afraid of giving Jotaro that second chance. He sighed and took a drag off his cigarette. What happened to the man who set a trap for Dio? The one who fought with his last breath to give his friends the final clue they needed to defeat the time stopping vampire? Hell, where was the man who fought through recovery to walk again and live on his own?
This wasn't Noriaki Kakyoin making decisions and it hadn't been since the day he saw Jotaro again. It was fear calling the shots and that pissed Kakyoin off.
He finally decided it was time to face this head on, even if that meant facing Jotaro.
****
Jotaro trudged into the facility the next morning, exhausted and more than a little pissed off. He'd been kept up all night by thoughts of Kakyoin and his sudden turn around. Jotaro just didn't get it. The day before they were laughing and even joking with each other a bit, almost like friends. Then Kakyoin went cold on him again. It made no sense. At least none that Jotaro could figure out.
He entered the file storage room they were to organize today and dropped his bag on a chair. Kakyoin was already there and working. He paused when he noticed Jotaro enter the room.
"Oh, umm, good morning, Jotaro."
Jotaro just stared at Kakyoin for a moment before muttering, "Morning..."
"Are you ok? You look tired."
"I'm fine..."
"You don't look fine. Are you coming down with something? Perhaps you should go talk to Dr. K and see about taking today off. I can handle this."
"Trying to get rid of me?" Jotaro said almost sadly.
"No! No, I...I'm not. I just...you don't look well..."
Jotaro studied the other teen closely. What was he playing at? Being a complete asshole one day and his old polite, caring self the next.
"Didn't sleep well."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help? Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"No...thanks. What's this?"
"I...what's what?"
"You know damn well what? Yesterday you were a complete ass. Now you're..." Jotaro gestured in Kakyoin's general direction, "whatever the hell this is. What gives?"
Kakyoin looked down and began fidgeting with his hands, "Well...I should umm, apologize for yesterday. I'm sorry I behaved that way. I shouldn't have said those things to you. I just...it's just...I'm..."
"Worried?"
"Yes! Worried...that you will just leave again. So, part of me thinks it's best if I just push you away."
Jotaro stepped closer, "And the other part?"
Kakyoin looked up into Jotaro's eyes, "The other part wants my friend back..."
"I won't leave again. I swear to you, Kakyoin. No matter what, I won't make the same mistake twice."
"You're going to have to prove that."
"I will..."
"And it's going to take time! I don't know that we can be...more...again but..."
"One step at a time...absolutely!" Jotaro said, not bothering to mask his smile.
Simply seeing Jotaro smile was enough to bring a smile to Kakyoin's face, "Ok, then." He said, holding out his hand, "Friends again?"
Jotaro took Kakyoin's hand and quickly pulled him into a hug, "Definitely friends again."
Kakyoin couldn't help but laugh.
********
They finished out the week of punishment and by the time they were back in school on Monday, it was almost like when they first started the journey to Egypt. Jotaro hadn't been this happy in what felt like ages. He didn't care that people looked at them odd for now being best friends when only a week ago they'd been at each other's throats.
Over the next few months, it became increasingly rare for the pair to be seen separately. Every weekend either Jotaro stayed over at Kakyoin's house or Kakyoin at Jotaro's. The distance that had grown between them over the year apart was rapidly fading into nothing. Jotaro did his best not to push too far too fast and it paid off. Slowly, Kakyoin let himself open up and it wasn't long before he found himself wondering if it would be possible to reclaim all that they'd lost between them.
Eventually, it came time for Jotaro's birthday and Kakyoin decided it was time to take a chance.
"Jotaro..."
"Yeah, Nori?" Jotaro responded, not looking up from his biology text book.
"Your birthday is this weekend and I wondered if you would be interested in having dinner with me Friday night..."
"Weren't we already going to have dinner together? It's my turn to buy the take out, right?"
"Ahh, yes but no. I mean I want us to have...DINNER dinner together..."
Jotaro furrowed his brows and finally looked up, "Dinner dinner? What are you..." he stopped when he saw how nervous Kakyoin was acting. After a moment, it clicked, "OH! Dinner dinner...like...umm...a date dinner?"
Kakyoin nodded, "It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want..."
"No! I do and yes, I'd love to have dinner with you." Jotaro answered softly.
Kakyoin's eyes widened and he smiled brightly, "You would?"
"I've been wanting to ask for ages but I didn't think you'd want to."
"I'd like to see where things could go between us. I'm still worried but...I'm learning to trust you again."
For just a second, Jotaro's smile was that of a giddy teenager in love. Then he remembered himself, quickly schooling his face as he coughed, "That's...that's good. I'm glad. That's great."
The scene the other teen put on had Kakyoin laughing.
"Shut up!"
"You should smile more often, Jotaro. It looks good on you." Kakyoin said once he controlled his laughter.
"Then...umm, keep giving me a reason to." Jotaro said, pulling his hat down over his eyes.
Kakyoin blushed, "I'll try my best."
***************************
Oh look...now we're getting somewhere!
Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome!!!
