TW: drugs

-

The moment you got in the car, you sped to the nearest city.

It happened to be not as far as you thought, and it was pretty big as well.

It wasn't a place you had ever been, nor had you ever heard of it.

You dropped Muhammad and Noriaki off at the hospital.

The sun was setting over the horizon, so Jotaro, Mr. Joestar and Polnareff were going to set off to find a hotel.

You didn't leave the hospital.

Mr. Joestar gave you instruction to be back to the hotel at a reasonable time, but you weren't going to leave. You couldn't, no chance.

You sat in the waiting room all night, at some point falling asleep in your chair.

A nurse came out to get you, she mentioned that Muhammad had woken up, but Noriaki had yet to wake up.

She spoke to you in somewhat broken English first, but as soon as you started responding in Arabic, she loosened up.

"His condition is stable, his neck is stitched up. No major arteries were severed, and he'll be ready to go in a day or so when his stitches can be removed."

"Thank you," you walk into his room and pull up a chair.

He looks as though he's about to speak, but you hold your hand up, signaling him not to.

"Don't, you'll only strain yourself."

He looks at you.

"Everyone else knows except you and Noriaki, I'll catch him up when he wakes. I fought the stand user known as N'Doul. His stand held the namesake Geb, Egyptian God of the Earth. The nine men and women Michael had mentioned are presumably going to represent Egyptian gods. I think it could be the Ennead."

He looked surprised, but then he looked down.

"Don't think I'm surprised," he said.

"I didn't think you would be. We're in Egypt now, it only makes sense."

You stand up, getting closer to his bedside.

You peek at his neck.

You squint.

If it was another couple centimeters right towards the center of his neck, he was done for.

"I can't keep almost losing you, Muhammad. What happens when you get injured and can't recover?"

You grab the side of his hospital bed.

You look into his eyes.

"Maybe you should sit the rest of the trip out."

"No."

"But-"

"I am far too invested. I apologize but I cannot turn back now."

You knew he wasn't doing this from a place of ignorance or pride, but one of heart. He cared deeply for the Joestars. He cared deeply for all those around him, he always did. He cared for you more than most, but it was that care that made him make decisions that were foolish in regards to his own life.

Did he get that from you? Or did you get that from him?

"Right."

You sat back down in silence. Not out of anger or emotion, but out of a feeling of defeat. That threat of death to everyone you've come to care about.

Just as you were about to get lost in your own thoughts, the nurse returned.

She informed you that doctors were coming to see Muhammad so you'd have to leave, but you could go sit with Noriaki.

He was apparently stable enough to welcome visitors.

You said your goodbyes and followed the nurse to Noriaki's room.

"It's too early to know anything about him regaining his sight, he's been asleep ever since he got out of surgery."

You nod, she opens the door.

You walk in and she shuts the door.

There was already a chair next to his bedside by a window.

You take a seat, trying your best not to look at him.

You were so close to him, you could have helped.

This was one of the reasons you always put yourself in harms way, you hated the guilt that came from failure and the pain of those you were supposed to be protecting. Which before recently, was barely anyone that you truly cared about. But in the past month, that's changed.

You weren't aware of the fact that meaningful relationships didn't take years to make until now.

You looked at him.

His eyes were covered with bandages, his regular school uniform replaced by a hospital gown.

You sighed, leaning forward and putting your head down onto his bed. You grabbed his hand, hoping that maybe he could feel it.

You defeated N'Doul, got some unspoken revenge for both him and Muhammad, so why did you feel so guilty?

The faint beeping coming from the machines in his room mixed with the sounds of wheels and conversation in the hall made you recognize how exhausted you were.

You needed to stop pushing yourself.

It was as you were drifting off to sleep that you felt his hand squeezing yours, just a little bit tighter.

You shot up.

"Noriaki?"

"Akira? Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital, N'Doul has been defeated."

"The stand from the desert? Who got him?"

"Iggy and I did."

"Did you get anything out of him?"

"No, but his stand's name is Geb. Geb is the Egyptian God of the Earth, like the terrain and ground. With what Michael said about the nine men and women, mixed with Geb being N'Doul's stand, I'm assuming that the remaining eight stand users hold the titles of the remaining eight gods in the Ennead."

"Ennead?"

"To put it simply, the Ennead are a group of nine Egyptian gods and goddesses. If I'm remembering correctly, the nine gods are Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Set. They were worshiped at Heliopolis, a major ancient city. Given that we faced Geb already, I'm only assuming we're facing the other gods of the Ennead. I could be wrong."

He nods.

"I see, We're in Egypt, it only makes sense we're faced with this now."

"That's what I said,"

You sigh. You looked at his face. His eyes were completely covered with bandages, all you could see was his nose and mouth.

"I'm sorry...Noriaki."

"Why?"

"I was right there, I feel like I could have stopped Geb."

"You couldn't have, even if you think you could have there was no way. You still defeated him, and I'm here and I'm alive."

"What happens if you can't see again?"

"I'll still live."

He squeezed your hand tighter.

"How did you know about Jotaro and I?"

"Mr. Joestar and Mr. Avdol were talking about it at breakfast one morning, some plan he and his wife had to set you up. They both seemed pretty thrilled with it."

"I heard about the plan on the submarine," you confess. "Muhammad has wanted me to aim towards settling down in the near future. He doesn't care who with, he just wants me to stop sleeping around. He says it like I'm a sleaze, I just like to have that temporary connection."

"I get it. I can't relate to it, but I get it."

"I want more time with you. We didn't really get the chance to spend time with one another."

"Does it look like I'm going anywhere?"

"Not anytime soon," he laughs. "The odds are kind of stacked against us, though."

"What were you talking about with the 'death' thing?"

"The likelihood of all of us making out is slim to none, you realize that I'm sure. I tried to keep Muhammad out of battle but he refused. I told Jotaro that I wanted to put him and his grandfather on a plane to Tokyo and he laughed at me. In fact, I was gonna convince you to stay here until the trip is over. I know no one's willingly going to go home, and if I somehow could do this alone, I would."

"That would be like throwing yourself to the wolves, there's no way you could do it alone. I know firsthand how terrifying DIO's power is. I don't even know what he can do, I just know that he's terrifying. It'll take all of us to fight him."

"I know, I just wish it wasn't this way."

"We all do. I think I speak for all of us when I say if we could take him alone we would."

"I know," you lay your head back down.

"What time is it?"

"Like eleven AM, why?"

"Have you been here since last night?"

"Yeah, Mr. Joestar is gonna be pissed when he gets here."

"You should go back to the hotel, there's no hard feelings here."

"Good to know the feelings aren't hard," you smiles He does too. It was a stupid joke, but he laughed anyway. "I'll say my goodbyes then."

You stood up.

"I'll try to come back later."

"I'm not going anywhere," he laughs.

He raises your hand to his lips, kissing it before you go.

"Okay, Cherry boy. See ya later?"

"See ya," he smiles. You finish your walk to the door, closing it behind you.

You make your way through the halls back to Muhammad's room.

You walk in as the doctor leaves.

"Come sit, I have good news."

You oblige, sitting back down next to his bedside.

"What's up?"

"I'll be perfectly okay, and I can be released come tomorrow."

You hummed in response

He smiles at you.

"How's Kakyoin? Did he wake up?"

"He did, he's okay. Other than his eyes, he's fine. The nurse said his stay is indefinite for now, and his sight isn't guaranteed."

"As long as there's a chance he'll recover, you just have to remain optimistic."

"You're right," you look back at him. "He told me to go to the hotel to get some sleep, I think thats what I'll do. My back is starting to feel the effects of the waiting room chair. Not pleasant."

You sigh, cracking your back as you stand up.

"Go relax, Akira. You've more than earned it."

"Don't mind if I do."

You say your goodbyes and leave the room, waiting for the next elevator to the lobby.

It arrives, you hop on and arrive at the bottom floor in a matter of seconds.

You walk out the front doors to see the others waiting at the car.

Polnareff waves at you.

You walk over to join them.

"Whatever happened to coming back to the hotel?" Mr. Joestar questioned.

"Hey, if you thought I was actually leaving until both of them woke up then that's on you."

"So, they're both awake?" Polnareff asks.

"Yeah, both awake and doing fine. I'll let Muhammad tell you how he's doing. Noriaki on the other hand... no one really knows. It's too soon to tell for him."

"That's unfortunate," Mr. Joestar comments. "We were all talking earlier about it, and if his recovery time extends tomorrow then we'd be forced to leave him behind until he recovers."

"It's only logical," you agree. "He needs the time to recover."

"Exactly."

"Where are you off to?" Jotaro asks.

"Hotel, I'm glad I ran into you guys or else I would have been showing up blind. Who am I rooming with?"

"Me," he responds, tossing you a key. "Room 310."

"Cool, what time will you guys be back around?"

"No more than a couple hours from now," Mr. Joestar responds. "It's a bit of a hike from here, Polnareff, why don't you take her in the car then swing back around?"

He looked as though he wanted to fight Mr. Joestar on it, but then he smiled and agreed.

"Sure! I have some catching up to do with my buddy over here."

He wrapped his arm around your shoulder.

This wasn't going to be fun.

-

You got in the passengers seat of the vehicle, grabbing an orange from the back.

You lit a cigarette.

"So, what do you want from me?"

"I don't get it, Akira! We're like, friends, right? Yet you don't tell me a thing!"

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Jotaro?"

You took a drag out of your cigarette before eating the orange.

"Are you a thing?"

"Not exactly. There was a plan that neither of us were aware of, a plan devised by the Joestars and Muhammad to get us together. I know Muhammad wants me to settle down for once, and find something meaningful, but I have no idea what the Joestars get from this. A domesticated grandson?" You scoff. "Plus, with death just around the corner, I'm not committing to something that might not last more than a week at this point. Stop at a convenience store, I'm getting beer and I'm going back to the hotel to take a shower."

"Sounds like a solid Friday night to me," he joked.

"What? Drunk and lonely? Also, it's Thursday."

He nodded his head, realizing his self-deprecation hit harder than he bargained for.

"You're young enough, Jean. You'll find someone in time. Just stop trying to stick it in every woman who breathes."

"Says you," He laughs. You smile a little.

"I don't go after anyone, people just seem to flock to me. And I think that's the main difference between the two of us," you continue smiling at him.

He stops the car.

Looking to the left, you see a small liquor store.

"Here, the hotel is around the corner. It's pretty nice, so go take advantage of it."

"I will. Thanks for the lift."

"Anytime," he salutes. "Do you want to go for drinks tonight?"

"Of course, I'm down."

You wave as he drives off.

You buy your beer and walk to the hotel.

Polnareff was right, it was incredibly nice. Definitely the nicest you'd stayed in since Singapore.

You walk through the lobby and up the stairs to your room.

You walk in, discovering your stuff already in the room.

And by stuff, it was the other three articles of clothing you owned that the Speedwagon Foundation took the liberty of packing.

A pair of shorts (which you had stolen from a store in London), a t-shirt (which you had stolen from a metal show in Munich), and another pair of pants (you'd actually bought these from a store in Cairo). You lived rather frugally, having too much in the way of possessions took away room for useful stuff. That, and the fact you didn't have a salary nor did you want to drain Muhammad's wallet."

You started the shower, cracking open a can of beer before getting in.

The cold water was especially refreshing due to the arid conditions outside.

You got out, opting to put on the shorts and your tank-top.

Something you neglected to process when you first got in the room was a lack of a second bed.

Damn you, Joseph Joestar.

You crawled into the bed setting your beer on the bedside table.

You were half asleep by the time you had finished the can, and as soon as you were about to cross into the glorious threshold into your dreams, the door to the room opened.

You look up from the covers to see Jotaro make his way in.

You sit up, rubbing your face with your hand to wake yourself up.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No, I didn't fully fall asleep."

"Just go to sleep, don't let me disturb you."

"No, I'm awake. I'm fine."

You got up and walked across the room, getting another beer before sitting down on the bed near the window.

He sat next to you, every so often taking the can from your hand to drink from it.

You laid back on the bed.

"I'm going drinking with Polnareff tonight, he invited me."

"He's paying?"

"I'm not sure, I don't think he has any pounds on him, but I could be wrong."

"Just don't get yourselves into trouble."

You smiled a bit. He glared.

"Fine, fine. We won't." You returned to your usual stoic expression.

He looked at you and just smiled.

"Hm?"

"What?"

"Nothing. What time is it?"

"I think it's about two-ish."

You stand back up and walk to the other side of the bed, crawling in it once more.

You hand him the can from across the bed.

"Finish it up for me, I'm going to sleep."

"I'll be here when you wake up."

"Thank you."

You watched as he lay back next to you.

He was the last thing you saw before finally shutting your eyes and going to bed.

You felt guilty for leaving him alone, but you needed to sleep.

-

You woke up an hour later, him still next to you.

In a not so shocking turn of events, he had fallen asleep next to you. His hat covered his face, light poured in from the window.

You looked to find a clock, eventually you spotted one and realized it was only about three-thirty.

You got up, walking to the six pack on the dresser and taking another can.

There was no TV in the room, no books or paperwork in sight. You had nothing you could be doing.

It felt awful.

You went to the window and looked outside, drinking from the can while you crossed back to the other side of the room, grabbing a cigarette.

You return to the window and people watched. You cracked the window to let out smoke.

Getting bored you returned to your side of the bed, laying back down and closing your eyes.

The only reason you could tell Jotaro was awake was because the cigarette in between your lips was magically floating away.

You opened your eyes, watching as he put the cigarette to his lips and took a drag of it.

"Awake, are we?"

He grunts, he was half-awake.

You roll over, bumping into him. He puts his arm around you.

You sit yourself up, he leans into you.

You take your cigarette back, he grunts.

"Time?"

"3:34."

He hums, finally waking himself up more.

He moves his hat, looking at you. He seems almost confused.

"Yo"

"Hi,"

He sighs and grunts.

"Why don't you go back to bed?"

You move to get off of him, but he pulls you back.

"Only if you do."

He takes the cigarette from in between your lips and puts it out on the nightstand.

"Oi-"

You realized nothing was giving you a reasonable cause to stay awake. Polnareff would come get you when he did, and that was up to him.

"Yare yare daze, I'll stay."

"Good."

You laid back down and he shuffled down the bed next to you.

He rolled onto his side, you rolled facing him.

It didn't take either of you long to get your limbs entangled. His arms rested on your back and yours holding around his waist. He laid in the crook of your neck, and you in the crook of his.

You sighed.
-

Polnareff knocked on your door a few hours later.

The time in between filled with casual conversation, lazy making out, and (most importantly) alcohol.

You were already some level of intoxicated as you walked out with Polnareff.

-

Polnareff seemed a little shocked, making jokes about your muscles and how buff you are.

"Hey," he whines. "Maybe if you showed those guns off a little more, our enemies would back off."

It was true. You were more muscular then everyone in your team.

"I'm just sayin'."

"Where are we going?"

"I saw this lounge earlier, I wanted to go. I mean, we haven't been anywhere where we'd have time to experience the nightlife of Egypt that you so frequently talk up."

"I was talking Cairo. I have no idea what it's like down here."

"Either way. The only word I could read on the sign was 'velvet'."

"That's how you know it's good," you laugh.

He looked at you and stopped walking. He got very close to your face, it looked like he was examining your eyes.

"Oi, what's the iss-"

"Have you been drinking?"

"No duh, you were with me when I bought the six pack."

"And how much of it did you drink?"

"Umm....I shared some of the cans with Jotaro."

"Either way, you need to watch yourself."

"You act like we're not on our way to drink right now."

"You have a good point," he resumes walking. "I'm also hoping to meet some ladies."

"Good luck with that."

You saw it, neon light shining from down the block as you turned the corner.

You read the sign in the distance, the name read "The Green Velvet Hideaway."

The only word being not written in Arabic was velvet, just like he said.

It was a concrete and dark brick building with an awning on the outside, but no bouncer in sight.

You saw blue light pour out the door as you got close to it, Polnareff went first.

He swung