[JANUARY 10TH, 1990]

[MORNING - 8:00 A.M.]

[6 DAYS UNTIL END OF THE WORLD]

- • -

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

Kakyoin's alarm clock continued to go off, earning a groan of groggines from him. As much as he disliked that eternally irritating noise that emitted from the alarm clock, it was the only thing he had that encouraged him to wake up in the mornings. He cracked his eyes open and turned to face the flashing red-numbered box, reaching his arm out lazily to press the button that would discontinue it's beeping.

And then it suddenly stopped beeping, even when Kakyoin hadn't been close to pressing the button. When he did finally swipe his hand over the alarm clock, he felt a hand that wasn't his own on it's surface.

In an act of sudden defense, he shot multiple of Heirophant Green's tentacles and wrapped them around whoever had their hand on his alarm clock. A muffled complaint was heard from in front of Kakyoin, and he reached to turn on his lamp to get a better look at whoever the person was.

"J-Jotaro?"

Jotaro rolled his eyes and nodded his head. A silver-and-green tentacle was wrapped around his mouth, as well as his legs and arms, restricting him from moving. Kakyoin quickly released Jotaro from his grasp and laid back in his bed with a sigh of relief, but he sat up abruptly afterwards. Speaking in Japanese, they began their conversation:

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

"I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to wait here until you woke up at eight."

"How do you know I wake up at eight?"

"You told me yesterday."

"W-Well, how did you get into my apartment then?"

"You gave me an extra key in case I wanted to come over whenever I wanted to."

Kakyoin shook his head. Of course, who else would be in his apartment at eight o'clock in the morning other than Jotaro Kujo? He did, in fact, give Jotaro a spare key as soon as he officially had the apartment for himself.

He swung his legs over off the edge of the bed and stood up. He walked right past Jotaro and into the kitchen, where he began to dig inside a cabinet for pancake mix. Jotaro followed behind him and sat at the small table next to the kitchen. Neither of them spoke.

Kakyoin was just humming a tune in his head as he began to make the pancakes, and he suddenly remembered something. He stopped everything he was doing and ran past Jotaro, only to be stopped by him saying:

"Oi, Kakyoin, where are you going? Aren't you going to finish making the pancakes?"

"Um . . . I-I just remembered I forgot to do something this morning! Be right back!"

Kakyoin rushed back into his room, standing in the doorway to peer at something on the other side of his bed. It was thin and covered by a gray sheet, and was leaned against the bed. He sighed, thankful that Jotaro hadn't seen it, at least he hoped he hadn't looked at it and simply draped the cloth back over it.

It was a painting. Something that Kakyoin had been putting off finishing due to what the painting represented. He had thrown that cloth over it's surface so he wouldn't have to look at it, as he was somewhat disappointed about it. It wasn't that the painting was bad, or looked too painfully horrible to look at, as it was actually very nicely done so far. It was by far Kakyoin's best and most realistic piece of work yet. He would've shown it to Jotaro by now, but he was too afraid to. He had even suprised himself by his talent in painting, and almost gave himself away just from how much he was aching to reveal it to the future marine biologist.

Behind that sheet was a painting of Kakyoin and Jotaro. Kakyoin, standing up next to a sitting Jotaro, holding Jotaro's right hand with his left. Both of them looking the other direction from eachother. Both of them wearing their signature gakurans they had grown to be so familiar with. So realistic it would appear to have been taken by a camera.

Kakyoin sighed as he knelt down and lifted a corner of the cloth, taking a peep at his painted canvas. Only a few more touch-ups and it would be completed, ready to fullfill it's purpose. Kakyoin was planning on using the painting as his own way to come out to Jotaro; not only was Kakyoin gay, but he was gay for Jotaro. Kakyoin seriously doubted that someone like Jotaro Kujo was into his same gender, or even attracted to anyone at all. To Kakyoin, the only organisms that were worth having Jotaro's love were dolphins. Jotaro had even confirmed that himself once in New York, but Kakyoin didn't know if he was joking or not. It was hard to tell with Jotaro sometimes.

Kakyoin yawned, stretching out his arms as he walked back into the kitchen, ready to begin making pancakes again, only to find that they were already done. The kitchen was clean, everything was put back up, and Jotaro was holding two plates next to the table. Kakyoin wondered exactly how long he had been in his room just now.

"Wha . . ?"

Jotaro turned his head towards Kakyoin, nodding for him to sit down in the chair opposite of him. He sat two plates of neatly stacked pancakes with syrup and butter down for each of them. Kakyoin was still trying to form words until Jotaro looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.

"You gonna eat, Noriaki?"

More bombs began going off in Kakyoin's head. Not only had Jotaro already made breakfast for the both of them, he also called Kakyoin by his first name. His first name! Kakyoin couldn't remember the last time he heard Jotaro say his first name. But, just like last time, bombs of excitement began exploding in his head. He had to conceal his grin and his red cheeks with a few strings of his equally red hair as he sat down. Jotaro also covered his face with his hat, his lips pulled into a cringe, but Kakyoin assumed that was normal since Jotaro always hid his face with his hat. Usually when he was annoyed, but sometimes, very rarely, when Jotaro got embarrassed, he would also do that. This left Kakyoin wondering what Jotaro was feeling at that moment, but he shook it off and began eating his pancakes.

"How are they?"

"Hm?"

"The pancakes. Are they any good?"

Oh, hell yeah they were. Now that Kakyoin was paying attention to the taste, they were fucking delicious. Probably the most flavorful and savory pancakes he had ever eaten in his life.

"They're actually really good. Where'd you learn to cook like this?"

Jotaro smiled, happiness flowing all throughout him. It was rare for him to smile, and although he didn't like to, nothing made him feel as good as being complimented by his crush.

"My mother taught me how to cook as well as I do. Before, I couldn't cook for shit. I only know how to make pancakes because the old man sometimes visited us, and my mom taught me how to make them because of how much I like them. If you think these are good, wait until you try hers."

"Because your Mom's cooking is your favorite, right?"

Although he didn't want to admit it out loud to anyone, Jotaro allowed himself the slightest of nods.

They finished eating breakfast, Jotaro offering to wash the dishes, but Kakyoin insisted that he was the guest and shouldn't do them. After that they went into the living room area to sit on the couch. They sat silently like that until Jotaro suddenly reached for the TV remote on the coffee table in front of them.

"I just remembered. The news. You have to watch it. I barely caught anything that the news guy was saying because I left so quickly from my apartment, but it doesn't sound good."

Kakyoin nodded distantly, staring at Jotaro, mouth slightly agape, looking at that perfect face of his, until the TV blasted at a loud volume and Jotaro had to turn it down. "Listen," was all he said as he flipped the TV onto the main news channel. The two sat silently as the news man began spurting out words at a rapid pace.

"—It appears even the best scientists our planet have to offer do not know how it happened. It was believed something like this would never happen, but now the worst has came, and it is inevitable. Within the span of a week, the hole that has been ripped into the atmosphere will cause death for us. Simply by draining all the oxygen we have left on our planet and into space. Although this is only an assumption, scientists say that the brutality and force of the oncoming sever weather is to blame for ripping a hole into the atmosphere. The weather will likely be the main cause of death for the majority of Earth's population, but as for whoever survives past the weather, the lack of oxygen will eventually get to them. In the span of a week, everyone will be dead. This is not a hoax. This is genuinely the end of the world, and only six days remain until severe weather hits every single continent on Earth. Some places will be hit before others, scientists say, but everywhere will have been blasted with the ferociousness of the weather with six days. Nobody will survive this. As of today, nobody is working, and the only thing people can do is wait for their own demise. Again, this is not a hoax. This message has been approved by the president to be sent out all across the globe, and will be on repeat until we figure out what continents are going to be hit at what time. We will post a map of the globe showing where is going to be hit at what time and date as soon as possible."

And then the message played on repeat, and Jotaro shut off the TV, dropping the remote onto the floor with shaky hands.

Neither of them spoke. They were both lost in their own thoughts, their own sudden sadness, still trying to absorb all the information that had just been given to them by the television man.

But how in the world could they speak, after hearing some unbelievable shit like that? It was the end of the fucking world. In less than 6 days for most people in the world. It was too sudden. Being just 6 God damn days left before a majority of the entire human population was wiped from existence completely. Everyone else after that would die from lack of oxygen, probably feeling like choking on absolutely nothing. No. This was just too fucking soon. Maybe if they had been warned earlier . . . No, it still would have been crazy. Whether it was 6 days or a decade away, the end of the world was still too sudden.

It felt like hours, and maybe it had been hours, until Jotaro was the one to speak up.

"So . . . What do you want to do now?"

- • -

Kakyoin locked the door to his apartment, twisting the key around and then shoving it into his pants pocket. He and Jotaro walked side by side from the first floor and out the main entryway. They weren't taking either of their cars; they were instead walking to the store Kakyoin insisted he must go to before something happened to it.

Although it was Florida and the air was usually warm, it was still January, and they both had to wear coats to the store. Jotaro wore his usual black gakuran that absorbed heat like a sponge underwater, while Kakyoin wore his normal green gakuran with a similarly colored coat that looked a bit like Jotaro's, minus the chain and standing collar.

There seemed to be nobody else on the sidewalk but them, but even stranger than that was the fact that there were no cars in the usually-busy roads. Not a single soul was in sight, and the only noise was the leaves of palm trees swaying and their footsteps.

That is, until a car came suddenly swerving down the road and rammed straight into a line of houses on the opposite side of the road. The car exploded shortly after, and the flames began eating away at the buildings next to it.

Jotaro stared for only a moment before going back to looking ahead, Kakyoin following shortly after, as if a car accident like that were completely normal to witness nowadays.

"Hey, Kakyoin," Jotaro said nonchalantly, digging inside his inner coat pockets and pulling out a box of cigarettes. He took one from it's box, lit the tip with his lighter, and shoved the box and lighter back in his coat pockets after placing the cigarette on his lips. "What's at this store that you wanted to get so badly?"

"Oh, um . . . It's nothing."

"C'mon, just tell me. It can't be that bad."

"You really want to know?"

"You trust me, right?"

Jotaro's usual monotone voice had gone under a sudden change at that moment. Rather than showing little to no emotion, Kakyoin had sensed and heard a hint of hopefulness and something like desperation in his words. Jotaro Kujo? Desperate? Yeah. The two didn't exactly go together.

Kakyoin caught himself wondering if he felt the same way for him as he did for Jotaro. For just the briefest of moments, Kakyoin genuinely thought Jotaro might've felt the same way for him, but that feeling of hopefulness vanished as quickly as it had appeared. There was no way those feelings Kakyoin held for Jotaro would ever be reciprocated. He should know at least that much.

But, what if he . . . If he does . . ?

Kakyoin looked away abruptly, quickly calming his sudden thoughts about how much he loved the man next to him. He needed to return back to Jotaro's original question. Of course he trusted Jotaro. He trusted him more than anyone in the whole world. Jotaro just wouldn't ever know that for himself how much Kakyoin trusted him with anything, including his own life.

The painting . . . Kakyoin's train of thought suddenly catapulted over to his almost finished painting. He needed to show Jotaro that painting before their last six days were up. Otherwise, he wouldn't ever forgive himself for not coming out to Jotaro as gay and in completely in love with him before their lives were cut short.

"You alright, Kakyoin? You spaced out for a moment."

"O-Oh, yeah, just thinking about something." What did Jotaro ask me again? If I trusted him? "Of course I trust you! Anyways, um, what I really wanted to get before . . . Before our days are up . . . Cherries."

Jotaro lifted an eyebrow up. "Cherries?" He asked, voice dripping with skepticism. "That's it? You had me thinking it was something horrible or weird."

"Nope! Just cherries. But I'm not sure if the place is even open. It's not like anyone would want to work on one of their last days of life."

Jotaro hummed in agreement, and about fifteen minutes later they arrived at the small local shop. Mainly flowers and things like that were sold there, but there were also fresh fruits and vegetables to buy as well. Of course, Kakyoin favored their cherries more than anything else.

As they approached the building and the sign on the door became more visible, it said very clearly in large letters that the shop was closed.

Another sigh from Kakyoin. "Well, that sucks. I was really hoping to get cherries here. This place has the best cherries I've actually ever eaten. I guess we'll just go-"

Jotaro stepped in front of him, took one glance at the glass frame door, and kicked right through it, glass showering all over the ground. Kakyoin silently gaped at his actions, but shrugged afterwards.

"Or you could do that."

Jotaro lingered around the small shop, while Kakyoin went immediately to the refrigerator that had fortunately not been unplugged. He grabbed every plastic box of cherries that remained inside, running out of the store afterwards with Jotaro trailing behind him as they began walking back to Kakyoin's apartment.

After stuffing the freshly picked cherries inside the refrigerator, Kakyoin stood face-to-face akwardly with Jotaro, locking his gaze with anything but those bright turquoise eyes.

Kakyoin really wanted to say something. He needed to say something. He had to get these feelings off his chest and reveal them to Jotaro before it was too late. He didn't want to. He would be sad but OK if Jotaro didn't feel the same way, but accepted him, but he would be completely broken if Jotaro didn't agree with Kakyoin's choice of males over females and made fun of him for it. After all, they were Japanese, and homosexuality was frowned upon even more so in Japan. But even if it wasn't acceptable in the books and culture, Kakyoin couldn't help it. It wasn't like he chose to be attracted to people of the same sex, more specifically Jotaro.

Just say it Kakyoin! It can't be that difficult, can it? The more he thought about it, the more unbearable those unspoken words became. He suddenly forgot how to breath, and took a deep breath in, ready to say those three words.

"J-Jotaro . . . I . . . I-"

Jotaro looked at him expectantly, hope glinting in his eyes, waiting for what Kakyoin would say. He almost looked excited to hear it.

Shit. I can't. Not right now. I need to touch-up that damn painting anyways.

"I . . . Uh, enjoyed you breaking into my house and making me that delicious breakfast! You'll have to invite me over sometime so you can bake me something with cherries in it."

That hopefulness vanished from Jotaro's face, and Kakyoin once again began thinking if the Japanese man in front of him really did possess the same unreciprocated feelings.

But Jotaro smiled anyways, a rare treasure for Kakyoin to witness in real life, and nodded. "Of course. I can also make cheesecake, although I haven't tried putting berries or anything like that inside of it yet. Y-You can come over right now actually, I have all of the ingredients needed to make it."

I would. I should, but I can't. First, I need to finish my painting to complete my grand gesture for Jotaro, and I need to make a phone call to my parents. I need to talk about them about this entire 'end of the world' thing. I have talk to them one last time before they're gone.

"I'm sorry. I would love to eat whatever treat with cherries you would make for me, but I really need to be alone for a while. I have to talk to my parents and talk to them one last time."

Jotaro nodded, an understanding shimmer in his face's features. "Same. Tomorrow, come over to my house. I'll show you how to make cherry muffins, and talk about some things that need to be discussed between you and I."

Kakyoin didn't meet Jotaro's eyes. He wasn't sure if Jotaro could read right through his emotions or what, but be must've been suspicious of him about something. Whatever it was, it would have to wait until tomorrow.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Right. Bye, Kakyoin. Good luck with your parents."

"Right." Kakyoin had already almost forgotten about calling his parents. His fear of Jotaro confronting him really had consumed him more than he had thought. "Bye, Jotaro."

Jotaro was gone, and Kakyoin walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, his hands in his hair. He was more concerned about Jotaro than he was about the actual end of the world, which would have seemed unusual to any ordinary person, but when it came to Kakyoin, his mind worked with different gears.

Kakyoin picked up the phone from it's rest on the coffee table in front of him, discovering that somebody had left him a voice-mail. He pressed a button on the phone rest to listen to the voice-mail, and immediately recognized his mother's voice.

"Hello Noriaki. This is your mother speaking. By the time you hear this message, we will be dead. Your father and I would like to inform you that we hate you due to your decision to be represented as a homosexual man, but more importantly a sinner. We loved you for who you were, but your life choice said enough to warn us about you. Do not expect to go Heaven, but to go to Hell with all of the other sinners of the world.

"Hate, your parents."

To be continued . . . ---->

- • -

Yas we will get to the Jotakak eventually.

Yas hello bye bye see ya next time