A Torn Journal - Noriaki Kakyoin - Status: Alive

When It Rains

I wiped the tears from my cheeks. It's over.
I felt a hand lay on my shoulder. "Noriaki," Caesar's voice murmured. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"She really did have the spirit of a warrior," I said with a pained smirk. A sacrifice to save the others. Just like mine, except at a much higher price. "Why did it have to be this way...?"
"My friend, I don't know," he sighed. "The universe is a very unfair place. But now is no time to mourn. There is still a battle underway."
I knew he was right, but I wasn't ready to easily forget the loss of my sister. She did her part in saving the world, I thought. Now you have to fulfill yours. I turned to look at Caesar. His gaze was soft, and full of a sympathy I could never get from his Void-Eyes.
"The fight must go on, huh?" I noted, trying to return the dark smile he bore.
"As always."
And so, for the time, my attention was turned away from my loss and back towards the battle at hand. Jonathan and the other surviving souls were trying to hold their ground against an enemy they couldn't see. Avdol was getting Polnareff, who was out cold, to a safer place. Joseph, Jotaro, and Iggy seemed to be talking through their next move, but I could see their eyes straying towards me. They've noticed it too. Two fighters down in this fight alone. One unconscious. We have to play this out carefully.
"Have a strategy yet?" I asked, glancing at Caesar. He shrugged.
"Not exactly," he scowled. "We're sitting here like cornered rats. The others have switched over into a defensive stance, but we still don't have great ideas even then."
"And nobody who carries Void's infection can summon their Stands safely," I added halfway to myself. Polnareff has been hit, plus he probably won't be up for a while. "There's not too much that Mr Joestar can do on his own."
Caesar shook his head. "I wouldn't say that. If he still remembers his lessons in Hamon he should be able to fight the darkness generally well."
     I forgot about that. The mention of Hamon opened up plenty of new opportunities. And shouldn't Caesar be able to use it, too?
"You're also a Hamon warrior," I noted. "So that gives us at least two fighters." Caesar glanced at me with a pained look, and was silent for a few seconds.
"No, I'm no Hamon warrior," he murmured after a few seconds.
"What do you mean?"
"I can no longer use it. I gave the last of my Hamon energy to JoJo when I died."
     One fighter, then, I thought annoyedly. It still might be adequate enough to fend us off for now. We'll talk it over with Mr Joestar.
I quickly made my way over to Joseph, with Caesar close behind me. We kept our eyes keen for any movement among the shadows, but didn't see the enemy anywhere as we went. Joseph greeted us with a nod as we approached.
"Glad to have you back, Caesar," he said with a smirk. Caesar returned the smile, and Joseph continued. "And Kakyoin... Sorry."
"It's okay," I muttered. I didn't feel okay, but I knew I had to keep fighting for Kanna's sake. "We have to move on. Which leads me to say, we think you could provide good defense against the enemy using your Hamon energy."
Joseph nodded. "We've considered that. But since The Void refuses to show himself, we haven't been able to come up with a strategy yet."
"Without knowing how he plans to assault our defense," Iggy chipped in, "There's really nothing we can do."
"If he even tries to assault it," I added. "He may be too much of a coward to do something so-" I was cut off by a Void Thread hitting my back. It nearly threw me to the ground but I regained my balance. A little bit of blood dripped onto my lip, and I wiped my mouth. That hit hard.
     I whipped around and saw The Void. Not the shadowed figure we'd been hunting all this time, but the actual, vile Stand user. He was wearing a long and dark hoodie with the hood pulled up over his head, which shaded his face somewhat. I could, however, see the sadistic smile across his face. He also looked much younger than I expected. Maybe fifteen or sixteen? That can't be right. The low light is probably messing with my judgement.
     "That hurt?" He smirked, and for once his voice didn't echo, but was completely clear. "I'm glad to hear that."
     At the moment I finally saw him, I was filled with rage. I realized that my sister's killer stood right there in front of me. And this is my chance to kill him. I can bring justice to this inhuman creature right now! Without thinking, I was about to summon Hierophant when I was nudged by Caesar.
     "Don't do something you will regret," he murmured to me. I let out a sigh. Right. I still can't summon my Stand without Void overruling me. I saw Joseph summon his Hermit Purple and begin to course Hamon through it.
     Void laughed. "Attacking me already? You've realized that you only have one fighter. One. Against my, what, billions? With the snap of my fingers, I could quell this rebellion." He scuffed his dusty sneakers across the ooze on the floor. "Yet you've still stood strong, haven't you? It's almost admirable. But still futile."
     "What do you even want from this world?" Caesar sneered. Void shrugged, his glare meeting Caesar's eyes.
     "I want you to die," he replied. "Anything beyond that is none of your concern."
     "This world is my biggest concern!" Caesar barked in reply. "It's the entire reason I'm fighting you!"
     "You're fighting me for your family, and nothing more," Void growled. "If it weren't for them, you would've given up long ago."
     "You don't know anything about me," my companion remarked quietly.
     "Anyways, I didn't come to chat," Void said, sticking his hands into his hoodie pockets. "I'll make quick work of you." He suddenly summoned a dark tendril that struck out towards Caesar. Joseph used his vine-like Hermit Purple to catch it before it could hit. I noticed The Void wince when he was hit with a wave of Hamon shot through the tendril.
     "H- Hamon?" He coughed. "Very clever." As Hermit Purple continued to hold the first one, Void summoned five or six more tendrils to strike. Joseph's Stand caught each of them, but was being strained. Void's smile grew. "How long do you think you can hold off against me?"
     Another tendril struck out, this time at Joseph. Unable to catch any more of them, it struck him in the side, throwing him off of his balance and slicing into his stomach.
     "And," Void began, still with the terrible smirk, "Just as I can use nearly any Stand in my defense, I can also use nearly any Stand in my offense." He instantly summoned one of his servants to his side. "For instance, if I activate this Stand while killing you, I can manipulate your soul the moment you die and do whatever I want with it. Though, honestly, I'll probably just destroy it to make sure you don't cause any problems. Now hold still, won't you?"
     "Not on your life," Joseph choked, pressuring his hand to his side to relive the pain. He summoned his Hermit Purple again. But Void has hit him, my mind protested. He'll control his Stand. I looked around, and disregarded the thought. Everyone's hit. There's nothing else to do at this point. I noticed Caesar summon Rogue. Iggy, Jotaro, and I summoned our Stands as well.
     "Growing bolder," Void muttered. "It doesn't matter." He immediately took control of Star Platinum. In an instant, he seemed to teleport behind us. I whipped around and met another tendril attack with a similar one by Hierophant Green. They deflected each other. No one's hit, I sighed silently. Nice job, Hierophant. Void smirked. "Jotaro, you can only stop time for two seconds? That's a bit of a letdown. But still pretty impressive."
     He instantly teleported somewhere else. It took me a moment to find him this time, and I wasn't able to deflect the attack. Hermit Purple caught it, instead. Good thing, too, as it was just about the strike me in the head. Close one. Quickly, before Void could stop time again, Joseph used Hermit Purple to bind him around his arms and torso. The enemy's smile faltered as more Hamon was shot through him. I noticed bloodstains begin to seep into his hoodie on his shoulders. I guessed that his neck had begun to bleed. Blood loss from that point can be fatal! We might actually kill him... Foolish of him to attack us on his own. I thought on this for a moment. But why would he make a meaningless move... Unless he had specific plans? Terror began to creep through me. Keep your guard up, Noriaki.
     "You're such an annoyance, Joestar," The Void growled. "I suppose I should get rid of you first!" At this, he shot a bombardment of tendrils in an attack that I didn't even know he was capable of doing. Hierophant slapped some of them away, and Iggy used The Fool to catch others with sand. Rogue was able to push a couple of them away with bursts of bubbles, but there were still at least twenty going after Mr Joestar. We couldn't help their strike.
     "JoJo!" Caesar's voice rang.
     Across the chest, head, and arms. The cuts were deep enough to instantly kill someone. But just as Joseph was thrown back by the attack, he touched Caesar's hand. A blast of light erupted, and time almost seemed to slow for a moment.
     "Take it from me," Joseph whispered painfully, but with a smirk on his face. As he hit the ground with a thud, Void started to laugh maniacally.
     "He's dead," he chuckled. "And his spirit is, too, due to the sheer power I wield with my servants."
     Caesar was quiet, with wide eyes, and seemed to be lost in his thoughts. He lifted his open hands in front of his face and watched them carefully. A few small sparks lit up his palms.
     "J- JoJo's Hamon," he stuttered in a voice hardly more than a whisper. Pain filled his eyes. "Th- Thank you, my friend."
     Mr Joestar has paid his debt to Caesar. Sadness swept over me. Despite everything, he really was a noble man.
I noticed Jotaro out of the corner of my eye. His face seemed shocked. But more angry than anything else. And he knows there's nothing he can do about it without his Stand. Don't worry Jotaro. You'll get your revenge soon enough...
     "His sacrifice will mean nothing when you're dead," Void scoffed. Caesar, enraged, whipped back around to face Void with a glare.
"That's what you'd like to think, but you couldn't possibly take us, Void." He began to course the Hamon energy through his arms. "We're going to kill you today. You're already wounded. It won't be long now."
"My wounds are something I can fix," Void said with a shrug. He struck out at Caesar with more of his Stand's tendrils. Caesar easily fended them off with help from Rogue.
"Noriaki, Iggy," he whispered, glancing at us. "Bind him." We both gave him a brief nod in reply.
Iggy quickly bound Void's feet with sand, pulling them to the floor and keeping him from moving them. Hierophant unraveled himself and bound the enemy around his arms as Hermit Purple had, and also took the extra precaution of binding his neck as well, slightly cutting off his breath. Caesar stepped forward so quickly that it was nearly a jump and put his hand across Void's face. Hamon began to filter through his body and light up the room. I saw a spurt of blood seep into Void's hoodie on his chest. Direct hit!
But just as I thought this, Void snickered. "You fools."
He instantly teleported behind Caesar, and just as my companion whipped around to face him, he was struck with another of the enemy's attacks. He was tossed backwards, and landed awkwardly on his feet. With that hit, Void's infection had grown back into Caesar's eyes. Shocked and breathing heavily, he seemed to be shaking.
"Caesar," I started. "Are you... Okay?"
He didn't say anything at first, and only gave me a silent and horrified stare. Finally, he spoke up.
"The infection, Noriaki," he uttered. "It's..." He winced, And didn't finish his sentence.
"It's un-fightable," Void said. "You are my servant again, Caesar Zeppeli. Do me a favor, and kill them." He nodded towards me, Iggy, and Jotaro with a maniacal grin. Caesar looked up at us, fear still filling his eyes.
"Caesar," Iggy murmured. "Y- You're not really gonna listen to this guy, right?" He shot our companion an uncertain smile, but the look was not returned. He can't help it...
"I d- don't want to do this," Caesar stuttered. He began to advance towards us, his gaze switching between anger and fear. I took a step back. He continued to walk towards us. "I- I can't..." He winced again, and kept walking. Rogue prepared to attack, and Hamon began to course through Caesar's body.
"No, Caesar!" I pleaded, "Don't do this!"
"If only he could help it," Void mocked with a smirk. Almost instantly, Rogue launched an attack of Hamon-infused bubbles aimed at Jotaro. He tried to dodge, but was easily launched back by the force. Jotaro! He lay on the ground behind us now. He's unconscious! My mind gasped. Is Rogue really that powerful? Caesar's Stand prepared another attack.
"I don't want... Any of you to get hurt..." Caesar remarked through gritted teeth. "I'm so sorry..." In one motion, he put his hand to my throat. I could already feel the sting of Hamon. While Caesar stood there, right in front of me, the pain in his eyes had never been so obvious. He shook with fear and sorrow.
"Caesar," I choked out. He fearfully gazed at me for a moment longer, until suddenly, he was still. His hand to my neck, his eyes suddenly lost the fearful gaze. A solemn look replaced it.
"Noriaki." His voice was dark and pained. But calm, somehow. "There's only one way out of this." It took me a moment to realize what he meant. I was horrified when I did.
"No, Caesar!"
"Please, Noriaki," he said quietly. "There is no honor in this fight."
"No," I said sternly, "I'm not going to kill you. What about your family? What would they think?"
"A wet man shouldn't be afraid of the rain," he noted with a pained face. "So many bad things have happened already, Noriaki. I don't care what I have to sacrifice. Now, please, you have to kill me before Void makes me kill someone else."
I hesitated.
"Noriaki, this is for everyone." He somehow managed to smile. "For me, for the others, for the souls who have fallen before us... For Kanna? You still have a chance. Please."
"Caesar, I can't-"
"You have to," he said sternly. "Don't worry. I've suffered enough, and honestly, this journey has been the closest I've ever been to revenge."
He gazed into my eyes with what seemed to be a genuine smile. This was what he truly wanted. Who am I to refuse his wish, after he's been through so much? My eyes watered again, as they had when I was about to lose Kanna, but I didn't quite cry. I'd been through so much loss that day. I knew that most of the other souls in the room had been killed during my battle. If anybody remained, they were nowhere to be seen. We were a small group of warriors now, with no hope left except for the days ahead of us.
I don't want Caesar to die. To fade. The mere thought made my heart ache. But I can't be selfish...
I saw Hamon energy start to flow through Caesar's arm, and I knew I had to make my decision quickly. I met his gaze for the last time.
"I'm sorry, Caesar Zeppeli." At this, Hierophant, a little hesitantly, shot an Emerald Splash that tore through Caesar's side. Blood spilled out onto the dark floor, but he didn't seem to care.
Somehow, without an ounce of pain in his eyes, his smile grew. And he murmured the last words he'd ever speak. "Don't be."
At this, Caesar Zeppeli faded away. He made a quick motion with his hand like a wave, as if to tell me he'd see me again. I knew that wasn't true. Caesar, my mind murmured. I'm so sorry...
There was a horrible silence, until Void finally said something in his dark voice. "That seemed hard for you," he grunted. "Truthfully, the whole thing was almost beautiful. Life continues to show that there are some things you simply can't change."
The words echoed in my head. Some things you can't change. My eyes widened and my pulse sped up. What if I could? What if... I can? I looked at Hierophant, who stood silently next to me.
"There is a way to change this," I murmured, half to myself. I gazed determinedly at my Stand, a look that he returned. But I'll have to die to change the past. I can change anything that happened in the past hour, which means I could save Kanna, Mr Joestar, and Caesar if this works! I looked at Void, who still stood menacingly and ready to attack, and then directed my gaze back towards my Stand. Hierophant, I said to him silently, you have to kill me. He nodded and readied an Emerald Splash without hesitation.
But a terrible voice came. "I don't think so," The Void sneered. He hit me in the head with a tendril, and I was thrown to the ground. My head throbbed. No, I can't go unconscious, I thought dully. I have to change this... I have to... But just I thought this, everything around me faded to black.