A Torn Journal - Noriaki Kakyoin - Status: Alive

Every Moment

     After the enemy had completely disappeared, seemingly into air, Jotaro, Joseph, and Polnareff turned to see me.
     "You okay?" Joseph asked me. I didn't answer. My gaze, as well as Avdol's, was fixed on the place in the wall that the enemy had made impact. Where he'd suddenly been launched. Where Jotaro had, undoubtedly, stopped time.
     "Jotaro," I murmured, "what was that?"
     He exchanged a knowing look with Joseph and Polnareff. "Kakyoin, Avdol, go find Anthonio," he ordered darkly. "We'll talk when you get back."
     I hesitated for a moment, but decided to go along with it.
     "You have a lot of explaining to do," I noted. Jotaro only rolled his eyes. At this, Avdol and I quietly stepped through the door and into the hallway. A few meters away, Caesar leaned silently on the wall. It seemed like he hadn't noticed us yet. I started to walk over there, but Avdol stopped me.
     "Kakyoin," he began.
     "Yeah?"
     "What do you think Jotaro did back there?"
     "I don't have to guess- I know exactly what he did." I sighed. "He stopped time."
     "Why would you think that?"
     "Oh," I murmured. "I forgot that you don't know." Avdol hadn't survived long enough to actually fight Dio. He and Iggy were both killed by one of Dio's servants while making their way through his mansion. They never discovered Dio's power to stop time. Even I only figured it out right before my death. But, even though Stands and their powers are supposed to be unique, I knew that Jotaro had stopped time. The scene was just like the moment I died. Dio was in my trap, about to be pummeled by Hierophant's Emerald Splash, when he was suddenly right next to me and I went flying backwards. Launched. Just like that Stand user in the hotel room.
     "What do I not know?" Avdol questioned confusedly.
     "Back when we fought Dio," I told, "we couldn't figure out what his Stand power was. So I set a trap. Not to brag, but it was wonderfully designed." I smiled. "He fell right into it. It seemed like everything was going... perfectly. Until he finally revealed his Stand power. In an instant, I was thrown back. My back slammed into a water tower and I was drenched in a mix of my blood and cold water." I thought back on the moment, sadness filling my mind. "It was there that I took my final breath. But before I did, I was able to decipher Dio's Stand and give a message to the others. Dio's Stand, The World, had the power to stop time."
     "Are you saying that Jotaro can stop time as well?"
     I nodded. "Exactly. Their Stands are similar, so I really wouldn't doubt it."
     "What incredible power," Avdol said in a voice hardly louder than a whisper. There was silence for a moment before either of us spoke again.
     "Let's go see if Caesar's alright," I said at last.
     "Right," he agreed.
     By the time we began to walk over to him, Caesar had noticed us. His gaze was tired, but somehow he didn't really portray that feeling. I took a moment to decipher the look in his eyes. Defeat, I decided silently. But not the normal defeat he shows. This is different. Like he feels... Guilty for it.
     "Caesar," I started when we reached him. "Are you doing okay?" He was leaning on the wall and seemed in pain. I remembered the blood spattered around the floor. He must've been injured somehow.
     "No worse than normal," he noted in a very monotone voice. There was silence for a moment. "Mr Avdol," he began. I was reminded that Avdol was technically older than Caesar, hence the honorific phrase he used instead of using Avdol's first name like he did for me. "I'm... I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I had no place... to question any of your decisions. I'm sorry."
     "Don't be," Avdol responded. "This is a difficult time for all of us. I know you didn't mean what you said."
     Caesar seemed comforted, but his expression didn't change. "Thank you," he murmured. "You know, I'm actually kind of glad you brought Polnareff back. We... We really need all the help we can get."
     Another silence fell over the group. I decided to break it sooner this time.
     "We should get back," I told them both, motioning my hand towards the door down the hall. "They're waiting on us." Of course, the real reason I wanted to get back was to figure out the whole story behind Jotaro stopping time. But, they were waiting on us, so I could use that as a coverup objective. I didn't want to have to explain the whole situation to Caesar.
     I turned and began to walk, but Caesar stopped me. "Actually Noriaki, I need to talk to you." He glanced at Avdol. "Could you maybe...?"
     "I'll wait by the door," Avdol responded. He walked back towards the hotel room, granting me and Caesar a private place to speak. I couldn't imagine what it was we were going to talk about.
     "What is it?" I asked quietly.
     "Earlier," he started, the defeated look in his eyes increasing. "When you saw me in that mirror world, do you remember when I told you that I wasn't in any condition to fight?"
     "I do." The moment was coming back to my memory. He'd seemed like he could have put up a great fight if he'd tried. "That wasn't the real reason though, was it?"
     "No," he sighed bitterly. "And I... I wasn't going to, but I feel like I need to tell you. The real reason I didn't fight back there was because... Because I was afraid."
     I was filled with a mix of rage and confusion and poured my thoughts into words. "You were afraid?" I questioned, raising my voice a little. "Caesar, we're all afraid! What gives you the right to walk out of a fight because you were afraid?" I didn't like going off on him like that, but honestly, his reasoning was terrible. And very unlike him.
"Look at me," he ordered. "Do you see any place that hasn't been covered by Void?" I quickly looked him over. He was completely covered by the dark infection.
"No."
He rolled up his left sleeve. About halfway up his arm, there was a patch of light skin. It hardly covered a few square centimeters.
"See that?" He questioned me. "That's all I have left before Void has taken me."
"Caesar... I-"
He cut me off. "I have two days left, if I'm lucky." He paused, and spoke in a quieter voice when he continued. "I don't want to leave you all."
"And we don't want to lose you, Caesar," I responded in the same tone. "But we're all in this, and we're all going to have to fight until the end. I don't know how much longer I'll last either. But I don't plan on giving up. Even if they have to finish without me I want to have helped them somehow. If I'm going to go down anyways, I want to go down fighting. Don't you?"
     He stared at me, quiet, with the same guilty, defeated look in his eyes. Except now I knew why.
     "Of course I do," he mumbled. "But this Void forces my mind to make the worst decisions. I can't help but apologize. Because, if Void was able to keep me away from that fight, then the thought must've been somewhere in the back of my mind. I was..." He seemed to be biting his tongue. Whatever he was about to say, he really didn't want to. "I was a coward, Noriaki. I'm sorry."
"Every moment is a fresh start," I noted.
"I hope so."
I looked back towards the door, where Avdol was waiting patiently.
"We should get back," I said, turning back to look at Caesar.
He nodded. "Okay."
At this, we started walking back towards the hotel room. After our conversation the mood of the entire hall seemed to have suffered. Neither of us felt like talking anymore. At least, not about that subject. But The Void taking over our thoughts was something inevitable that was going to happen, even if we didn't want to face it. Even if we both hoped for the better. But we have a greater chance of succeeding if we keep trying, I thought to myself. So I refuse to give up now.
"Ready?" Avdol asked when we approached. He didn't ask what our conversation was about, and I was grateful for that. I didn't know why Caesar seemed to trust me more than the others. He never mentioned it, but he was weirdly more willing to talk to me than most of his companions. Personally, I didn't think I deserved that. But his reasoning was his business, and neither of us were going to question it.
"Yeah," I told him. "Let's go."
I opened the door, and quietly stepped into the room. I almost expected another attack given the way things had been going, but the hotel room was revealed just as it should be- My other three companions were sitting about and chatting to each other as they waited for us to come back. Caesar caught Polnareff's eye quickly.
"Polnareff," he started once we had fully entered the room. The room grew silent. "I'm sorry for everything. What I did was... completely uncalled for."
Polnareff gave a small smile. "Don't worry, Anthonio," he responded. "We're in this together, right?"
Caesar returned the smile, but still with a defeated look. "Right."
     "Then the next thing we need to discuss," Joseph's voice came in. "Avdol, Kakyoin," he shot us an uncertain smile, "we forgot to explain a couple things Jotaro can do now."
     "A couple?" I repeated.
     "You already saw me stop time," Jotaro noted. "That's what I did earlier."
     "Kakyoin explained it," Avdol mentioned. Jotaro nodded.
     "After the doctors from the Speedwagon foundation performed a blood transfusion, I was also able to save the old man here because of the other ability."
     Before I continue, I want to make clear that the next thing Jotaro said set off a terrible chain of events. It was something that never should've been mentioned. But it did come up, and the chain of events did happen, and so I'm forced to write it here.
     He looked at me calmly, unaware of what he was about to start.
"I can simulate a heartbeat."