"Stay." I said my voice low.

     Kakyoin's legs squeezed together so fast that if I blinked I wouldn't have seen it happen. Panic flashed through his eyes and another emotion that I couldn't identify, but it reminded me of fire.  This caused my hand to recoil, I probably scared him, shit.

"Please." I breathed out my voice more gentle this time. Kakyoin silently nodded in a daze. He stood up and I noticed him moving his bag to cover his pelvis. "Kakyoin you can put your bag down." I say, confused as to why he is holding it.

"No!" Kakyoin refused quickly, snapping out of his former state of staring off into the distance. He cleared his throat, as his cheeks developed a red hue. "No, I don't expect to be here much longer so I'll keep holding it."

We both went silent staring at each other. I went into this not really knowing what I wanted to say. Once again, I am not prepared. Unfortunately this time I can't give myself more time so I have to think quickly. How am I supposed to ask why Kakyoin-

"Jotaro if you aren't going to say anything... why did you ask me to stay?" Kakyoin asked hesitantly. Looks like I'm not going to get any time to think, I'll just have to act on gut feelings and instinct like I did in Egypt. I took a deep breathe.

"I want to talk about what happened on Monday during our practice." I firmly stated. Kakyoin's body went rigid, his expression now blank. This caused my entire body to go stiff as a board, I let myself relax. "Sorry." I said my voice timid.

     Kakyoin looked taken aback by the sudden apology and opened his mouth to speak, I started speaking again before he could say anything.

     "Sorry for taking you down with me when I fell." I continued, my voice a bit louder this time. Wait, when I took him down during the fall did I, injure him? "Kakyoin you aren't injured or anything are you? When I took you down did you apply too much pressure on your scar, did I make the pain from the previous lesson worse? Are you feeling ok right now? I should have been more careful I'm-" I was cut off by Kakyoin's frantic voice.

"Jotaro calm down! I wasn't hurt alright, so stop worrying like this. It doesn't suit you." He went silent for a few moments looking deep in the thought, "Putting that aside, I get the feeling this isn't what you mainly wanted to talk about."

     Curse Kakyoin and his perceptiveness, I can't beat around the bush with this guy. I scratch the back of my head, letting my head drop to face the ground. I narrowed my eyes at it as if it were the cause of all my problems. I lifted my head up once again and slowly ran a hand down over it, heaving a large sigh.

"Why do you look like that?" I bluntly asked, cutting right to the chase. I knew from the beginning of this conversation that I wouldn't have time to thing of ways to approach the situation properly, so I'll do what I usually do and be blunt and direct.

     Kakyoin tiled his head at my question, "Look like what?"

"I'm talking about the look in your eyes." I elaborated, hoping Kakyoin would catch on. He clearly did because his breath hitched at the mention of his eyes.

"What look are you referring to...?" Kakyoin asked his voice careful and slow. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"You look conflicted." I deadpanned. I could recognize the look anywhere because of all the times I've seen that same look on my own face in mirror multiple times.

     Kakyoin scoffs, "Jotaro that makes no sense. What could I possibly be conflicted about?" Why is he trying to dodge the question so much?

"I honestly don't know why you would be conflicted, but I know what I am seeing." I stared into Kakyoin's eyes refusing to back down. "Just tell me what's wrong Nori."

     That's when the idea came to me. What if Kakyoin is acting like this because he doesn't want to teach me anymore after what happened on Monday. Maybe he wants to keep his distance. If that's what he wants, than I shouldn't try and stop him.  As long as it means Kakyoin will go back to normal, than I am satisfied.

"If this is because  of the lessons, than you don't have to keep teaching me." I proposed, successful in trying my best to keep my voice from wavering.

"That's not why at all Jotaro. I'm insulted that you would think that." Kakyoin protested, his voice laced with hurt. I lowered my eyes in shame. "Listen to me JoJo, I enjoy doing these lessons with you. They give me a chance to spend more of my time with you, there is nothing else I'd rather do." He explained, his voice being reduced to a whisper by the end of his last sentence. His face now covered in a dark blush, as he fidgeted with the bag in his hands.

     When Kakyoin finished it took me a few seconds to register what he said before a felt heat rush to my own face. I felt the slightest curve upwards in my lips. I'm glad that he isn't bothered by our lessons, and more importantly I'm glad he isn't sick of me.
However, this means I still don't know why he is so conflicted.

     A frown made its way onto my face at, "If it's not the lessons, what's bothering you?" A shadow casts over Kakyoin's face at the question. He clenched his fists and too a shaky breath.

"It's because..."

**Time skip brought to you by, I had you in the first half**

Today was, terrible. It's been thirty minutes since Kakyoin left and I'm currently seated at our dining table with the old man and my mom. I've been staring at my plate not seeing the food in front of me. Earlier's interaction with Kakyoin keeps replaying through my mind.

"What's wrong Jotaro, are you not hungry?" Holly questioned, voice sweet but laced with concerned.

"Jotaro is always hungry, something probably happened with Kakyoin." The old man scoffed. I clenched my jaw, knowing this would be the start of a very annoying conversation.

"What do you mean something happened with Kakyoin? Why would that cause Jotaro to lose his appetite?" Holly asked confused.

"Maybe because whenever things get rough between them Jotaro turns into a shell of his former self. It's pitiful to watch." The old man dragged out, his voice barely above a whisper by the end of his sentence. The grip on my chopsticks tightened, the porcelain threatening to snap under the pressure.

"Jotaro is this true? Oh this is is just wonderful! My darling Jotaro is so close with a friend that he gets sad when they aren't happy with one another!" Holly squealed, the issue of me not eating long forgotten.

"Yeah, yeah, it's great this grouchy ass has a friend. If I have to watch you stare at your food as it gets cold any longer I'll eat it myself." The old man complained, glaring at me. "I also had a friend who made me depressed when we got into fights, and Lisa Lisa never reacted like this." He pouted.

I rolled my eyes slowly lifting a piece of rice with pork cutlet to my lips. The food had cooled down a significant amount from when it was first plated, but it made no difference. Eating my mom's cooking no matter the temperature was heaven. Nothing could taint how good her food was.

"Wait, if getting into fights with Kakyoin makes you sad what happened?" Holly asked, eyebrows knitted together. Looks like there is one thing that could ruin this meal.

"I didn't get into a fight with Kakyoin, and nothing happened." I grunted, shoving my face full of food in an overly aggressive way.

"Honey, you know you can tell mama anything. Just tell me what's wrong." She carefully placed a hand on my own looking at me expectantly.

Hearing her say those words almost caused me to cry. Which is an extreme rarity. I wish I could tell her anything without the fear of being abandoned. I wish I could just tell her what's wrong, so she could hold me like when I was younger and whisper reassuring words into my hair while stroking it.

I swallowed the food in my mouth along with the lump that was starting to form, "It's nothing Ma, really. Kakyoin and I just had an unusual conversation is all." My voice came out gentle, in hopes of soothing my mom's worries.

"Alright, if you say so." She sighed, deciding not to linger on the subject any longer. The rest of dinner went on in relative silence, the only conversation being between the old man and mom. The entire time I was left to my own troubling thoughts. What a day.

.~*~.

1535 words

(Unedited)

Ah yes, author-chan is not dead!!!! She is just forgetful. For thanksgiving weekend my sister was taking me to a cottage and I forgot and on top of that it didn't have connection, then the school week happened and then during the weekend I genuinely forgot to write the chapter cause I was caught up in some assignments. I'm really sorry! I'm gonna do things to make sure I remember stuff better from now on so this doesn't happen again 😅. Aside from this, I did it again. I've given you another rage inducing cliffhanger this time in the middle of a chapter. I know, I'm so evil. When will you find out what Kakyoin said, will you ever find out? Who knows! Well, I know but you don't 😘. Until next Saturday!

~ Author-chan