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Jotaro Kujo does not, under any circumstances, look forward to the rest of his summer vacation. He never has, and he’s sure that he never will, at least not until he’s finally finished with college and has a real job instead of having to work at his grandfather’s coffee shop every summer for his whole life. He’d been working there every summer since he began high school, and had been made to “help out” around the shop ever since he was old enough to be trusted not to break any dishes in the place. And he had been hoping, desperately hoping, that in his final summer before starting university he might be able to escape this coffee-filled hellscape and have fun for once, but naturally his mother and grandfather had other plans.
He knows it can’t be helped. After all, “The Stand” is the most popular coffee shop in town, and the only people who work there besides his grandfather, who owns the place and only works there when Jotaro can’t because of school, are his mother, who shows up twice a day to replenish the cafe’s supply of baked goods, and Polnareff, who started there a couple years ago. And, well, Polnareff is a good worker and all, but he’s also incredibly obnoxious at times. So basically, Jotaro has to prepare himself for the worst summer ever, just like he does every year.
He stands behind the counter, watching with disinterest as Polnareff tries and fails to flirt with the customer he is currently handing a drink to. Waiting until the young lady leaves with her drink, he turns to the Frenchman and asks “Is it really a good idea for you to flirt with the customers while you have a boyfriend?”
Polnareff scoffs, clutching a hand to his heart in overly exaggerated shocked indignation. “My dear Jotaro, you know nothing of the way romance can invite good things into someone’s life.”
Jotaro just sighs, waiting to hear whatever stupid punchline is sure to come after that.
Sure enough, Polnareff continues. “Flirting brings bigger tips, you know, and bigger tips means more money I can spend on my Avdol.” He points towards the corner of the shop, where his much calmer and more tolerable boyfriend sits, sipping on some tea. “Isn’t that right babe?” He calls out.
Avdol looks up from the book he’s reading and gives a thumbs-up, clearly not really listening to whatever Polnareff is saying, though Polnareff either seems not to notice or doesn’t care, as he throws an arm around Jotaro’s shoulders, grinning, “See? That’s the power of love, mon ami. You should give it a try sometime!”
Jotaro removes himself from Polnareff’s hold and shoots him a glare. Why the hell should he care about something as annoying as love? He spent all of high school avoiding the droves of girls who tried to throw themselves at his feet every day, and if that didn’t teach him that romance is no good, then he really doesn’t know what will.
Free from his co-worker’s grip, he is now able to turn towards the door as he hears the bell jingle. He’s never been the type to greet a customer as they walk in, always leaving it up to Polnareff who is much more enthusiastic about things like customer service, but even if he was one to call out a cheery hello to anyone coming in the door, he would have fallen dumbstruck upon seeing the young man who’s walking in at this moment.
He’s tall, or at least tall compared to most people since Jotaro tends to tower over everyone. His red hair hangs down his neck aside from one neatly curled bang in front, and the cherry-shaped earrings that dangle from his ears swing back and forth as he looks around the shop. Okay, so maybe romance isn’t completely off the table...
The trance Jotaro finds himself in is only broken as Polnareff shouts out a greeting directly in his ear. “Yo! Kakyoin! It’s been a couple days, man, where’ve you been?”
Kakyoin, as his name seems to be, walks up to the counter, rolling his eyes. “Unlike you, Polnareff, some people have personal lives to attend to.”
Jotaro suppresses a laugh, the muffled noise drawing both other men’s attention to him. He quickly pulls his hat over his eyes in an attempt to hide from their notice once more.
“Oh!” Polnareff exclaims, unable to allow Jotaro the comfort of anonymity. “Kakyoin! This is Kujo Jotaro, he’s old man Joestar’s grandson.” He turns to Jotaro next. “Jotaro, this guy’s our newest regular. He’s come in almost every day for the last month and orders the same gross drink, isn’t that right, red?”
Kakyoin frowns. “The Heirophant Green is not gross, thank you very much. You just don’t have decent taste buds in that brain-dead skull of yours. Frankly, it’s a crime it’s not on your menu yet.” Jotaro suppresses another laugh, feeling a slight blush begin to creep up his neck as Kakyoin turns a puppy-dog gaze onto him.
“What do you think, Jotaro? Iced green tea with cherry syrup and matcha. Doesn’t that sound incredible?”
Jotaro can only pull a face. “Sorry Kakyoin, as much as I hate to agree with Polnareff, it does sound pretty gross.”
The redhead’s puppy-dog gaze quickly hardens into a steely glare, the only indication that he isn’t furious with Jotaro’s blunt answer is the slight twitch of the corner of his lips threatening to break into a smile. “Well, yours can’t be much better.” He huffs, crossing his arms.
“What makes you think I would do something as childish as invent a drink?” He asks.
Kakyoin gestures to the menu, littered with ridiculous drink names that have nothing to do with their flavors. “Mr. Joestar informed me a couple of weeks ago that everyone who works here has to invent a drink for the menu. Polnareff told me even Avdol has one because he comes in so often, so why don’t I?”
Jotaro watches him from under the brim of his hat. “Your drink has to be good to go on the menu, obviously.”
Kakyoin scoffs, re-crossing his arms and flipping his hair out of his face dramatically. “And so I say again, your drink can’t be any better than mine, Jojo.”
Mirroring Kakyoin’s stance now, Jotaro crosses his arms as well, replying tersely. “It is.”
Polnareff seems to be watching the newfound rivalry with great interest, but Jotaro couldn’t care less at this moment. He’s so focused on watching Kakyoin’s face, not for any particular reason of course, that he loses track of everything else going on around him. Kakyoin’s mouth finally betrays him during their staring contest, and he breaks into a confident smile. Leaning on the countertop, he grins, “Okay then, why don’t we play a game?”
Jotaro raises an eyebrow expectantly before Kakyoin continues. “If I can guess which drink on the menu is yours, then you have to add my Hierophant Green to the menu as an official item, and you have to drink it.”
The look on Kakyoin’s face is so adorably expectant that Jotaro finds himself agreeing to the challenge without a moment’s hesitation, earning him a sly look from Polnareff and an even deeper blush spreading across his own neck as he realizes that Polnareff can probably tell how attractive he thinks Kakyoin is. Not that he thinks anything of the sort. Obviously.
Forcing Polnareff to take over orders for a few minutes, Jotaro pulls Kakyoin to the side to hash out the rules of their engagement. They eventually agree that he has until the two of them leave for university at the end of the summer in a month to guess correctly, he is only allowed one guess per visit, and he has to order and drink whatever he guesses, which is meant to stop him from just going down the menu one by one. They also agree that should Kakyoin fail to guess correctly by the end of summer, Jotaro’s prize is that he gets to come up with the worst drink he can think of and make Kakyoin drink the whole thing.
“So, Kakyoin.” Jotaro says, pointing vaguely towards the menu behind him. “Which drink is mine?”
Kakyoin looks over the menu thoughtfully. He mumbles to himself about how Jotaro seems like the type to prefer simplicity over extravagance, so a few drinks can be instantly ruled out, such as the Silver Chariot, which can only be described as Polnareff’s vanilla monstrosity. Eventually, he seems to settle on one, locking eyes with Jotaro and piercing him with an overly-confident lavender stare. “I’d like to order the Hermit Purple, please.”
Polnareff fails to contain his laughter almost immediately, while Jotaro can only pout, complaining about how offensive it is that anyone could get that geezer Joseph’s old-man drink mixed up with his own. But, Kakyoin takes the incorrect drink, which is a simple caramel latte, and insists that he’s sure to get it correct on his next visit.
With a wink that sends Jotaro’s heart rate into overdrive, Kakyoin leaves the shop, waving goodbye to Avdol on his way out.
As Polnareff elbows Jotaro and begins an increasing tyrade of teasing comments about him and the other man that Jotaro chooses to ignore to save Polnareff the broken bones, he runs his hand through his hair under his hat and lets out a soft groan.
This is going to be a difficult summer for more reasons than one, isn’t it?
---
As the summer days slip by faster than Jotaro had been expecting, he finds himself almost sad that the break has to end so soon. Kakyoin has been a regular visitor to The Stand nearly every day for the last couple weeks now, and Jotaro couldn't be happier about it, not that he’d ever let anyone know that.
Kakyoin is surprisingly talkative once he gets going, despite his claims that he’s usually quite socially awkward. He usually makes time for at least ten or fifteen minutes of conversation at the counter before finally making his always incorrect guess at Jotaro’s drink. So far, he’s been pretty wildly off, with guesses ranging from Avdol’s Magician’s Red, a strawberry iced tea, to Aerosmith, an orange-flavored mocha. Yet still he managed not to get anywhere close to Jotaro’s choice. Not that it seemed to matter to either of them, as Jotaro was immensely enjoying being able to talk to Kakyoin for those few precious minutes every day, and Kakyoin never seemed to lose faith that he would get the next one right.
Through their conversations, and on occasion from Polnareff mentioning random tidbits that he knows, Jotaro learns that Kakyoin is the same age as him, and is going to be attending the same university that he will be, though as an art student he will probably share no classes with Jotaro who’s going into marine biology. He learns that Kakyoin likes watching sumo wrestling, has an affinity for spouting whatever fun fact he learned that day to whoever will listen, loves playing video games, and that his favorite food is cherries. And maybe Jotaro starts buying fresh cherries so he can throw one onto the top of the Heirophant Green when Kakyoin orders it, but if he does, he doesn’t say anything about it. In turn, Jotaro shares more of his life with Kakyoin than he has ever shared with anyone, and somehow he doesn’t even feel like it’s that strange.
Within just a few weeks, Kakyoin has managed to become Jotaro’s closest friend, and his excitement about seeing him every day even gets him to look forward to working at the cafe.
The only problem is that Jotaro is also stupidly in love with the guy.
It had started with that first day, when just seeing Kakyoin’s smile made him blush and feel dizzy. Soon enough his heart skipped a beat every time the bell on the door jingled just because he hoped it was Kakyoin coming in. They annoyed him at first, these feelings, because he didn’t really know what to do with them. He had always assumed he just wasn’t into romance, since none of the girls who had ever shown interest in him caught his eye in any way. But Kakyoin isn’t a girl, and he definitely got Jotaro’s attention…
When he realized what that meant, he spent a few hours locked in his bedroom having a quick identity crisis as he dealt with the fact that he must be gay, before moving on and eating dinner with his mom as if thinking about the way Kakyoin looked at him wasn’t enough to make him feel faint.
It had taken a few days to truly come to terms with his crush, but now that he knows what it is it’s a lot easier to ignore it. Or so he tries to tell himself. Really all it does is make him ten times more nervous when talking to Kakyoin, terrified that any moment he'll accidentally confess his love or something equally embarrassing. So he sticks to his usual methods of barely speaking and drawing his hat over his face to hide the many, many times his face reddens thanks to the other man. And the worst of it all, is that despite everything, he can’t help but wonder if Kakyoin might feel the same way. The way he had winked at him that first day might indicate he does, or perhaps the way his touch on Jotaro’s arm lingers for just a little longer than it should. But Jotaro knows better than to just assume such things immediately mean his feelings are reciprocated.
It doesn’t matter anyway. The summer will be coming to a close soon enough, and then at best he will see Kakyoin in passing on campus, probably going unacknowledged as Kakyoin is sure to make friends who actually know how to voice their feelings towards him without resorting to shy silence or angry grunts. He can only hope that he is lucky enough to spend the rest of the summer with him as it is.
Of course, though, things never work out the way he wants them to. Not with this summer job, and not with Kakyoin.
Because with only a week left of summer vacation, Dio comes into the shop.
---
Dio Brando is another regular at The Stand, though he usually doesn’t come in himself, more often choosing one of his lackeys or some unfortunate intern at his company to pick up his orders instead. This is manageable. But when Dio comes in on his own, it’s a different story. The man always finds something to complain about, especially if Jotaro is working that day. Ever since Jotaro’s first year officially working behind the counter when he had “accidentally” spilt Dio’s drink on him after seeing the man shove three other customers aside to get to the front of the line, Dio has had it out for Jotaro’s life.
Though with Kakyoin currently standing at the counter rambling on about some facts he learned about flamingos that he claims Jotaro might find interesting, Jotaro is determined not to let Dio do anything to ruin the afternoon. He makes Dio’s drink, hands it over with a curt nod, and goes back to listening to Kakyoin talk. And then Dio erupts.
“You absolute IMBECILE, Kujo Jotaro!” He screeches, glaring at Jotaro as he storms back up towards the counter. “I asked for a cup of The World, and what did you give me? A disgusting Gold Experience! I order the same thing every time, and yet still you manage to fuck it up?”
Jotaro holds back his harsh reply, opting instead for a simple, “I can remake it.” said through gritted teeth.
“I want it remade, and I want you to apologize for making me, Dio, have to go through this traumatic event.” Dio sneers, obviously enjoying his opportunity to humiliate Jotaro in front of so many people.
Jotaro is about to take the cup back and not fight it when Kakyoin moves, stepping in front of the counter and blocking off Dio from fully reaching it.
“It was a simple mistake.” Kakyoin defends. “And frankly, your behavior is incorrigible and unbecoming.”
Dio’s glare turns to ice as he looks Kakyoin over. “You must be the distraction that caused this mess.” His face lights up into a smug, evil grin. “That means you can be the one to pay for it.”
And before Jotaro can react to what’s going on, Dio throws his drink, still scalding hot, directly at Kakyoin’s face.
---
Kakyoin falls with a scream, clutching his face where the near-boiling liquid just hit him. Jotaro launches himself over the counter in an instant, throwing his fist as hard as he can into Dio’s face before dropping to the floor and grabbing Kakyoin, who still has his hands over his eyes. Jotaro looks at Polnareff, quickly telling him to watch the store, lifting the other man off the ground and carrying him outside. Kakyoin weakly fishes in his pockets for his car keys, handing them to Jotaro and gesturing vaguely towards a car on the curb.
Jotaro sets his friend down in the passenger’s seat, diving into the driver’s seat and hoping that the three driving lessons his grandfather tried to give him a year ago before giving up in frustration will be enough to get them both to the hospital without crashing.
Somehow arriving at the hospital in one piece, Kakyoin is quickly carted away while Jotaro explains the situation to one of the doctors present. He is told to go home while they look after the redhead, which he reluctantly does, but not after threatening a few doctors with a slow, painful death if they fail to take good care of him.
A few days later, the hospital informs him that he can go visit, so without a moment’s hesitation, he once again leaves Polnareff in charge of the store, the Frenchman arguing that he’s “older so shouldn’t I be in charge anyway?”, not that Jotaro listens, choosing to ignore him in favor of making his way to go see Kakyoin.
Walking into the room, he sees the familiar form of Kakyoin sitting upright in the hospital bed, a bandage wrapped tightly around his eyes. He perks up at the sound of someone entering the room, tilting his head to the side and smiling wide. “Jojo?” He asks.
Jotaro could melt at the sight and the hopefulness with which Kakyoin asked the question. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
Kakayoin’s grin splits even wider. “You smell like coffee.”
Jotaro tries and fails not to let the fact that Kakyoin can recognize him by scent go to his head, and sits down in the chair by Kakyoin’s bedside.
“How long do you have to keep the bandages on?” He asks, allowing more concern to seep into his voice than he had hoped would be audible.
“Only until tomorrow, then they told me I should be just fine, since I was lucky enough to have shut my eyes before it hit me.” The redhead replies.
Jotaro lets out a breath of relief at the news that Kakyoin would be okay. He really doesn’t know what he would do if those pretty lavender eyes were ruined because of his own stupidity. Speaking of which, “I’m sorry, Noriaki.” He blurts, hoping the jump to first name basis isn’t too abrupt. Kakyoin blushes a little, but Jotaro thinks it must be his imagination. “It’s my fault you got attacked.”
“No way.” Kakyoin protests. “I’m the one who argued with him, so don’t blame yourself.”
Jotaro sighs, knowing it’s no good to try and argue with someone as hard-headed as the man in front of him, and holds out a cup to him instead. “Here. I brought you some coffee.” He hesitates before fully handing it over to Kakyoin. “Uh, but if coffee is too traumatic for you now I can get you something else.”
Kakyoin only laughs, taking the cup gratefully and carefully drinking from it, his eyebrows raising in surprise from underneath the bandages. “This is quite sweet. Which one is it?”
Jotaro pulls his hat over his eyes reflexively even though Kakyoin can’t see him. “It’s mine. But I’m still not telling you what it’s called.”
Having expected an eye-roll (not that it would be visible) or a snide comment in response to his continuation of their game, Jotaro is surprised by the way Kakyoin falls silent, the tips of his ears going pink as he says in a quiet voice, “I didn't realize you liked sweet things so much.” He tilts his head downwards, as if looking at the cup in his hands, his bangs falling across his face.
Jotaro unconsciously reaches over and brushes the bangs back behind Kakyoin’s ear, flushing bright red as he replies “Of course I like sweet things.” I like you, don’t I? He adds mentally, hating himself for how disgustingly sappy the thought is.
He stays by Kakyoin’s bedside for a few more hours, talking to him about whatever comes to mind, just like they always do at the shop, until finally they are interrupted by a visit from Kakyoin’s parents. They smile and Jotaro cheerfully and thank him for taking such good care of their son. Jotaro only stares at the floor and grunts out a response of “No problem.”, before rushing out the door. As the door swings shut behind him he could swear he hears Kakyoin’s mother ask “So that’s the boy you’ve been telling us about?”
He speeds up his pace as his heart pounds in his ears.
---
When Kakyoin walks in the doors of The Stand once more a couple days later, he marches confidently up to the counter, lowers the sunglasses on his face, and demands Jotaro’s attention with a single “Jojo, I know what I want to order.”
Polnareff interrupts before Jotaro can answer, which is probably for the best, as he’s currently unable to form coherent thoughts at the sight of Kakyoin in sunglasses.
“Kakyoin! Sick shades!” Polnareff cheers, raising his arms to do the utterly ridiculous secret handshake he and Kakyoin share that Jotaro is not jealous of in the slightest thank you very much.
“I have to wear them for a while, just to make sure I’m not straining my eyes too much. But I’m not complaining, they look good.” Kakyoin says.
“They do.” Jotar finally manages to say. “Look good, that is.”
Kakyoin turns away to look anywhere but at Jotaro, a bright blush visible on his face. He quickly slides the glasses back up over his eyes and puts his hands on his hips. “Let me order, Jojo. I’m ready.”
Jotaro, grateful for the change of subject, nods and leans over the counter, waiting for another wrong guess.
“I’ll have the Star Platinum.” His confident grin wavers slightly as Jotaro makes no indication that the choice is correct. “It’s your drink, isn’t it?” He asks, sounding a little more unsure of himself.
Jotaro can’t help it, unable to continue to keep his blank facade going, he smiles. “Yeah. It is.”
After taking a second to process the fact that he finally got it right, Kakyoin celebrates his victory modestly, jumping up and down and shouting at Polnareff to “Shove it up your ass, Polnareff, I TOLD you I could do it!” Which only prompts a fake gasp from the Frenchman.
Happy as he is to finally be making the right thing for his favorite customer, Jotaro is suddenly struck by a horrible realization and shudders as he hands the drink over to Kakyoin.
“What’s wrong Jojo?” Kakyoin asks, voice full of concern.
“I just remembered. I’m okay with putting Hierophant Green on the menu, terrible as it sounds, but… do I really have to drink it?”
Kakyoin laughs and gestures for Jotaro to lean closer. He answers in a low voice, so Polnareff and his prying ears won’t overhear.
“How about this?” Kakyoin’s breath tickles his face, and he has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from doing anything stupid. “Why don’t you give me your phone number instead, and we can call it even.”
Jotaro reaches for his hat as a blush rapidly jumps to his face, but Kakyoin is too fast, quickly grabbing the hat off his head and grinning at him. “Well?”
---
The first thing Jotaro does once he’s fully settled in his dorm room a week and a half later is rush over to Kakyoin’s. He hasn’t seen him in person in about five days now, though they text each other nearly any time they aren’t actively doing something else. He’s just received what he considers to be honestly terrible news from Polnareff, and he’s desperate to tell his new boyfriend all about it, though it must be done in person because he’s also desperate to see the inevitably adorable face Kakyoin will make upon learning said news.
For much to his dismay, the Hierophant Green has been the newest addition to the menu at The Stand for a few days now. And even worse, it’s extremely popular.
He catches sight of a familiar red burst of hair walking across the grass and waves as he calls out, “Noriaki!” Kakyoin runs over towards him upon hearing the shout, grinning widely as he goes.
Jotaro couldn’t be happier to have been forced to work for a summer, and he really wonders why he ever dreaded it in the first place.