Chapter Text
“So your legs feel better because of cooking?” Joseph asks.
Kakyoin chuckles, tapping the floor with one of his crutches. “Stand cooking but- yeah.”
Joseph hums. “Maybe I should check it out…”
The image of Tonio’s stand acting on Joseph makes Kakyoin choke, coughing lightly as visions of Joseph’s spine making all kinds of cracks echo through his mind. “Er- maybe- maybe I should go with you. Because of the stand thing, it can be a little…shocking…”
Joseph snorts but says nothing more, and Kakyoin turns and talks to the pharmacist when she returns with Joseph’s medication, thanking her and taking the bag before turning to Joseph, leading the way back to the entrance.
“Thank you for helping me find the drugstore,” Joseph’s creaky voice says – a bit wheezy, gravely when it isn’t, but still strong all the same. Much stronger than it was on the phone about two months ago now. “Thank you for…everything, Kakyoin.”
Kakyoin waves a gloved hand, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He pauses. “...Josuke is a really good kid. It was honestly my pleasure.”
Joseph hums, nodding. “Yes… he was very kind with the baby the other day.”
Kakyoin blinks as he opens the door for them to leave. “Baby?”
Joseph echoes him, blinking as well. “Oh, have I not mentioned? I-”
A flash of green in Kakyoin’s peripheral makes him jerk his head, and he immediately sneers when he sees Rohan Kishibe prancing about, a camera slung around his neck, a sketch pad tucked under his arm.
The flash of green wasn’t him, however; there’s a movement to the left of Rohan, and when Kakyoin scans his gaze over to it, he seizes. Koichi stands there, looking contemplative and sweaty as Rohan gestures to something on the map he’s holding. Kakyoin’s eyes narrow.
“So we had to figure out how to find her-”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Joestar,” Kakyoin cuts in, starting across the street, his crutches clicking underneath him, “I need- I need to go for a second. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
Joseph blinks. “Alright?” But Kakyoin is already moving. The hell is he doing to Koichi?
When he gets within range, Rohan is gesticulating, his back facing him, and when Koichi locks gazes with Kakyoin, he somehow tenses up even more. Kakyoin frowns.
Rohan pauses, following Koichi’s gaze, only to scowl when he sees it leads to Kakyoin. “Oh. You.”
Kakyoin sniffs. “What are you doing to Koichi?” He asks flatly.
Rohan huffs. “I’m not doing anything. I’m just asking him about this map discrepancy since his pages mentioned he has specific knowledge about Morioh’s formation and history-”
Kakyoin bristles at the reminder of how Rohan first met Koichi. “Oh, you -”
“It’s fine!” Koichi shouts, and both men shut up and turn to face him. Koichi swallows thickly, shoots a narrow-eyed look at Rohan, then turns to Kakyoin. “Really, Mr. Kakyoin, I’m not- I’m not in need of saving. He really is just asking about a map and-” Koichi turns to Rohan then, teeth gritted, “-now that I know his stand abilities, I can handle him myself.”
Rohan sniffs but says nothing. Kakyoin shifts, arms itching to cross. He tightens his grip on his crutches.
“Er, hello,” Joseph’s creaky voice comes from Kakyoin’s side, and Kakyoin jumps, having forgotten he was with him. Rohan and Koichi do as well, turning to face him.
“Ah-” Kakyoin steps back, allowing Koichi to get a better view of Joseph, who blinks and waves with the hand not holding his cane when he spots the student. “Koichi, this is-” he pauses. How do you introduce the deadbeat dad of a friend?
“It- it’s okay, I remember,” Koichi stutters in accented English, as if hearing Kakyoin’s internal dilemma. “Um- Mr. Joestar, I’m Koichi. I’m…I’m friends with Josuke.”
Joseph’s eyes light up at the mention of his son and Kakyoin looks away. “Oh! Yes, Koichi,” the name rolls off his tongue a little funny, but considering his…everything, he pronounces it well. “He mentioned you. Said you were a good young man.”
Koichi flushes. “He- he did?”
Joseph smiles and opens his mouth, but Rohan clears his throat then and says in perfect English, which makes Kakyoin blink in surprise, “Sir, I’m Rohan Kishibe. It’s nice to meet you.”
Joseph blinks, looking Rohan up and down. “Oh, hello. I’m Joseph Joestar. Are you a friend of Koichi’s?”
“No,” Koichi says at the same time Rohan says, “Yes.” Both squint at each other.
Joseph chuckles a little while Kakyoin clears his throat. “You were asking about a map?”
Rohan blinks. “Ah. Yes. On the map, these stores right here are supposed to be lined up,” -he shows the map in his hands then, pointing at the drugstore that Kakyoin and Joseph just walked out of and a grocery store across the street- “but in real life, there’s an entire street over here!”
Rohan gestures behind him, and sure enough, an alleyway opens up between the drug store and its neighbor on the map, making Kakyoin frown. It’d be one thing if it was just space between the two stores, but Kakyoin can see it stretch back and open on the other side – indeed, a full, entirely unmarked street.
“I was just asking Koichi if he knew why the map was so erroneous” Rohan finishes. Joseph hums contemplatively while Koichi shakes his head.
“I’m not sure, Mr. Rohan,” Kakyoin clicks his tongue at the title, but Koichi ignores him, “but it is weird, now that you mention it. If you bring it to the map maker’s attention, you could probably win a bookstore voucher or something…”
Rohan hums and clicks his tongue. “Hm… Do you know what might be back there?”
Koichi shrugs. “I don’t know.”
Rohan clicks his tongue again. “Can you come with me to find out?”
Kakyoin raises a brow. “What, scared of getting lost in an alley?”
Rohan shoots a glare at him and Koichi coughs, but when Kakyoin glances at him, he’s biting back a smile behind his fist, and he smirks.
“It’d just be five minutes,” Rohan sniffs, “besides, I want Koichi’s take on the matter. He is a decent historian of the town.”
Koichi looks both flattered and ill at the same time, which is rather impressive, and Kakyoin scoffs. “Yeah, okay, as if I’m gonna leave him alone with you again.”
Rohan rears up to snarl but Koichi just pushes forward, sighing roughly. Joseph lets out a noise before following, his cane clicking. Both Rohan and Kakyoin exchange glances before following themselves.
The first thing they see is an old mailbox, and Kakyoin scrunches his nose at the smell of rusting metal, iron and copper mingling along his throat. A reddish brown stain lines the side of the mailbox, and Kakyoin squints. Isn't the government supposed to keep these in shape?
Koichi is examining the mailbox as well, frowning, while Rohan re-examines his map, walking along the few houses that line the street. Joseph stands near Koichi, tilting his head at him.
Kakyoin pitches forward and shudders when he leaves the alley and he’s officially on the street. He glances behind him, but nothing is there. He squints. Hierophant stirs in his stomach but he keeps him at bay. For now…
He turns to Koichi then, who’s regrouped with Rohan, Joseph following like a senior hunting dog: ambling, unconcerned, but keeping pace. Rohan is pointing at the map and then the surrounding houses, frowning deeply. “See! Yonemori, Honma, Onodera – all these houses, and none of them are on the map.”
Koichi is raising his hands placatingly and shrugging while Joseph hums, chin in hand, squinting at the characters on the map versus the mailboxes in person. Kakyoin frowns. “Why do you even care so much if a small side street isn’t on the map?”
Rohan freezes then and Kakyoin blinks. Rohan works his jaw from side to side before he marches forward, still comparing the houses to the map. He says nothing. Kakyoin narrows his gaze. What the hell…
“I think,” Koichi pipes up, “he must have used to live here…” Kakyoin snaps his gaze to him.
“What?”
Koichi shuffles, takes a deep breath, before looking Kakyoin in the eye. “Earlier, before you and Mr. Joestar came over, Mr. Rohan came up to me explaining how he used to live in Morioh, but it was a long time ago…he wanted to find places that would spark memories. I think…I think this must have been his neighborhood.”
Kakyoin looks around the rusted mailbox and gates, the dead grass and abandoned bicycles, dusty lawn decorations, tattered board games, and broken furniture on the lawns, and a part of him gives away, crumbling to sand grains. “...I see,” he says.
Koichi hums. “...We should follow,” he says, “I’m meeting up with Okuyasu and Josuke later, and I don’t wanna be late…” Joseph makes a noise at the mention of his son, but says nothing.
Kakyoin exhales in what could be a laugh. “Yeah, okay.”
They pad after Rohan in silence, taking a right, but nothing lines the walkway of this small turn, so they continue and take a left, and then-
The mailbox.
Kakyoin blinks and looks around – a new mailbox shouldn’t be present after such a short distance from a previous one, but…
But it’s the same, Kakyoin realizes, the rust stain on the side the same as before. Something settles in the pit of Kakyoin’s stomach. As he realizes, it seems the rest do too – Rohan stiffens, freezing, and Koichi stops abruptly, his shoes scraping against the gravel. Joseph readjusts his grip on his cane and slowly reaches up to pull off his hat, looking around carefully past his spectacles. Kakyoin swallows.
“Are we,” Rohan says in a conversational tone, “back where we started?”
Koichi pales noticeably, gaze darting around, while Joseph hums, heavy brows lifting a bit as he rescans the street slowly. Kakyoin drums his fingers against his crutches, clearing his throat as he answers, “I think so.”
“Is it a stand?” Koichi asks, Echoes dusting into existence beside his head, tail curled protectively around his shoulders. Joseph lets out an intrigued noise.
Kakyoin sends out Hierophant, reaching to set up a barrier and hopefully find the standuser who’s undoubtedly watching them when-
Bonk.
Kakyoin flinches, having gotten the impression he’s bumped his head on something, and Joseph is frowning, by his side. “Kakyo-?”
“Something’s wrong,” Kakyoin snarls, and Echoes curls tighter around Koichi in concern, Rohan slipping his camera from his neck into his bag, casually rolling up his sleeves to prepare for a fight.
“What happened?” Joseph asks in a creaky tone.
Kakyoin opens his mouth to respond. “I-”
“Are you lost?”
The group whirls around, Kakyoin twisting on his crutch, Hierophant already surging toward the source of the voice, Rohan and Heaven’s Door not far behind him, only to screech to a halt when they see a high school girl at the end of the alley.
Brushing her pink hair behind her ear, the girl blinks at them. “I can show you the way-”
Her face opens with a flutter of pages, suddenly book-like in appearance, and she falls to the ground. Kakyoin whips his head back to Rohan, who is already sprinting to her side, eyes narrowed.
“Rohan, what the hell-!?”
“I’m checking if she’s a standuser!” Rohan snaps, and Kakyoin growls, a noise that is echoed by Koichi next to him, which makes him pause, glancing at him.
“You said you wouldn’t! You said you wouldn’t do this anymore!!” Koichi snarls, bolting across the stretch of pavement after Rohan, which makes Kakyoin blink in surprise.
Rohan scoffs as he thumbs through her pages, scanning the contents. “I’m making sure she’s not our enemy, you should be thankin-”
Koichi reaches them and proceeds to slap Rohan’s hands away, which makes him yelp in more surprise than pain. He blinks, staring at Koichi in shock.
“You said you wouldn’t,” Koichi hisses, and Rohan opens his mouth but Koichi goes on, “Does your word mean nothing?!”
Rohan’s lips pull back into a sneer then, and Kakyoin hikes forward, his crutches squeaking underneath him.
“I said I wouldn’t read people for inspiration for my manga,” Rohan replies lowly, “I said nothing about not protecting myself how I see fit.”
Koichi stares at him, visibly shaking, and Kakyoin clasps a hand onto his shoulder. Koichi lets out a high, animalistic sound, jerking his face up to Kakyoin, before his face tints red and he looks down. He shrugs off Kakyoin’s hand and he frowns, but doesn’t replace it.
No wonder he doesn’t trust you.
Kakyoin ignores the echo of Rohan’s words and instead shakes his head, turning to face the man in question. “We’re watching you,” Kakyoin glowers. “Just check if she’s a standuser. Only a standuser. You don’t get to be privy to her secrets and thoughts even if she’s an enemy.”
Rohan sniffs. “Fine! Fine! Do what you want,” he sneers, before turning back to the pages. Koichi swallows, keeping his head ducked from Kakyoin, but when Kakyoin offers him a hand to stand back up, Koichi takes it.
Rohan mutters to himself as he flips through the pages, brows furrowing. True to his word, he is only scanning for anything that would indicate stand powers, but his face gets whiter and whiter with every line he reads. Kakyoin frowns.
“Is she?”
Rohan jumps, which Kakyoin was not expecting, and it only makes him frown deeper. Rohan regains his composure quickly, however, and simply shakes his head, clearing his throat before standing back, brushing himself off.
“N…no, she’s not a standuser,” he murmurs, and Kakyoin frowns, not convinced.
“What is she, then? Because you’re clearly concer-”
Rohan ignores him and simply replaces the girl’s face, suddenly solid again, and Kakyoin wrinkles his nose.
“Stand back, give her space,” Rohan calls mechanically. “She’ll likely think she just fainted.”
Kakyoin purses his lips, but Koichi backs up near Joseph, and he does the same. I’ll talk to him later…
True to Rohan’s word, after a few heartbeats, the girl’s eyes flutter open, and she lurches up, gasping, arms clutching at her ribs before she remembers herself. She blinks up at everyone, seemingly dazed, but when Koichi offers her a hand, she takes it and stands back up.
“You okay?” Rohan lies easily, making Kakyoin shudder. “You passed out for just a minute.”
The girl blinks. “Ah, really? Well, thank you for asking… sorry, that’s so weird…” she murmurs, and Koichi shoots a glare at Rohan who looks nonplussed. She shakes her head before laughing a little, dusting herself off. “Guess I need a little more sleep, huh!”
She points at Koichi then, who jumps at the pink-painted finger. “Same goes for you. Us students need our sleep, you know?”
“Oh! You’re a student? Do you live around here, miss?” Joseph asks, and the girl just hums in a not-quite-confirmation, something shifting across her expression even as she stays smiling, before turning to Rohan and Kakyoin.
“So, are you guys lost? I can show you the way out. This alley seems simple, but it’s really not,” she says. Kakyoin narrows his eyes at her, but before he can speak, Rohan pipes up.
“If you could. I thought… well, nevermind that. We have no business down here, so if you could please…”
“Yup!” The girl smiles, nodding, before walking past them toward Koichi and Joseph, and then over taking them, leading down the alley, back down the houses they’ve gone past once before already. They all exchange glances before following.
“I’m Reimi, by the way,” the girl introduces herself, “who are you?”
Koichi hums. “I’m Koichi Hirose. That’s Mr. Rohan, Mr. Kakyoin, and Mr. Joestar.”
Reimi purses her lips, head tilting a small bit. “Mr. Rohan, huh…”
Kakyon’s eyes narrow and he glances back at Rohan, who’s stiffened but continues moving forward. He’s staring at the girl’s sandals rather than her. Hm…
“Hey, want some?” Reimi asks, and Kakyoin jerks his gaze back to her. She’s offering Koichi some pocky from her bag, the same color of pink as her hair.
“Oh- ah, I’m okay,” Koichi stammers.
Reimi shrugs and turns, walking backwards to face Kakyoin, Rohan, and Joseph while still leading them down the alley. “What about you guys? It’s good!”
“No,” Rohan says flatly, while Joseph and Kakyoin both reply with a variation of I can’t have chocolate. They squint at each other.
“Aw, please? At least just take one half? You don’t have to eat it, but the break of the pocky will tell your fortune!” She says. Joseph lets out a hearty chuckle.
“I think I already know any fortune I could get at this age,” he jokes. Kakyoin shoots him a look for saying something so dark, but Reimi just laughs.
“You never know! What about you? Mr. Rohan?” She offers the pocky to him.
Rohan looks vaguely ill. “No,” he repeats, gaze darting down from Reimi’s face. Kakyoin raises a brow, but before he can ask, Reimi has turned to him.
“Mr. Kakyoin then? Pleaseee? It’s been a while and I really want to…”
Kakyoin sighs, hikes forward a bit, and breaks off the edge of the pocky. Reimi lets out a delighted chirp and when Kakyoin hands the half back to her, she studies the breakage intently, pausing in her step, making the group pause with her.
Reimi hums, brows creasing for a minute, before she pops one half into her mouth and gestures with the other. “It says…” she points then, making Kakyoin jump. “You’re going to fall in love soon! You might already even be in love and just not know it yet!”
Kakyoin barks out a laugh, unable to hold it back. Reimi’s eyes narrow at him, but she doesn’t stop smiling. “Me? In love?”
“It’s true!” Reimi insists. “The sticks never lie. Other forms of fortune telling are wrong, but the sticks haven’t lied to me yet!”
“That’s circumstantial evidence,” Rohan cuts in, and Kakyoin coughs to cover up a snort. Reimi raises a brow before pulling out another pocky stick, offering it to him.
“Do you want to try then? See for yourself?”
Rohan scoffs. “More circumstantial evidence, even if I come to agree with you, wouldn’t prove it any more.”
“Y’know, sometimes quantity does overcome quality,” Kakyoin quips back, and Rohan glares at him before stomping forward and snapping the pocky.
Reimi lets out an Ohhh and Rohan cringes, which makes Kakyoin frown. “You’re stubborn! You’re gonna get dumped by any girl you try to pursue,” she teases.
Rohan barks out a laugh, meanwhile Koichi and Kakyoin exchange glances.
“Yeah right,” Rohan says, “The pocky breakage doesn’t say anything about me more than the pocky itself. If you want to tell someone’s fortune, you use something about their person, like…” he scans over Reimi, still avoiding her face, before pointing at her nail polish. “Girls who wear light pink nail polish are scared of falling in love!”
Reimi raises a brow but Rohan keeps going. “Right? That’s why you’re so obsessed with it and talking to me and Kakyoin about it. You’re projecting! Cause you’re scared you’re gonna mess up when it comes your way!”
Reimi lets out a noise, her face falling to a frown, and Kakyoin stomps his crutch near Rohan’s toe, which he unfortunately dodges out of the way in time.
“Relax about lashing out due to your ego being bruised,” Kakyoin hisses, and Rohan sneers.
“I’m just saying.” He shrugs, then amends, “even if it’s not love, you’re scared about something, which is why you’re focusing on such a happy color.” He gestures to her all pink outfit, her pink nail polish, and her dyed pink hair.
Reimi’s frown deepens and she turns away, leading back down the alley in silence.
“Mr. Rohan,” Koichi admonishes, shooting a glare his way before catching up to Reimi.
“What?!” Rohan calls after him. Kakyoin rolls his eyes before walking back himself, Joseph following him with a mumble of Let a girl have her fun…
Reimi pauses in front of a tall, faded blue house, long abandoned at this point. The paint is chipped, sandblasted to near-white in some places, and the grass is long dead, the dirt underneath visible. The window facing the lawn on the first floor is broken, and Reimi stares at it intensely. Kakyoin frowns, exchanging glances with Koichi.
“Reimi… are you o-?”
“You said I was scared?” Reimi calls, turning back to face Rohan. Rohan crosses his arms. “Well, sure. I am. This house…”
She turns back, frowning deeply, crossing her arms over her chest. Koichi hums and walks to her side. “Reimi…?”
Reimi swallows before turning to the group. “There was a murder at this house 15 years ago.”
Rohan stiffens beside him. Kakyoin raises a brow toward him while Joseph lets out a soft noise. “Oh, how terrible,” he says.
Reimi sighs, crossing her arms, glancing back at the house. “It's why this place is abandoned. I used to live here when it happened.”
Reimi turns back to them. “She says that the girl who used to live here 15 years ago had a dog. She awoke one night to a dripping sound, like something from a facet. She was nervous because it was dark, but reached her hand out under her bed, where her dog slept. Her trusty dog licked her fingers like he always did, and it soothed her. She assumed her parents were washing up for bed – they got home late that night, after all.
But the dripping persisted. Finally, the girl gave up on trying to go back to sleep. She got up and called for her parents, but no reply. She called for her dog, and heard shuffling from under her bed. Comforted by the sound of him following her, she left her room and went to her parents’ room, when…”
Reimi jumps suddenly then and the group all flinch back, Koichi and Kakyoin both letting out yelps.
“She finds her dog’s dead body pinned to the wall! The drip wasn’t from a sink, but the steady drip of his blood against the tile! And then the voice of what moved behind her came… it said, ‘Your hands are so smooth, miss. Do you mind if I take them after I kill you, like I did your parents?!’”
Reimi surges forward on her tiptoes, and Koichi clings to Kakyoin, who clings to Joseph, who yelps at the sudden surge of weight, while Rohan stares at Reimi with wide eyes. “Wh-wha- are you kidding?!”
Reimi leans back then, laughs, and says, “Did it sound real?”
Kakyoin’s heart begins to slow down, and it’s only then he realizes it began racing it all – it started picking up speed so gradually.
Koichi lets out a noise before blinking, looking at Kakyoin, then retracting himself as if burned, brushing off his uniform and clearing his throat, features stiff. Kakyoin’s brow furrows, but before he can ask, Joseph lets out a laugh, and he feels heat crawl up his neck from his chest and lets go of the old man jerkily, standing still himself.
“Young lady! You must be careful who you tell ghost stories to, that could kill a man my age,” he jokes, and Reimi laughs. Kakyoin cringes – he knows Joseph’s old, and a bastard, but he’s his friend, and he doesn’t like the reminder of how old he’s gotten… – but says nothing.
Rohan clears his throat, running a hand over his hair. “What the hell was that about?” He snaps.
Reimi hums, smiling. “Why, payback for your nail polish comments. I just like pink, ya know?”
Koichi lets out a sigh, giggling nervously. “Jeez, you really had me there…”
Joseph hums. “You’re a great storyteller. Have you considered writing?”
Reimi’s face turns sad then, but before she can respond, Rohan latches onto Kakyoin’s arm. Kakyoin jumps, whipping his head to the man, but he points behind them, back at the house.
Kakyoin follows his gaze only to freeze.
Its yellow-brown coat blending in with the yellow-brown dead grass, there stands a dog in the yard.
A dog with a slit throat.
Despite this, it’s still standing, tail wagging, and it tilts its head in what would have been a cute gesture, but now is grotesque as it bears the cut wide. Blood trickles out and Kakyoin lets out a sound, bile rushing up his throat.
“What-”
“You said it was just a story!” Koichi yelps, leaping back near Kakyoin, and Kakyoin swallows thickly, stepping beside him, shaking Rohan’s hand off of him to do so. Joseph stares at the dog, his expressions unreadable behind his spectacles.
“I never said that,” Reimi says softly before turning to the dog, “I just said I told it as payback. Arnold, what are you doing here?”
As she turns, Kakyoin blinks, and suddenly the entire back of her dress is bloody, with a thick wound right underneath her left shoulder blade dripping blood, showing off muscle and bone, and his stomach lurches while Koichi lets out a startled cry and Rohan grips for him again, breathing heavily.
Arnold – the dog, Kakyoin assumes – whimpers and snuffles against Reimi’s hand when she offers it, and she frowns. “I told you I had to make sure the nice people got back home safely. You know how this alley is…”
“Wh-what’s going on?” Koichi demands. Reimi sighs and stands up, turning back to them. Arnold stays near her, and she scratches his big head unconsciously.
“The story I told…it’s my story. I’m the girl. Arnold and I are ghosts.”
“G-ghost…” Rohan murmurs, voice nearing a keen in tone, and Kakyoin swivels his gaze to him. “But- Heaven’s Door- can it only read memories you make while alive?”
Kakyoin’s eyes narrow. Hmm…
“Ghost?!” Koichi shouts, and Reimi shrugs helplessly, looking viscerally uncomfortable, shoulders hunched and arms crossed.
“This is a border between worlds, I think,” Reimi murmurs. “That's why it loops. It’s not…a normal street.”
Rohan sucks in a breath, lets go of Kakyoin’s arm, and promptly turns and runs. Koichi lets out a shout and turns to run after him, and Kakyoin pivots on his crutch to chase after them when Joseph’s voice stops him:
“Are you okay?”
Kakyoin pauses, looking over his shoulder. Joseph is staring at Reimi with a tight frown on his face, brows pinched in concern. Reimi lets out a shaky laugh. “What do you mean? I’m dead. I can’t really be anything.”
Something lances through Kakyoin’s chest at the comment, and Joseph must feel the same, for his frown gets even tighter. “You said the incident happened 15 years ago. Was that true? Have you been here the whole time? It must have been lonely,” he says steadily, his textured voice soothing.
Reimi laughs shakily, her hand falling still on Arnold’s head. “No, I- I had Arnold with me…” A frown crosses her own features and Joseph hums.
There’s a clattering to his side, and Kakyoin whips his head to see Rohan back at the end of the street again, Koichi behind him, chest heaving. He’s staring at Reimi like he’s seeing a ghost – which, he is, Kakyoin supposes – and he shudders, squeezes his eyes shut, and ducks his head. Koichi shouts something Kakyoin can’t make out, and he finally hikes his way over to them like he was intending to.
“What the hell is going on?” He asks Rohan, who’s still breathing shakily. Koichi stares intently up at him, but he doesn’t say anything.
After a moment, Rohan swallows, and, still with his eyes closed, says plainly, “I want to get out of here. Now.”
“I really wouldn’t have expected phasmophobia of you,” Kakyoin comments dryly, and Rohan turns to him with eyes so wild he steps back, blinking.
“You don’t know anything,” Rohan growls, “I was looking for my childhood home and this is what I get- ghosts and- and-”
“Please don’t run around,” Reimi says, and Rohan stiffens and closes his eyes again. Koichi and Kakyoin both exchange glances. “There’s only one way out of here. I was serious when I said I would show you the way out. I haven’t lied about anything, have I?”
Koichi bites at his thumb and Kakyoin turns back to see Joseph and the dog with her, the wound on its throat hidden just like the wound on her shoulder. Kakyoin tilts his head.
“Why do your wounds appear and disappear?” He asks, and only belatedly realizes it’s probably a rude question when Koichi shoots him a glare.
Reimi opens her mouth to reply, but Rohan interjects. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. Get us out of here. Now.”
Koichi stomps on his foot and Rohan hisses, shooting a glare at Koichi, who turns to Reimi and tags on a polite, “Please show us the way out,” and Kakyoin snorts.
Reimi’s gaze switches over them all before she sighs, her shoulders slumping. Rohan’s glare falters, and Kakyoin squints at him. What is his deal today?
I was looking for my childhood home and this is what I get.
Kakyoin’s lips purse. Hmm…
“There’s only one way out,” Reimi says, and Kakyoin’s attention is drawn back to her. “It’s…hard to explain.” She pauses then, gaze darting down, before taking a breath and looking back up, locking gazes with them all. Rohan scoffs and looks to the side. Kakyoin notices her eyes are black, reflecting the pink around her like a mirror.
“This place is…odd. It’s a border between the living and the dead – a limbo space, if you will,” she says softly. “I don’t normally get visitors. It makes me wonder…what makes you all so special?”
Rohan scoffs, but doesn’t look up. “Does that matter? Just show us the way o-”
“It does matter!” Reimi snaps, and Rohan looks up. “I’ve been stuck here for 15 years trying to figure out why! So why do you four of all people get to slink in and talk to me?!”
Everyone is quiet. Then,
“Stands,” Kakyoin murmurs. The group lets out confused noises, and Kakyoin clears his throat. “The common denominator…it’s stands. We’re all too different otherwise.”
Reimi tilts her head. “Stand?”
“Ah,” Kakyoin manifests a tentacle of Hierophant's, half expecting Reimi to not see it, but-
Her gaze tracks the wave of it, and Kakyoin’s heart pounds.
“You can see him?”
Reimi points, lips parting, before nodding wordlessly. “Him?” She asks softly.
“Yes, him," Kakyoin says breathlessly. "My Hierophant Green. This has to be it-” Kakyoin manifests Hierophant fully, spooling him into his humanoid form, and Reimi lets out an intrigued noise, staring it up and down. Kakyoin ignores the usual thrill he feels whenever someone new sees Hierophant, instead turning and glancing at Rohan, Koichi, and Joseph. “Manifest your stands.”
Joseph complies easily, Hermit Purple flickering into existence along his arms, and after a slight hesitation, Koichi follows suit, Echoes appearing with a flash and curling around its user, making Reimi coo and Koichi blush. Rohan frowns tightly, but brings out Heaven’s Door. The stand sticks close to Rohan, its wide, doll-like eyes staring at Reimi from past Rohan’s leg, like a shy child hiding behind a parent.
Reimi tilts her head at them all, eyes scanning them in awe, and something in Kakyoin’s heart aches; it reminds him of himself, when he saw other stands for the first time…
… Other stands…
Kakyoin’s eyes narrow. Hmm…
“Stands…you said stands?” Reimi asks, turning to Kakyoin. Kakyoin nods, drawn from his thoughts. Reimi hums. “That must be why you were able to slip in here…”
Kakyoin almost holds his tongue, but he does allow himself to ask, “And you? Why do you think you’re here?”
Reimi’s gaze hardens and she straightens, holding her head up high. “I’m not sure for certain,” she admits, “I just know I’m a ghost. Lots of ghosts get trapped on the Earth. I don’t think I’m a vengeful spirit, but…” her hands clench into fists, her eyes burning, and Kakyoin almost expects to feel the flash of heat that sitting in front of a fire gives him. “I need to let people know- I need to.
"I was the girl in the story I told, yes?” She elaborates, widening her stance, Arnold looking up at her from her side. “That means I was murdered. You get that, yes?” At those words, Kakyoin and Koichi exchange glances. He can figure where this is going…
“My murderer was never caught,” Reimi confirms his suspicions, “my murderer is still here – in Morioh.”
Koichi lets out a stifled noise and Rohan’s teeth clench. Kakyoin’s brows furrow. “How do you know for sure?”
Reimi’s own teeth grit then, and she answers hotly, “because he’s still killing people. Every time he kills someone, I see the victim’s soul fly overhead here, every single time, with the same wound as me, and I can’t do anything about it because I’m stuck here, and-”
“What, are you asking us to find him for you?” Rohan cuts in, and Kakyoin shoots a glare at him for his callous wording. Reimi glares at the ground before shaking her head.
“Not necessarily,” she answers. “But I want- I need him to be stopped. I’m asking you to tell the police, or someone who can catch him, just- anyone-” her voice catches and she stops speaking, bringing a hand up to her mouth. Arnold whines and nudges her free hand with his snout, and Reimi swallows, regathers her composure, and looks back up. Her black eyes are like steel.
“The missing person rate for Morioh…” Koichi mutters. Kakyoin snaps his gaze to him.
“What?”
Koichi jumps, but locks gazes with Kakyoin, expression holding steady, as he says, “The missing person’s rate in Morioh – it’s eight times the national average. If what Reimi says is true, and a part of it is because a murderer is on the loose…”
Kakyoin cusses. “A murderer so good they don’t even realize it was murder, but just a missing person?”
Joseph hums. “Maybe this is why only us standusers could slip into this limbo space…could only a standuser bring him down? Is he a standuser?”
The alley goes deathly quiet. Kakyoin slowly drags his gaze up to Joseph, who locks eyes with him solemnly, but clearly. Kakyoin feels something twist in his stomach, sees a flash of Josuke in his mind, hears Jotaro’s words, hears his own-
But as long as that kid is threatened, I’m sticking around. Got it?
Kakyoin swallows stiffly. Rohan shifts uneasily next to him.
“I don’t know if Morioh being safe again will let me leave this place,” Reimi says, her voice warbled in misery, dipping up and down in pitch, “but I don’t care. I love this town – I grew up in it – I don’t want it to be his playground any longer!”
“Reimi,” Koichi says softly. Kakyoin swallows.
“I understand,” he says quietly. Reimi snaps her gaze to him. Kakyoin leans heavily onto one crutch, reaching up with his free hand to take his sunglasses off. “You have my word that we’ll try our best.”
Koichi stares at him right in his peripheral, and Kakyoin’s skin itches at it. He glances down at him but Koichi has already turned to Reimi, his own brows furrowed in determination. His voice is steady as he says, “Yes. I’ll do my best. You have my word!”
Rohan tuts then, and Kakyoin squints and turns to him. “This is ridiculous,” he says, keeping his head ducked. “But…I suppose it would be good material to draw from for my manga.”
Kakyoin’s eye twitches. “Are you-”
“Where’s the exit, then?” Rohan interrupts, dragging his gaze up to meet Reimi’s and Kakyoin holds his tongue at the expression on his face. “We can’t go telling people if we can’t get out.”
Reimi smiles then, her eyes wide, and Kakyoin purses his lips but lets it go. For now.
“The exit is…tricky,” Reimi says once she regains some composure, and Rohan gestures for her to continue. “I need you all to promise me that you will listen to me exactly.”
Only after she gets all the group's explicitly consent – nods from Joseph, Koichi, and Kakyoin, and eventually, a stiff grunt from Rohan – does she turn and lead the way again. Her skin is whole once more, no blood staining her dress, but Kakyoin shivers regardless, one hand clenching near his sternum. Mm.
“We’re going to turn left here,” Reimi directs, “rather than right. The exit will be right in front.” Koichi lets out a pleased hum, but Reimi cuts into it. “ However,” she stresses, brows creasing, “you absolutely cannot turn around for any reason while you walk down that path back to the main street.”
The group murmurs uneasily. Kakyoin swallows. “What do you mean?”
Reimi hums, face drawn up in concern. “There’s a…presence, that keeps people from leaving. I can just…tell. It’s there.”
Kakyoin hums. He did feel something like that when they first stepped into this alleyway…
Something that made Hierophant stir in response…
He narrows his eyes at Reimi but still says nothing.
They reach the turn, and then-
Chills run up and down Kakyoin’s spine, and he tightens his grip on his crutches, clenching his jaw.
Koichi shudders beside him, shoulders hiking up to his ears before he swallows and continues forward. Joseph grunts, movements becoming jerky, before he continues on. Rohan squeezes his eyes shut and keeps walking.
It’s like walking in chilly water, Kakyoin finds – the air density feels thick here, constantly pushing back at every movement he makes, and the cold creeps up his legs, tickling his lower back. He frowns tightly.
“Keep going!” Reimi’s voice echoes down from the alley, “stay straight ahead! Don’t panic! Just walk calmly!”
Kakyoin grits his teeth. Despite the chill, sweat is starting to bead on his forehead, and the hair on the back of his neck is beginning to rise. He simply has Hierophant tighten his scarf and moves forward, swallowing thickly.
“Mr. Kakyoin,” Koichi hisses, and Kakyoin’s gaze darts toward him before he squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head. “Something’s- it really feels like something’s behind us. Can’t you feel it?”
Kakyoin grits his teeth. “Yeah.”
Something touches his back then, right where the- the exit wound is- and Kakyoin stutters, tripping over his crutches.
“Mr. Kakyoin?!”
“Kakyoin?!”
“Don’t look back!” Reimi shouts, and Kakyoin grits his teeth.
“I’m fine! Something just- touched me,” he snarls.
“Keep going forward!” Reimi calls. “They don’t have any real power so long as you keep moving forward!”
Heart pounding, Kakyoin follows her advice, even as his crutches begin to slip in his sweating palms.
“Almost there! Just a few more meters!”
Koichi jolts beside him, steps stretching out into a jog as he shoots forward, and Kakyoin frowns, trying to hurry after him. “Koichi-”
“Wait!” Reimi calls, voice high in alarm, but growing ever more fainter as they walk away from her, “don’t run! They’ll-”
There’s an echo of Reimi’s voice then, bouncing off the walls of the alley that says, “You did it! You can turn around now, Koichi!”
Kakyoin’s eyes widen and he rushes forward. “KOICH-”
Koichi turns around and suddenly a black mass manifests right in front of him, swooping to engulf him.
“NO!” Kakyoin howls, diving forward, No, no, not one of his kids-!
“Heaven’s Door!” Rohan shouts, and his stand rushes towards Koichi. “Koichi! I’m making it so you can’t see – it should circumvent them!”
Koichi squirms and howls, panic flooding his voice, and Kakyoin-
Heaven’s Door writes in Koichi’s pages, reseals him, and Rohan grabs him when he drops, and-
The mass dissipates.
The mass responded to a stand.
Only stands can hurt other stands.
“I knew it,” Kakyoin announces, and turns around.
“YOU IDIOT-!” Rohan shouts while Koichi yells incoherently and Joseph and Reimi let out cries, but as the dark mass – hands, Kakyoin can see now, reaching out from a mobile shadow – race toward him, Hierophant manifests and strings around it, wrapping over and over like a cacoon-
And it works, and Reimi yelps, and freezes where she’s standing in the alleyway, eyes wide as she stares at Kakyoin.
“Th-theres more!” She shouts, squirming in an attempt to point, but Hierophant’s binds have her tied down, because of the connection between stand and user.
Kakyoin simply closes his eyes, and sets up Hierophant’s barrier around him, entangling everything. It’s in the very air – the stand, Reimi’s stand – shapeless like a gas, only becoming visible when you look to see it. Not unlike Reimi herself, Kakyoin muses, and a quieter part of him says, Not unlike Hierophant, when he was younger.
When he’s sure he’s protected on all sides and angles, Kakyoin reopens his eyes, and stares at Reimi, who’s shaking in Hierophant’s hold, her breaths coming out in stuttered gasps.
“Kakyoin?!” Joseph calls, and Kakyoin turns to see Rohan, Koichi, and Joseph have made it to the street. He nods, swallowing, then turns back to Reimi. Good.
“Wh-what’s going on?” Reimi asks, and Kakyoin sighs.
“Miss Reimi,” he says, “you said us being standusers must have been why we came here. Have you considered that that might have meant you, too?”
Reimi opens and closes her mouth, her eyes widening. “Oh.”
“But- but I didn’t read that she was a standuser-?” Rohan questions.
“No, but you said yourself that Heaven’s Door seems to only be able to read memories made when someone was alive,” Kakyoin says. "If Miss Reimi's stand only activated after she died..." Rohan goes quiet. He refocuses on Reimi.
“I don’t think we properly explained it earlier,” he says as he hikes forward with his crutches. She’s still shaking a little, staring at Kakyoin intently, and Arnold is sniffling anxiously, circling her. “A stand is a manifestation of someone’s soul, of their strong willpower.” He smiles then, trying to make it as comforting as he can stand to be on command. “I think someone who’s stubborn enough to stick around as a ghost must have a lot of willpower, don’t you agree?”
Reimi stares at him with wide eyes. “I guess…but…does that mean…” Her voice begins to warble. “Does that mean- I almost killed Koichi-?”
Kakyoin clicks his tongue. “I don’t think so. Stands come in many shapes and forms, as you saw earlier. Some stands are automatic; they act independently of their user based on a set of rules.” He sits back, chuckling. “For example,” his throat swells then, the backs of his eyes burning at the memory of Polnareff, but he pushes on, “my friend once encountered a stand that was activated when its user was attacked, and it worked as a sort of vengeance enactor. The user couldn’t actually control the stand’s actions once it was active; he could just turn it on and off, so to speak.”
Reimi swallows thickly. “Then…do you think…I can turn my stand off?”
Kakyoin smiles. “Of course.”
Reimi lets out a breath. “How?”
Kakyoin hums. “It can be complicated if you haven’t grown up with it. I don’t know if you’ll get it on your first tr-”
“You just need to relax a little,” Koichi’s voice suddenly pipes up, and Kakyoin and Reimi both whip their heads toward him. He’d walked back down the alley, head held high, and Reimi keeps her gaze trained on him. “You’ve been high strung for a long time…I can’t really blame you, considering your circumstances,” Koichi says, before his voice trails off. He shakes his head. “I don’t pretend to know how an- an ‘automatic’ stand works, but as someone who had to learn about stands myself, recently…” his voice shrinks down then, gaze skirting from Kakyoin. Kakyoin frowns. “But I like to think I’ve learned something, that I’m not completely useless, and I like to think the same would go for you, too, even if we haven’t had stands since childhood.”
Kakyoin’s lips part. Did he really feel that way? “Koichi-”
“Here, just…talk to me a little. Your dog’s name is Arnold?” Koichi says, and Reimi shakily nods. Kakyoin hums and backs off, and lets Koichi take the lead.
…Has he ever let Koichi do that before?
Kakyoin purses his lips, cross his arms. I’ve really been unfair to a lot of people recently, Kakyoin thinks, and he glances down.
After Koichi talks with Reimi a little longer, she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “Okay,” she says, “I think I’m ready to try.”
Kakyoin nods. “I’ll keep Hierophant out until you can.” Reimi hums in acknowledgement.
After a few moments, Hierophant’s tentacles slump as the form they were holding fades, and Reimi lets out a deep breath, her own shoulders slumping. Koichi grins at her, which she returns, and Kakyoin impulsively blurts, “Do you want to train your stand?”
Koichi and Reimi both shoot their gazes at him. “Huh?”
Kakyoin shifts, scraping one crutch against the ground. “I train Koichi and a couple of his friends on how to use their stands,” Kakyoin explains, and Koichi lets out a comprehending noise. “Would you…like to join?”
“Oh!” Reimi says, exchanging glances with Koichi. “I…” her smile fades. “But…I can’t leave the alley. My- my stand isn’t what was keeping me here,”
Kakyoin shakes his head, smiling as he leans against a crutch. “That’s not an issue. You said only standusers notice this place, right? That would make it a better training ground than what we’re currently using.”
“Oh!” Koichi says, before nodding his head, a smile stretching across his face. “Yeah! It would actually be a much more convenient spot than our current place, which is out of the city. Would you mind?”
Reimi opens and closes her mouth before she grins. “Well…if you insist!”
Koichi echoes her grin, his own teeth flashing, and something in Kakyoin aches, aches, aches.
He turns to Reimi. “Well…be ready for Sunday, then. We’ll meet you then.”
Reimi nods her head vigorously. “Yes! Please! I’ll be waiting.”
Kakyoin smiles at her determination. He takes a deep breath. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you just because you’re new to it all,”
Koichi’s face shifts a bit, but Reimi’s gleams ambition, staring at Kakyoin confidently. “I would hope not,” she says, and Kakyoin smiles.
“Then, see you there,” Koichi says, and Reimi smiles.
“Thank you, Koichi,” she says softly, and Koichi laughs, face flushing a bit.
“Of course…standusers have to help each other out.”
Kakyoin winces.
After bidding goodbye, they leave, Reimi waving them off as they walk back down the alley. This time, there is no ominous presence trailing them, confirmation that indeed, the strange spector of the alley was her stand. Kakyoin wonders if he could’ve gotten Reimi to calm down without Koichi there, or if he would have suffocated her, too.
He purses his lips and comes to a stop once they’re out on the street. Koichi notices, and turns to face him, a frown on his face.
“Mr. Ka-?”
“Kochi,” Kakyoin says seriously, placing his hands on the teenager’s shoulders, “I’m- did you mean what you said?”
Koichi stares at him, brows furrowing. "Did I mean- what?"
"Do you think you're useless?" Kakyoin elaborates, and Koichi blinks, before squirming, gaze shooting to the side. Kakyoin keeps his hands on his shoulders.
After a moment of fidgeting, Koichi blurts out, "Don't you?"
Kakyoin reels his head back as if he was slapped, stepping back from the boy. "Wha-?"
"I'm- look, I know Okuyasu and Josuke are better at using their stands than me," Koichi spits out, pulling at the hem of his uniform, his gaze darting everywhere but Kakyoin's. "I know- I know you like them more than me, but I-"
"I- Koichi- I-" Kakyoin stumbles over his words, and then the comments Rohan made baout him playing favorites make a lot more sense now, and Kakyoin closes his mouth, staring at Koichi with wide, horrified eyes. "Koichi, I don't- I don't feel that way at all."
Koichi tugs harder at his uniform before jerking his head up, meeting Kakyoin's gaze straight up, brows furrowed depserately. "Well- well it feels like it. It feels like it. It feels like you're- always annoyed with me."
Kakyoin opens and closes his mouth, but he doesn't know what to say. He supposes he has been short with Koichi, but he's been short with almost...everyone...for a long time.
"Koichi," he says quietly. Koichi just squeezes his eyes shut and swallows.
Kakyoin's head swimming, he can only stare for a few heartbeats, chills dancing in his chest, his limbs feeling leaden and heavy.
"Koichi," he says again, "I'm sorry."
Koichi winces before opening his eyes again. Kakyoin keeps his gaze, lips parting, but he isn't sure what else to say.
"I'm sorry," he repeats lamely. "I..."
Koichi just shakes his head. "I don't-" he sighs. "I appreciate your apology, Mr. Kakyoin, but it's not- it's not what I want," he admits quietly. Before Kakyoin can respond to that, Koichi checks his watch, and then says, “Ah, I- I’m meeting up with Josuke and Okuyasu, I’ve gotta get going. I’ll see you Sunday! I’ll let them know about the change in meeting spot, along with…” Koichi grimaces. “Everything else.”
He turns and begins swiftly walking away then, and Kakyoin blurts out, "Koichi!"
Koichi flinches and halts, and Kakyoin closes his eyes for a moment, sucking in a breath.
"You...you did good today. You were able to calm Reimi down quickly. You’ve applied what you’ve learned and were able to reteach it even. I…” it’s a near thing, a part of Kakyoin wanting to dodge Koichi’s gaze, but he knows he shouldn’t. He stares at him head on. “I’m proud of you.”
Koichi returns the stare. Kakyoin itches underneath his cardigan, sweat sliding down his back. Rohan and Joseph are off to the side politely ignoring their conversation, Rohan with his arms crossed, staring vacantly at the road while Joseph looks at his map, humming.
Finally, Koichi clears his throat, and Kakyoin skirts his gaze back to him. Koichi smiles a little, shoulders a little less stiff, as he says, “I’m…glad to hear it, Mr. Kakyoin.”
Kakyoin swallows. “Koichi,” he says again, voice strained. Koichi shakes his head.
"I really do have to go, Mr. Kakyoin, but," he smiles then, and it's a little more natural, crinkles the corner of his eyes a little more, "thank you."
Kakyoin swallows. He wants to say more – knows that he should – but Koichi turns and walks, and before long, is out of sight. He sighs and shakes his head, even if he’s grateful for the extra time to figure out…whatever he wants to say. A proper apology, perhaps, once he figures out his own behavior. A promise to try and see things from his perspective.
Kakyoin winces at the thought. That's right...
He shakes his head and turns to Rohan and Joseph. Rohan is still staring absently while Joseph hums, studying his map.
“I think the bus stop back to the hotel is just down the street,” Joseph says thoughtfully. Kakyoin glances at the map where he’s pointing and nods.
“Yeah, that sounds right.”
Joseph hums, refolding his map and he makes for the stop, leaving just Kakyoin and Rohan at the mouth of the alley. Kakyoin moves to follow before glancing back at Rohan. He hesitates before sighing, staying put.
“So, Reimi,” he says, and Rohan’s gaze snaps to him. “What was all…” Kakyoin gestures vaguely, “that about?”
Rohan narrows his eyes. “What was what about?”
Kakyoin sighs. “I’m not- I’m not trying to start a fight. But you’ve been acting super weird this whole time – I guess that’s par for the course for you-” Rohan glares “-but still.”
Rohan rolls his eyes. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but even if I did, It’s none of your business. Now if you’ll excuse me-”
“You mentioned your childhood home used to be here,” Kakyoin says, and Rohan freezes, “that’s why you came here in the first place. If…if what happened occurred 15 years ago, then-”
“Shut up,” Rohan hisses, and Kakyoin does for once. Rohan takes a deep breath, shaking his head.
Kakyoin shifts his jaw before saying, “I offered to teach Reimi how to use her stand.”
Rohan stares back into the street wistfully, eyes glazed over. He says nothing for a long while, and Kakyoin glances at the man’s watch. He should really get to the bus stop with Joseph so he doesn’t risk the bus arriving and leaving without him…
“I was four,” Rohan says suddenly, and Kakyoin snaps his gaze to him. “When I last lived in Morioh,” he elaborates. “As such, I don’t…remember much…but…”
His face gets pinched then, frowning tightly. “...But my parents kept a shrine for a girl. A small one, but still. They said she was my babysitter when I was young. They said-'' Rohan's breath hitches just barely, and Kakyoin ducks his head to give Rohan some facsimile of privacy. After a beat, Rohan whispers, “They said she saved my life once. And considering it was a shrine, it didn’t take much deduction to realize- maybe that’s a choice that killed her.”
Kakyoin blinks, lips parting. “Oh… Ro-”
But Rohan has turned, walking down the opposite end of the street. Kakyoin watches him go, frowning but not moving to chase after him. It certainly explains a few things about Rohan in general, let alone his behavior this afternoon…
Kakyoin sighs, shakes his head, and then turns to join Joseph at the bus stop. He needs to cross the street to get there, pausing at the crosswalk to wait for the signal for pedestrains.
As he waits, a small white car driving down the side of the road slows to a stop at the light. As they both sit, the passenger window rolls down. Kakyoin glances over.
“Excuse me, sir?” the man inside asks. Kakyoin hums in acknlowedgement. The man is blonde, his hair mostly slicked back save for some loose curls, his gaze focused on Kakyoin’s gloves from there they’re shown off against his crutches. “Excuse me, where did you get those gloves? They look wonderful.”
Kakyoin blinks. “Oh, these?” He glances at them, picking at the worn fabric. He’s had them for a few years now, but they’ve still served him well despite the daily usage. The man must have a good eye for spotting such quality… “I- don’t remember, exactly. A local shop in Athens, Greece, maybe?”
The man hums, still staring, before he shifts his gaze up to Kakyoin’s face. “Do you think they’d do a phone order overseas? My girlfriend, she loves hand accessories, you see, and I think she’d love those for the winter months.”
Kakyoin hums. “I think it’s worth a try? I don’t- I don’t remember the shop name, though.”
The man hums, but before he can say anything else, the light switches to green. Stealing one last long glance at his gloves, the man slowly drives forward and off. Kakyoin shivers at the lingering gaze, tightening his scarf around his neck, and joins Joseph at the bus stop.