It starts after Kakyoin is left in the hospital after N'Doul's attack. An itch in the back of his throat and a worry he pushes to the back of his mind.

He's been blinded, his friends have left him and Dio is still out there. He has other things to worry about.

(It's still there when Kakyoin wakes up after Dio's defeat, in a hospital with limbs and organs that aren't his own. So delighted that he and his friends (and Jotaro) survived, he doesn't pay it any attention.)

It only becomes an issue when, in uni, Jotaro finds a girlfriend.

Girlfriend is the wrong word, maybe. Jotaro had been stressed lately, to the point where he'd been avoiding Kakyoin, and gone out and had a one-night stand. Of course it went wrong and of course he stayed with her because he wasn't about to let her struggle through this alone.

Some days, the itch hurts to the point where Kakyoin cannot speak. Some days, he wakes up with a weight pressing down on his chest that robs him of all breath. Every day, he continues to get up and help Jotaro and his girlfriend and their soon-to-be kid.

(Her name is Jolyne).

"Her parents aren't going to approve." Jotaro says one day. "Of a kid. Before marriage. We've been talking about this."

(No. No, no, no, no, no--)

"Getting married is the right choice. Apparently. Otherwise her parents are going to stop supporting her classes."

Jotaro sits with his head in his hands as Kakyoin rubs his shoulders and whispers comfort. He helps him plan a wedding neither he nor his bride are prepared for and offers to help take care of a child that isn't his.

(He owes Jotaro that much, for saving him so long ago).

That night, after Jotaro leaves, Kakyoin starts to cough. And cough and cough and gag and cough until a petal flutters to the ground. And another. He heaves, and the petals don't stop.

(They're blue. Like the ocean, like the sky on a summer's day, like-

-like Jotaro's eyes.)

its been a while since i wrote a hanahaki au,, ;3c excuse the sloppy nature of this thread, mostly just trying to get a feel of it/killing some time while i cook dinner

ahhh kakyoin with hanahaki is so good