The next morning he woke up. He sat up in the couch to the sounds of sizzling.
Jolyne was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. She sung, "Good morning, Dad!"
He reached to the side and grabbed his hat to put on. He muttered, "Good morning." He was glad to see her chipper in the morning, no matter how noisy it was.
After washing up, he came back to the kitchen area.
Jolyne was at couch eating. She said, "Your plate is on the counter."
He saw the plate, seeing that it was piled high. He was surprised at how much was up there.
She said, "You looked like you slimmed up a bit. You should eat more."
He stayed in the kitchen and ate.
Jolyne asked, "Hey, Dad. What were out so late for?"
Jotaro continued eating as he placed a hand in his pocket. He gave himself time to think of an answer. He didn't expect her to jump right into the questions so early in the morning. He said, "I was talking to someone."
"Ah," she said. "Was it one of those work things?"
"...sure." He didn't like lying to her, but he didn't want to tell her his business. He didn't say anything else. He still felt tense.
There was a knock at his door, giving him an out. He walked to the door and opened it to find Kakyoin. "Nori."
Yeah, this situation wasn't any better.
"Yeah," he said. He seemed a bit hesitant and nervous. "Hey, Jojo, can we talk for a bit?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Did you... You saw my text, right?"
"Yeah," Jotaro said. "I guess I should've responded. Sorry about that." He pulled his hat down to shield his eyes.
"That's not the problem," he said. "It's the fact that... last night I heard some things I shouldn't have, that confirmed my suspicions. But I heard a lot more. I'm just wondering, why do you sleep with other men when you are calling my name?"
Blank. That was his mind at the moment.
What did he just say?
He what?
"Jojo," Kakyoin continued. "I-." His eyes glanced behind Jotaro. "Fuck." He glanced back at Jotaro alarmed.
Right.
Wait.
What just happened? Too much was happening. So much running away from problems when they were hunting him down. No one was pulling punches this morning.
Oh right, Jolyne.
Jotaro pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled.
What in this world has this come to?
"How about we talk about this in private?" Kakyoin said, quietly. "Sorry. I didn't know she was here."
He said demoralized, "Does it even matter? We have nothing to talk about anyways."
"But what about your feelings towards me, Jotaro?"
"How did you-?"
"You weren't exactly quiet last night."
Jotaro shrunk back as Kakyoin stood in contempt. He didn't want anything to do with this conversation. He just wanted Kakyoin to talk about his day or something. Anything but this!
"Look, Jojo," Kakyoin called, softening his tone. "Whatever is going on with you is your business, but you don't need to be with... Others. It's okay to have feelings for me."
"No, it's not," he replied.
"Why not?" Kakyoin challenged.
Jotaro opened his mouth to say something, but he hesitated. The only thing that managed to come out after ten seconds was, "It's all useless."
"What is?"
"This."
"I'm not following."
Jotaro struggled, "I..." He didn't deserve him. Why would he reciprocate these feelings back to someone like him? What's the point of all this? "I..." He glanced back into his room just in time to see Jolyne quickly turn her back to them.
He turned back to Kakyoin and said, "Can we just drop this?"
Kakyoin exhaled, then he started, "Jotaro-."
"Star Platinum the world."
Everything around him froze. He took this moment to leave this situation.
***
Suddenly, Jotaro was gone.
Kakyoin looked to his left then right. He couldn't find him anywhere. In front of him was just the room wide open where Jolyne preoccupied it. She was just as puzzled.
He stopped time.
Jolyne got up from the couch and went over to him. She said awkwardly, "Um, hey."
Kakyoin said, "Sorry about that. I know that it wasn't tasteful talking about stuff like that with you around."
She sighed, "I've heard worse." Then she added, "Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"
"Hunh?"
"It's that, he won't know how you feel until you tell him. He may be smart, but he's really dense when it comes to human emotion."
"I mean, you do have a point," he said. "Maybe I was focusing on the wrong thing. But," he said. "What if the feelings I have for him are not romantic?"
Jolyne sucked a breath in that said, 'Holy cow this is a bigger issue than her.' "Um..."
"Sorry," he said. "You already heard too much. I'm going to go."
"Okay," she said. "See you." When he was down the hallway, she sighed a heavy breath. She hoped that everything would be okay.
Kakyoin continued walking while not knowing where he should go. It wasn't like he could chase down a man who could stop time. Maybe another text could help out...?
He made his way to the living area and sat down. He was exhausted from the walking and intense interaction. He took out his phone to send a text.
He was trying to figure out what was the purpose of his confronting Jotaro. Maybe showing how his emotions are valid. But it wasn't like he could reciprocate his feelings. Not completely. He was too stuck in his own problems to even have time for romance.
It made him nervous that saying the wrong thing could make or break their friendship. He thought back to the conversation he heard from the four men.
Jotaro craved love and affection. This name he called wasn't 'Mori' or 'Nora'. It was 'Nori'. He didn't want to think it was true. He didn't want to believe that it was his name he called. He didn't want to believe that the one the men were talking about was Jotaro.
But the night he was on the way to visit Jotaro, he heard a familiar voice. It was wanton moaning and slapping of skin. It was coming from an unfamiliar person's room. The voice sounded awfully familiar.
Too familiar.
Then he heard it. The voice was begging to be held close. Almost crying.
Then the name.
Kakyoin almost wanted to come in there and say that he was there. To comfort him. But he knew all too well what was going on in there.
Kakyoin sighed as he remembered the night before. He didn't mean to snoop on Jotaro after what he texted him.
He placed his phone on his lap. He wasn't sure what to say. Jotaro was already distant enough. He didn't want to make it worse.
All this worrying was making him exhausted. He was ready to go home and nap despite it being morning.
He never got a chance to show Jotaro his home on the beach he planned on living.
Kakyoin exhaled and rested his head back on the chair. He grimaced as pain began to flare up in his gut. Maybe he will wait until he had a clear head to text Jotaro.
***
Jotaro was in his office. He was sitting at his desk. He wanted to be alone.
Kakyoin knew. No, he heard him.
Was he really calling for Kakyoin? Was he really that hooked on him? He wasn't even aware that he was that attached. He knew that he relished being held and letting go with someone else's warmth enveloping him.
Jotaro wrapped his arms around himself. He pulled his coat tight around himself.
Could Kakyoin give him that? Was he worth enough for him?
Why would he? He knew Jotaro's disgusting.
This yearning was way too much for him. He didn't want to be around others, but he did. He felt too ashamed and embarrassed to be around others, but he wanted someone to take it away.
His phone rung a notification. He looked at his phone.
There was a text from Jolyne. It said: 'Hey, I'm going home. I left you a plate for lunch. See you later. 💕'
Jotaro exhaled with a bit of relief when he read the text. Then he remembered what transpired earlier.
Doesn't she hate him?
Can't he just disappear?
He rubbed his hands on his pants and decided to get to work. He began working, hoping to get his mind off things. He let time go by until his phone rang a notification.