[JANUARY 17TH, 1989]

[MORNING - AROUND 4:00 A.M.]

[ABOUT A YEAR UNTIL END OF THE WOLRD]

- • -

One moment Jotaro was standing up, his grandfather supporting his weight as he leaned against him, the older man staring curiously at Jotaro, asking what was wrong.

Before he even knew what was happening next, Jotaro sat up abruptly in a hospital bed, eyes wide, mind racing with confused thoughts.

But he immediately regretted sitting up so suddenly, because he felt pain in what felt like every part in his body. Wait, hold on. Did Jotaro just . . . Scream? From the pain? He felt his throat vibrating violently, his mouth opening wide as the piercing scream emerged from his voicebox. Next he was panting . . . Why was he panting? Where the hell was he? What was happening?

"Oh my God! Jotaro!"

Ah. The old man.

His vision was far worse than blurry. Everything was smudging together into one big fuzzy picture, and Jotaro could barely make out the shape of Joseph running towards him. Something—someone—else stepped in front of Joseph, holding him back from taking another step towards Jotaro.

"Hold on, Mr. Joestar! He's just waking up! Give him some space and time to register where he is. Don't startle him into giving him a panic attack!"

Jotaro recognized that voice . . . That accent . . . It was . . . What's his face? Polnareff?

Jotaro didn't know what the fuck was going on, but he attempted to concentrate on focusing his eyesight. The blurry mix of colors slowly began to melt away from eachother and into more defined objects. He was sble to eventually make out the figures of Joseph and Polnareff standing in front of his bed, although Polnareff was slightly slouched forward.

"Nnngh . . . Jiji . . . The hell . . . What's ha-"

Jotaro stopped short, realizing how gruff his voice sounded more than usual, and how he really suddenly felt like not talking. He shut his mouth, unable to form words and, even in he did, they would most likely be even more slurred and mispronounced.

"Jotaro! I'm so happy you're awake! You have no idea how much I've been worried about you!" Joseph walked over to the side of Jotaro's bed, reaching his arms out for a hug, but instead hesitated.

On the other side of Jotaro, Polnareff frowned deeply. "Remember, the doctors said we have to refrain from touching him. With all of those broken bones and shit he has going on in his body, we shouldn't make contact. Just in case."

Jotaro sat still in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what the hell to do. He understood every word they were saying, but couldn't find himself to respond. His mind, as well, was slow-paced and he found himself wanting to really go back to sleep.

Jotaro just shook his head roughly.

Joseph stared at his grandson, wondering what he should tell him next. That wasn't hard though, as he already had plenty of things he could tell the boy.

"You must be wondering what's happening, right? Where we are, what's going on with you?"

Jotaro nodded wordlessly.

Joseph cleared his throat before he spoke. "It's been eight hours since you defeated DIO. We currently have his corpse well under surveillance by some Speedwagon Foundation members here at the hospital. You passed out shortly after reviving me, mostly from exhaustion and pain. We are still in Cairo, at the hospital ran by the SWF. About your condition: you have a broken left humerus, two broken ribs, broken right side of your collarbone, and a few small fractures in your pelvis and legs."

Jotaro didn't know how to respond with that without words, so he simply nodded again. Of course, he was silently shocked by all of that information given to him in such a short amount of time, but there was still one thing that Jotaro wanted to know the answer to more than anything.

"K-Ka . . . Kak-k-" He gasped out quickly, voice weak and barely audible.

"What? What are you trying to say, Jotaro?" Polnareff asked.

Still weak, but he managed it out:

"K-Kakyoin."

"Oh! Kakyoin!" Polnareff said with the brightest of smiles. "Yes, Kakyoin is alive!"

A huge burning sensation appeared in Jotaro's chest as Polnareff answered his question with the exact answer he wanted to hear.

Kakyoin. Is. Fucking. Alive.

That became the only thing on Jotaro's mind he thought about at the moment. A wide grin spread across his face like the morning sunrise, surprising both Joseph and Polnareff a great deal. Jotaro didn't even care if somebody saw him doing something so unlike himself; he was too relieved and happy to care.

Jotaro attempted to clear his throat, and Joseph gave him a glass of water that he assumed was from the table text to them. After sitting back up and gulping down a majority of the liquid, Jotaro could finally speak clearly.

"Can . . . Can I see him?"

Joseph and Polnareff looked at eachother, doubt written all over their expressions. "Um . . . I don't think the doctors want you getting out of the bed just yet. You literally just defeated a century year old vampire and sustained serious injuries. Give yourself a rest for a bit. I assure you Kakyoin is safe and is under the best care the SWF has to offer. Please, just rest for-"

Joseph came slowly to a stop as he read Jotaro's expression. His face was more serious and worried looking than Joseph had ever seen yet on his grandson. His brows were knitted together, bright turquoise eyes staring up at Joseph. There was something in Jotaro's face that Joseph couldn't quite read, but it was so intense and intimidating that Joseph couldn't find himself to say no to Jotaro's question. It almost appeared as if Jotaro's eyes and the rest of his face were begging to see Kakyoin, by the looks of it.

Joseph nodded slowly, earning a suprised glance from Polnareff, but he didn't say anything. Jotaro gingerly swung his legs over the side of the pure white hospital bed. Joseph reached for his face, which Jotaro flinched at when his gloved fingers came close, but his grandfather was only removing the breathing mask that Jotaro hadn't even realized was on his face until that moment. Next, Polnareff swung off the covers, revealing Jotaro's half-naked body. With the help of both of the muscular men before him, Jotaro stood shakily to his feet. Again, he realized some things that he hadn't known of before, such as the slings his right and left arms were in and the bandages wrapped around his rib area.

Joseph offered Jotaro to lean against him for support, which Jotaro gladly accepted, although he didn't show it, while Polnareff dragged his IV stand. They began their walk to whatever room Kakyoin was in. Jotaro noticed Polnareff was having as hard of a time as he was with walking. He also noticed the thick black foot brace that he was wearing on his left foot, along with multiple layers of bandages wrapped around his left hand and legs.

"Hey, Pol, what happened to you?"

Polnareff looked away for a moment, remembering the events he had to live through in DIO's mansion and the costs his friends had made. "Um . . . An evil Stand user that also happened to be a vampire absorbed all of the toes on this foot into nothing, as well as two of my fingers and some of the flesh from my legs." Although the wording Polnareff used was clearly bizarre, Jotaro understood it perfectly and believed every bit of it. Nothing was surprising to any of them at this point. Jotaro was wondering how the hell Polnareff was able to stand with that much damage to his legs, let alone walk with only the help of crutches.

A few seconds later they reached the doors to Kakyoin's room. The doctor standing next to it opened the door for them, wincing as they glanced at Jotaro's beaten and exhausted figure. Jotaro found himself holding his breath as Kakyoin's bed came into view, as well as the Japanese teenager himself.

Indeed, there he was. Clearly unconscious and in a very pained state, but he was breathing steadily from what Jotaro could see. The heartbeat monitor beeped at a steady pace, becoming the only noise as everyone in the room went into silence. Joseph did a gesture with his free hand, as his other arm was around Jotaro's shoulders, and the doctors and nurses quickly made their way of the room, shutting the door after them.

The three of them walked over to the side of Kakyoin's bed that didn't have multiple machines and whatever else was needed to make sure he stayed alive and breathing. It was difficult, so difficult to look at him in his state. He was not only covered in bruises and cuts, but his chest looked like a fucking nightmare. Jotaro couldn't even describe how horrible it looked. It was---just a hole. Right in the middle of his stomach area. It was an absolute miracle that Kakyoin had survived whatever had happened to him to get that fatal of a wound.

"Jiji . . ." Jotaro could barely form words, and the two men on both sides of him looked equally as horrified and saddened as him. "What happened to him?"

Joseph looked over briefly at him before removing his hat to scratch his grey hair nervously. "Shortly before you arrived . . . Kakyoin went after DIO and set up a trap using Heirophant Green in order to figure out was his Stand's ability was. In the process, though . . . DIO punched him through him stomach while time was stopped. It wasn't I that discovered The World's ability, but him."

Jotaro's chest suddenly felt heavier than it already was. Shortly after I arrived to the scene. That was what disappointed Jotaro the most. If only he had been there a few moments earlier . . . Kakyoin wouldn't have had to go through what he had to. He would've been fine if Jotaro had told him to stay out of it and let him deal with DIO. Jotaro would've been the one to go through that hell that Kakyoin had to face just to find out The World's ability. Even if Jotaro had died in the process . . . He didn't ever want anything to happen to Kakyoin, even if it was the redhead himself that volunteered to go on this perilous journey with them in the first place. Even so, he would sacrifice his life just to keep that cherry-loving boy alive anytime.

But Jotaro was just too slow, and Kakyoin had went off on his own.

Jotaro began to tear up as he continued to blame himself for the hole in Kakyoin's stomach. He blinked away the tears so no one would see him crying.

Not knowing what to say, as Jotaro was known as a man with few words, he hummed quietly in response. He suddenly wanted to be alone and go back to sleep. He wanted to dream that none of the Stand related events ever took place-for things to go back to normal. For Kakyoin to be in completely healthy shape, for Iggy and Avdol to still be alive, for his grandfather, mother, himself and his friends to go back to their normal lives, even if it their chosen fates had been inevitable in the first place.

Joseph set his the palm of his hand on Jotaro's shoulder. "You alright, Jotaro?"

Jotaro didn't respond for a moment, still at a loss for words. "Yeah . . . Just take me back to my room and leave me alone."

Joseph and Polnareff shot him looks of hurt and concern, both of them looking about ready to question Jotaro again.

"D-Didn't you hear me, dumbasses? I'll just go by myself."

"J-Jotaro . . . What's gotten into you-?"

Jotaro cut Polnareff off as he snatched the pole of the IV stand from him, despite the teenager's injured arms screaming with pain in protest. He shot Polnareff a venomous glare, although he didn't mean it at all. He was tired and needed time to think to himself-and sort out these weird new feelings.

Jotaro eventually limped back to his room, taking longer than last time as he didn't have any support. He was suprised that Joseph and Polnareff had actually listened to him and let him go by himself. He sighed in relief as he laid back down in his plain yet unexpectedly comfortable bed, just after turning off the bright ceiling lights to dim the room. Letting the IV stand roll off to the side beside him, Jotaro tried his best to relax in his emotionally and physically pained state.

I'll sort things out tomorrow.

Now that he thought about it, he literally just saved the entire world from a 100-year-old blonde vampire that could stop time just hours ago. He should be able to allow himself the comfort of a little rest.

Jotaro's mind slowly slipped out of consciousness, and he dreamed about an alternative universe, in which everything was normal, there were no such thing as Stands, and he was still a bitch to his mom but loved her as much as any normal son should love their mothers.

But he still befriended Kakyoin, both of them becoming the other's very first friend. Best friends, in fact.

But as the dream came to an end, and Jotaro thought back on it and what had taken place during it's finale . . .

Best friends don't kiss . . . Right?

- • -

[JANUARY 11TH, 1990]

[AFTERNOON - AROUND 6 P.M.]

[5 DAYS UNTIL END OF THE WORLD]

- • -

"Pour enough to fill two thirds of the plastic liners."

Kakyoin did exactly as Jotaro instructed him, pouring in a solid two thirds worth of batter with a spoon into the muffin wrappers. Satisfied, Kakyoin looked up at Jotaro for confirmation.

"Like this?"

"Exactly. Have you ever done this before?"

"What? Make muffins or bake at all? The answer is no for either."

Jotaro raised a furry brow. "Your mother never taught you how to bake anything?"

Kakyoin shook his head. "No . . . I mean, I guess I sometimes helped her with making things . . . But she never gave me actual lessons or whatever."

"Mom didn't give me lessons either. I just found myself making a hobby out of baking and cooking, so I would always help her out, even sometimes make complete dinners on my own. That was a while ago, though, when I was younger."

Kakyoin grinned at his friend. "But you still got it, don't you?"

Jotaro tilted the bill of his hat down to cover his tiny smile. "Yeah . . . Sure.

Kakyoin noticed Jotaro had started to smile much more often since he started visiting him at the hospital and rehab. He didn't know why, of course, because Kakyoin didn't find himself to be too interesting, especially to Jotaro. He had already automatically assumed it was because Kakyoin had accompanied him during their journey to Egypt. It wouldn't be very logical for someone like Jotaro Kujo to take an interest in some random person like Noriaki Kakyoin. There was no other reason, really, for Jotaro to visit Kakyoin.

But Kakyoin definitely didn't mind his crush constantly visiting him during his recovery. It was one of the things that kept him going during that harsh time for him; it was one of the reasons why Kakyoin loved Jotaro the way he did.

Kakyoin slid the muffin pan into the oven and shut the door. He set the timer on the microwave to 20 minutes and started it. Now all they had to do was wait, so Kakyoin sparked up a conversation to pass time, and to get some of the answers to his questions as well.

"So . . . What do you think about the entire, uh, end of the world thing?"

"Me? Not much, I guess."

Kakyoin shot him a bewildered look. "Not much? How can you not think much about it? Er---well, I really shouldn't be saying that . . . I don't think much about it either."

Next was Jotaro's turn to be confused. "Really? Any specific reason why?"

Kakyoin shrugged. "I just . . . It's hard to explain. I mean, I'm not the most full-on religious guy you'll ever meet. I don't know what to believe about the afterlife or heaven or anything else related to that, so I simply choose to not believe in specifically anything. I've always left everything up to chance and have always been my own ruler. I choose not to have my mind set on what to believe in. I choose not to give any thought about religion and afterlife, but . . . I guess I do believe that there's something else that comes after death. A chance to have anything you've ever wanted. A chance for all of your desires to be fulfilled. That's all."

Jotaro nodded, as though he understood fully what Kakyoin was attempting to explain in words. "I understand completely. I guess you could say I feel the same way about that, with the afterlife and all that stuff. I do have one more question, though . . .

"Are you scared of death?"

Scared of death.

Kakyoin didn't know how to answer that. He supposed that everyone was always at least a small amount scared of the thought of death itself. It was certainly an odd question, not something he was prepared to give an answer to. It was things like these he rarely thought about, what it would be like to die, or if he would ever be ready to go at any given moment. He remembered thinking about this exact same thing during those fifty days traveling to Egypt. They all knew that they could die in a heartbeat without warning, to be struck out of nowhere, and could also very well have constantly been under surveillance by enemies. There was always a chance that you could die anytime without warning. So, as Kakyoin thought of his conclusion, he answered honestly in the best way he could.

"Depends, if I'm ready to die or not."

A long beat of silence followed after the dark, akward moment. They only stared at eachother, eyes scanning the other searchingly.

"Then . . . Are you?"

"Like I said: it depends."

". . ."

"A-Are you scared of death?"

"As long as I'm satisfied with my life, then no, I am not."

Kakyoin laughed lightly in an attempt to lighten up the mood. "Satisfied with your life? That's some spooky stuff right there."

"Thanks."

The timer for the cherry muffins suddenly went off, alarming Kakyoin and causing him to jump a bit. He hurriedly slid an oven mit around his hand, turned off the timer, and removed the muffins from the oven and set them on top of the cooling rack Jotaro had already prepared for him to use.

After making sure everything was turned off, Kakyoin removed the wrapper from the muffin and bit into it. The sudden burst of flavor and deliciousness exploded in his mouth, startling Kakyoin so much he nearly dropped the muffin from shock. His taste buds were practically screaming with joy. His eyes were almost watering from the new heavenly flavor.

"Judging by the look on your face," Jotaro began with a smirk, "you must really like them." Kakyoin nodded vigorously, mouth twisted into a wide grin. He'd never experienced this feeling before just from eating food--but he felt it plenty of times from someone else. Only around Jotaro he felt this way, his love for someone had never been so strong before.

"I never thought you would be able to cook like this, Jotaro! What's your secret?"

"Don't have one. Just taught myself using my mom's cooking style as a guide."

"Your mom is a genius, then. You must get your brains from her."

Kakyoin immediately regretted saying that. If he hadn't already given himself away to Jotaro, then he probably just did. Why did he have to compliment him like that? Plus, the way he said it so dreamily made it sound like Kakyoin admired Jotaro just as much as the girls at their old high-school.

Fortunately, Jotaro didn't seem to notice, and looked rather distracted in his own thoughts. His eyes were staring off into nothing, and his hat was beginning slowly slide from it's position. Kakyoin rushed over to fix it back into place, staring into Jotaro's eyes that were now finally fixed on his.

Shit shit shit shit shit—

"Kakyoin?"

"Y-Yeah?"

Shit, he's going to ask me what the hell I'm doing, or why I touched his hat without permission, or why I'm so close to him, or—

"Do you wanna stay the night at my place? It's not like we have much else to do—we can watch some movies or talk about whatever you want."

"Really? I wouldn't be a bother to you?"

"Hey, I literally have nothing else to do. Why not? We can do whatever you want tomorrow, and for the rest of our days, for that matter."

"I'd be honored to!"

"Great."

To be continued . . . ---->

- • -

Yeah this was basically just a big fat filler chapter SORRY NEXT CHAPTER I WILL PROMISE Y'ALL THE GIFT OF JOTAKAK.

OH MY GOD I FEEL LIKE I ALREADY MESSED UP THIS STORY SO BADLY AND I'VE BARELY WRITTEN THREE PARTS. I MAY ACTUALLY GO BACK AND REWRITE SOME OF IT UUUHHHHHHHHHHGGG

JSLSBBFLCIDPSLJDLDALSJDKDKDBKSJ

Anyways, I got tagged by sinkingwmyships. Thank ya bro.

By: @your_average_teen123 AND FOR SOME REASON WATTPAD WILL NOT LET ME TAG THEM AND IT IS PISSING ME OFF ROYALLY HHHHHH

Also I literally had no idea how this even worked until I got tagged for the first time.

Crush - Haha fuck no.

Middle name - Elizabeth I guess.

Height - I dunno but I'm average.

Shoe size - 9½ in men's-if you wanna know why, it's because I'm half Mexican and my grandma also has humongous feet.

Eye color - Plain ass brown.

Last time I cried - a few days ago when I was reading a very sad oneshot on Fanfiction.net.

Biggest Fear - idfk-the only thing I can think of is tornadoes because I have nightmares about them and they are very realistic and scare me shitless.

Last song I listened to - Probably Remember Me by Leslie Parrish.

Last person I texted - my older brother.

Favorite app - I guess Wattpad since I'm usually trying to read or write when I'm not busy.

Tag 20? Holy fireballs i don't even have that many friends irl (I really don't have any at all though), but here we go:

Kakyoins_lost_cherry, HaydenStars, Tom_Holland_Is_Cute, SeaWaterCherry, xmenstuff, NoriakiBoy, Sinnamon_pancake, Gaytaro, sunflowergutz, CHXRRYCHXINS, Abbbak, sinkingwmyships.

I couldn't do 20, so I did 12 since that's my favorite number.

See ya. :)