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[lapidarius]

"This is Kakyoin Noriaki. Please leave a message, I'll contact you as soon as I can."

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[lapidarius]

Yeah. I'm outside.

[The message was short, in part due to the fact that the last thing Kakyoin wanted to look at was a pocketwatch. Sure enough, he was outside...sitting on the roof of the warehouse-turned-school in another weird habit he'd developed during his time in the city.]

[starmark]

[The delay that followed after that was reasonably long, but not so much so as to seem final, just indecisive.]

I'm sorry.

[lapidarius]

[There was a pause on Kakyoin's side as well, but it wasn't indecisive; he just took a moment to consider how to approach the situation.]

It's okay. Come out here, we can talk if you want to.

[starmark]

Need anything from inside?

[lapidarius]

[yeah, for you to quit stalling.]

No, I'm fine.

[starmark]

[wow he's trying to be thoughtful or something jeez]

OK. See you soon.

[lapidarius]

[Kakyoin snapped the watch shut and pocketed it, silently grateful he hadn't just left it back in his room.]

[Fucking clocks.]

[When Jotaro walked out, he adjusted his sunglasses and stepped off of the roof, landing lightly on ground level with a flash of his Stand as support.]

...It really is okay. I'm not angry or anything.

[starmark]

...Hi.

[...Okay, that was actually sort of cool, not even gonna lie.]

We can go back up if you want. I can get up there, too.

[lapidarius]

It doesn't make much of a difference to me. I seriously doubt anyone's going to interrupt either way, this late at night.

[Kakyoin took off his sunglasses as he spoke, putting them away alongside the pocketwatch.]

...Are you alright?

[starmark]

...I can't really fall asleep. I keep thinking about smoking but I only had most of a pack in my pocket, it's not going to last forever.

[...]

You know I don't think you're weak, right?

[lapidarius]

I don't sleep all that well anymore myself, so it's not as though you woke me up.

[He folded his arms, glancing away before looking up again.]

Yeah. I know. ...I understand why you did that, but you understand why it really pissed me off, right?

[starmark]

It wasn't like I was thinking about it.

[...Wait, no, that wasn't where he wanted to go with that, shit.]

...Wait. Which thing are we talking about?

[lapidarius]

I don't care that you let on about what happened to me. It was a mistake, god knows we've made plenty of those. I'm talking about before that.

...I get why you'd want to protect me. But I don't want anyone acting like I need to be kept behind a shield, you least of all.

[starmark]

I get that. ...I don't act like that when it's not...when I'm thinking about what I'm doing.

[...]

I get that you're pissed that it happened. I just...I can't promise it's not going to happen again. But I'm not doing it because I'm ignoring how you feel, or something.

[lapidarius]

...I know that, Jojo. I'm not upset about it anymore, so just...don't worry about it for now, okay?

[...]

Sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you about it, that really wasn't the time.

[starmark]

...

[He hesitated a few seconds, gaze darting away before gradually receding back.]

...What did you mean, just now, when you said "you, least of all"? Why me least of all?

[lapidarius]

What--isn't that obvious? I don't want anyone to think that I'm weak, but you're...you're my friend. I can't fight beside a partner that thinks I need to be protected.

[starmark]

...You know, when Jiji told me your message...

[He paused, considering the thought carefully, and perhaps getting a little lost in memory while he was at it.]

...He told me to run. He got knocked off the roof of a building and fell onto the sidewalk, and he was just getting up when he saw me. But he didn't...run to where I was. He stopped where he was, and said "don't come near me".

[...]

Even though Star Platinum is a short-range Stand. Even though...Hermit Purple could've pulled him over.

[lapidarius]

...

[Kakyoin listened in silence, reminding himself that it was fine--he was the last of their group to die, and the others had all survived one way or another.]

[starmark]

...Do you think he thought I could do it?

Or was he just trying to give me a chance to run and escape what was coming?

[lapidarius]

...If you want my guess, I'd call it the former. I don't think he would have determined we came all that way for nothing, regardless of how hopeless the situation was.

[starmark]

I don't know.

I guess...why I thought of that, I don't think it was because he thought I needed to be protected, either.

[...]

I guess sometimes you just do that, when it's the people who mean a lot to you.

[lapidarius]

...You're right.

[Kakyoin couldn't say that he wouldn't guard Jotaro with his life if he thought it was necessary. Of course he would, without a second's hesitation. So it was difficult to be frustrated about the idea without being a hypocrite.]

I'll try to remember that. If this happens again, I mean.

[starmark]

...I mean, you should still be pissed at me.

Just. I've never thought you were weak or helpless. Ever.

[...]

Even when you can't be the strong Kakyoin you want to be, that doesn't mean I think you're weak.

[lapidarius]

You really-

[No, he stopped that answer midsentence. There was no need to ask 'you really mean that?', because Jotaro wouldn't just say something he didn't mean.]

...thanks. That's...that means a lot.