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“Oi, Koichi- why are headed this way anyway?” Okuyasu complained, digging his hand out his pocket and rubbing at his nose, “That sale’s the other direction! This better not make us lose our shot at free ice cream...”
“Well- yeah,” Koichi said, rubbing at the back of his neck as he glanced in front of him to where the train station was, “but I wanted to go ahead and see Jotaro-san for a bit- just to get everything sorted out about… you know. The egg.”
Koichi… still wasn’t entirely sure what to think about Okuyasu, honestly. Sure, he was a pretty nice person, underneath all those rough edges, and he really did care about people, but he still tried to kill Josuke. And he had been working with his brother, who still kind of sort of tried to murder Koichi and put him in this entire stand situation in the first place. There were a lot of things to process, honestly. He still wasn’t entirely sure how to take everything, but he figured that the best place to start was with figuring out what was in this egg.
“Well I mean, if anyone would know anything about this stuff, it’d probably be him,” Josuke nodded along, “I can’t exactly tell you what it was like not to have a stand- I don’t even think I could imagine it! The only thing I could think of is that Mom probably would’ve had my head with all the stuff I was breaking around the house! God, if only she knew about all the vases…”
“Oh hey, isn’t that Jotaro-san up ahead?” Okuyasu suddenly straightened out and said, shielding his eyes against the sun. Just as he’d said, off in the distance, there was the intimidating white form of Jotaro against the backdrop of the train station, gold pins nearly blinding the lot of them. Koichi could only guess at what those things were there for- medallions? Some kind of secret code? There was so much that he couldn’t possibly know about Jotaro that sometimes it was a little unnerving…
“Well yeah, looks like it is!” Josuke grinned and then slung an arm so casually around Okuyasu’s shoulders that it was hard to believe that just days ago they were at each other’s throats. “You know what that means…”
“Hell yeah I do! We’ll have our ice cream in no time!” Okuyasu’s grin grew to match and the both of them started to speed up, forcing Koichi to jog to keep up with both them and their long legs. Okuyasu waved vigorously as they approached, calling out, “Jotaro! We’re-” before Josuke suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth. Okuyasu let out a muffled sound and Josuke hissed out a matching one, holding his slobber soaked palm with a look of pure betrayal crossing his face.
Koichi decided to ignore them both in favor of looking at what caused Josuke to pause- namely, Jotaro had Star Platinum out. The intimidating stand had both its feet planted firmly in the ground, hair floating on some invisible breeze- and despite its user seeming just as stoic as ever, the stand was looking… agitated, almost? As if Star was looking for something.
“Dude, not cool-- that’s so gross---”
“Well you started it, doing that-!”
“Guys!” Koichi cut in, nudging the both of them as he gestured to Jotaro. “Guys, there’s something going on up there, I think…”
“Yeah. It seems that way…” Josuke said, managing to wipe his hand off and nudging his shoulder with Okuyasu’s. Okuyasu looked maybe a little uncomfortable for a second before he squinted, looking at the scene too.
There were a couple moments of silence as they inched closer and waited to see if Jotaro would make any move. Any move, maybe to try and catch a train or anything. Nothing happened. He stayed firmly in place, looking disinterestedly at passerby as his stand grew more and more antsy by the second, buzzing with some unnamed energy. Could stands sense things that their users couldn’t? Koichi didn’t know enough about stands to know, but he did know that this seemed a little weird. Besides, hadn’t Jotaro been saying that he’d most likely be in the hotel that week for some thesis or another that he was trying to compile?
There was more silence before Okuyasu spoke up, voice way too loud for the quiet tone he was trying for, though it was obvious that he was at least trying. “What the hell’s got his stand so keyed up? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that- except when my brother’s…” He paused, chewed on the inside of his cheek, and then just brushed it off, “Nah, forget it- it’s stupid. Just me being a dumbass like usual. Jotaro doesn’t look like the kinda person who’d get excited like that.”
“Yeah- can he even get excited about anything? The guy just seems too cool for it, almost.” Josuke muttered.
“Well, he’s only human- he has to feel excitement, like anyone else,” Koichi said logically, though he wasn’t entirely sure if he believed himself on that. There was still too much with Jotaro to really pinpoint that kind of thing that Koichi didn’t really know about. He was about to say something else when Josuke started, tensing up completely.
“There.” Koichi followed his line of sight until he could see another figure, this one dressed in long green overcoat with a white scarf billowing behind him. At first, nothing seemed too weird about him- he was tall, broad shouldered, and had red hair neatly cropped except for one bang framing his face. There were the faintest hint of scars over his eyes, which he wore a pair of wire spectacles in front of. He seemed poised, elegant, and then Koichi saw the green tentacles trailing after him and his breath hitched.
Star Platinum’s gaze was locked on the stranger, and then Jotaro’s was as well. Jotaro and the stranger looked at each other for a moment and seemed to exchange a few words. Josuke nudged both Koichi and Okuyasu and Koichi nodded, following him a bit towards the corner of the train station, right between it and a shop. Then, they could make out the tail end of a conversation as Star Platinum nearly vibrated, eyes locked on the tendrils of green floating around the redhead’s frame.
“... Then perhaps we should settle this,” said the stranger, voice carefully airy despite a sharp undercurrent of a cool snap, “back at your hotel room, hm?”
“I’d much rather prefer if we settled it as soon as possible.” Jotaro replied, just as calm and stoic as ever. “There’s an alleyway between this station and a nearby tourist trap. We’ll go there.”
“My my, so forward, JoJo… but of course we can settle it there.” The stranger smiled, and the both of them started towards that alleyway.
“It’s an enemy stand user,” Josuke breathed, muscles tensing up even more as Crazy Diamond was summoned. Okuyasu, suddenly serious, summoned his stand as well, and Koichi could feel his heart drop to his stomach. So soon? How was he going to be able to do anything at this rate, with his own dumb little egg?
“Your nephew is damn gutsy, deciding to take him on his own,” Okuyasu nearly growled from low in his chest.
“He might have this- but let’s go, just in case he needs backup, alright?” Josuke said, and both Koichi and Okuyasu nodded. Koichi didn’t really know if he could do anything in this situation- but maybe he’d be able to figure it out, like, just how he was going to use this stand. The three of them crept towards the alleyway, hearing nothing as both Jotaro and the stranger entered, before there was a slight, shrill sound. Koichi hurried on ahead, peeking around the corner to have a look…
The stranger had his hands holding both of Jotaro’s cheeks, legs wrapped around his waist as Star Platinum held the both of them up from where the stranger had apparently been trying to tackle Jotaro to the ground. Koichi was about to say something back to Josuke when he finally heard what the redhead clinging to Jotaro was saying. And when he finally figured out what he was doing.
“JoJo,” The redhead pressed a kiss to Jotaro’s cheek, then his nose, then his other cheek, “Baby- darling- my wonderful JoJo...”
What.
The stranger kept peppering Jotaro’s face with kisses, and Koichi thought that maybe he caught a hint of the man’s normally stoic expression light up with the slightest tilt of his lips upward, but that could have been a trick of the light. Then he pulled back, and though Koichi couldn’t make out his expression from this angle, he could practically hear the pout on his face. “I am never doing a six month exhibition tour again. I was in hell, JoJo- two very specific kinds of hell, all at once, on top of not seeing my shining star for all this time. Speedwagon’s gonna kill me one of these days.”
“No one was telling you to double up on cases and art. That’s on you.” Jotaro told him, arms tightening around the redhead before setting him down on the ground with all the gentleness in the world. The green tentacles had apparently found their way underneath Jotaro’s coat, and Koichi watched as they reformed into the face of the stand, nuzzling affectionately against Jotaro’s neck while wrapping around him. Jotaro brought a hand up and a couple green tendrils wrapped around it.
“Well it was the best way to tie both thing together with a neat little bow.” The stranger said, crossing his arms almost petulantly over his chest. “If I had to look at those pieces for any longer while doing research I was going to lose it, JoJo, and then where would that leave you? Huh?” The stranger stood for a few moments before being swept up again, this time by an extremely overexcited Star Platinum who nearly crushed him against his immense purple chest.
Koichi glanced back, but only Okuyasu was there- Josuke was peering around the corner too, face twisted up in an expression that was one part disbelief, two parts amazement, and a healthy dose of shock. He heard a delighted laugh come from the stranger as Jotaro shrugged, looking back with a strange look in his eye. Something soft. Something that apparently had him focusing all his attention on the stranger pressing a kiss to his stand’s cheek and trying to wriggle free to the point where he hadn’t even noticed the three of them. “... Noriaki.”
“Hm?” The stranger- Noriaki, apparently- looked at Jotaro and then a slow grin crossed over his face, looking almost too wide with that mouth of his. “Yes, Jotaro?”
“...” Jotaro drew closer, wrapping his arms around Noriaki’s waist and tugging him down and out of the grip of his stand.
“I really did miss you…” Noriaki muttered, so quietly that Koichi had to strain to hear. His arms gently wrapped around Jotaro’s neck, one hand moving towards his hair. “My JoJo…”
Jotaro didn’t get much farther than leaning down a bit before Okuyasu interrupted with a sharp gasp. “What the hell?!” He yelled, and both adults’ heads whipped to where the three of them had been watching, staring back at them from where they were still holding each other.
Josuke stepped out, standing tall and with a scowl on his face. It looked like the initial shock of whatever had happened had worn off, so now they could all calm down and talk this out- “I don’t know what you did to Jotaro-san,” Josuke said, Crazy Diamond appearing beside him, “but whatever it is, you better undo it before you actually piss me off!”
“Yeah!” Okuyasu chimed in, The Hand getting ready to slice through the distance between the three of them and whatever was happening in the alleyway in front of them. “You better back down now, if you know what’s good for ya! We aren’t gonna let you do whatever you want with Jotaro-san, you got that?! No matter what kind of crazy love stand you have there!”
Both Jotaro and Noriaki stared blankly at the both of them before Noriaki’s face suddenly twisted up, hand flying over his mouth. There was an ungraceful, ugly snort, and then the other stand user began laughing, stepping away from Jotaro. Jotaro just kept staring both Okuyasu and Josuke down, less blankly, and more with a clear look of annoyance on his face. Noriaki wheezed.
“What the hell’s so funny, huh?!” Josuke barked out. “Are you really that damn arrogant?!”
“Josuke… I don’t think it’s what you guys think…” Koichi tried to say.
Okuyasu looked at him incredulously before pointing at the scene in front of them, where Star Platinum was currently holding onto a green stand (which had since wound together to make a humanoid shape) while this Noriaki person leaned his entire body against Jotaro. “Well what the hell other kind of explanation could you have for this?!”
“He’s my boyfriend.” Jotaro said.
There was a stunned silence as all three stand users stared at the couple. Koichi kind of suspected as much- but it was still a lot to take in anyway, since it seemed so strange to think about. Jotaro was actually dating someone- and from what it seemed like, it was a pretty serious relationship.
“I--” Josuke said, paused, and continued on, getting progressively more flustered, “I just thought--! I just, thought you wouldn’t really be one for relationships, Jotaro-san. You seemed almost too cool for it? Or if you, had one, I thought it was going to be like, some high society girl you’d have on your arm for scholarly doctor balls or- that sounds bad, I’m not saying that it’s wrong that your girlfriend’s a man- wait- it’s fine that you have a boyfriend, I’m not saying I don’t support you--”
“I just didn’t think you could like, be in love.” Okuyasu scratched the back of his neck. “Like you’d just scare everyone away!”
There was another bit of awkward silence before Noriaki looked at Jotaro and said, seemingly out of the blue, “The one with the pompadour and the heart pin is your uncle, huh.”
“Yeah.”
“I figured. Only Joseph’s son would have so wild an assumption.”
“Fair.”
Noriaki stepped forwards, politely smiling at the three of them. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you boys in any case. My name is Kakyoin Noriaki- I’ll be staying with Jotaro for the remainder of the stand arrow case.”
Koichi bowed politely, introducing himself. “My name is Hirose Koichi, and these two are Nijimura Okuyasu and Higashikata Josuke- I’m terribly sorry for barging in on you and Jotaro-san like this, Kakyoin-san.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. If I saw a seeming stranger walk into an alley with Jotaro for no reason, I’d be worried too.” Noriaki paused. “... Albeit for different reasons, perhaps. That’s neither here nor there though- were you boys going somewhere?”
“Actually, I was looking for Jotaro-san.” Koichi said, straightening back up and looking back towards where the man was. “I had a couple questions about stands, and uh… hatching them.”
“Ah, so you must be the one who was hit!” Kakyoin suddenly said, clapping his hands. “For now, your stand is an egg, yes? Fascinating- you wouldn’t mind terribly if I joined in on the conversation as well, would you? I would like to see this for myself.”
“Oh! Not at all, I wouldn’t-”
“Shit!!” Okuyasu suddenly butt in, raising his hands to his face as slow, dawning anguish flowed onto it. “The sale!!!!”
Josuke blanched as well, bringing both his hands up to his face and letting out a loud, “OH noooo! There’s only a limited amount!!!” He scrubbed his hands down his face, sadness pooling in his eyes. “We got so caught up with Jotaro’s muppet boyfriend that we forgot!!!!”
“This was just to drop Koichi off, dammit all!!”
Koichi spotted Kakyoin turn to Jotaro with an incredulous stare, to which he received a seemingly blank look in return. Then the adults turned back to Okuyasu and Josuke, who both were practically wallowing in self made seas of self pity. Then Kakyoin cleared his throat and said, “You know, if you two want, you can come with us and I’d be more than happy to get you some ice cream- my treat, since I did sort of drop by unexpectedly!”
Both delinquents were quick to hop up, faces brightening up immediately as another source of free ice cream presented itself. “Oh man, really?” Okuyasu said eagerly, a big grin on his face. “Dang, thanks!! You’re literally the best, Kakyoin-san!”
“Yeah!! Thanks, we totally appreciate it!!!” Josuke agreed full heartedly, and he and Okuyasu were already leaving the alleyway, already going ahead in their excitement.
“Well, it’s good to see that they’re okay with all this…” Koichi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as Kakyoin crossed the rest of the way to him, looking down at Koichi with a warm smile on his face.
“Yes, it is.” Kakyoin said laughingly. Koichi blinked when a hand came down on his shoulder, a wide smile breaking out over Kakyoin’s face. “Ah, Koichi-kun; I just wanted to say, welcome on board! A stand truly can be a wonderful thing. I have full faith that whatever lays inside that egg of yours, it’ll grow, as you will, into something fantastic.”
Koichi couldn’t help but smile- Kakyoin just seemed so friendly, so calm and sincere, that he couldn’t help but think that this could be the start of something good. “Right! Though, maybe we should figure out a little more about it first…”
“A wise idea.” Kakyoin nodded sagely, then looked back to Jotaro, who was still stoically standing a couple feet from them. “Hey, JoJo- are you coming or what? I think I heard that there’s a place around here with cigar flavored cones I want to try…”
“Yeah, coming.” Jotaro said. Kakyoin frowned.
“Hey now- no need to sulk.” What? Jotaro’s face literally hadn’t moved in all this time. Koichi hadn’t seen any change in expression, much less anything that made it seem like Jotaro, the person standing straight and tall there in the alleyway and leisurely, unhurriedly making his way towards them, was sulking. Jotaro didn't say anything, and neither did Kakyoin, so Koichi just brushed off the odd exchange.
Soon, though, t hey were making their way down the street, with Okuyasu and Josuke hollering up ahead about god knew what. There was a comfortable silence between them before suddenly, Koichi remembered something that had been bothering him a bit. “Ah! Kakyoin-san?”
“Yes?” Kakyoin turned his attention towards the high schooler.
“I know it was rather rude to do, but we eavesdropped on a bit of your conversation with Jotaro-san earlier,” Koichi caught the motion of Jotaro pulling his hat brim down out the corner of his eye, “and you said that you wanted to ‘settle’ something in that alleyway. It seemed really suspicious at the time, but… what exactly were you trying to settle?”
Kakyoin paused, eyes looking blankly forwards, as if searching the horizon for an answer. Then he told Koichi, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
Jotaro, looking pointedly ahead, muttered, “Give me a break…”