Unexplored Sea - Jotaro x Reader / Stardust Crusaders insert

Chapter 5

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. All the information from yesterday's events was still processing in my brain, and it was hard to comprehend all this new information about my Stand. How was I supposed to awaken it? How did JoJo feel about his own? I just didn't understand, and school only helped me get my mind off it for a short time. All day, I almost felt like something was looming, just like in the jail.

I continued walking alongside Jotaro through the bustling corridor. As always, a gaggle of girls trailed behind us, giggling and whispering among themselves, their infatuation with Jotaro evident. I just couldn't stand it, and I knew how Jotaro felt about them. I could tell he was about to lose it any second now. I shot them a wary glance, almost warning them as if they didn't know what was about to come after the multiple days they did this, but Jotaro paid them no mind until their chatter grew insufferable.

"Would you all shut up already?" Jotaro snapped, his deep voice reverberating through the courtyard. The girls fell silent, their faces a mix of fear and disappointment. I suppressed a smile; Jotaro's brusque nature never failed to disperse the unwanted attention. I wished I could do something myself, but they basically ignored me, as we'd learned in the past.

We continued in silence, Jotaro's strides purposeful, and I didn't really know what to say myself. I was sure he was just as shocked with this information as I was, if not more. Sure, I'm super close with his family, but truthfully, it's his crazy bloodline being affected by all these bizarre and otherworldly occurrences.

As we reached the staircase, Jotaro suddenly stumbled out of nowhere and caught himself on a branch below with a sharp intake of breath. For a split second, I saw his own Stand. It saved him from his fall. I rushed to his side, concern evident on my face.

"JoJo, are you okay? How did you just fall?" My voice was shaky with the last question. I knew something was off. This must be the work of a Stand. It was the very same feeling I had in the jail, just a pounding in my head.

Jotaro's expression was stony, but he nodded. "I'm fine," he muttered, though his eyes betrayed a hint of pain. "But the gash wasn't what caused me to fall down the stairs." He continued to ponder what could have happened just now.

My eyes followed his to the gash in his leg. It was rapidly bleeding onto his black school pants. In my peripheral vision, I could see the group of girls and could make out their concerned voices. "We should go to the nurse's office before she leaves."

Jotaro sighed, knowing I was right. "Alright, let's go." I extended my hand to help him up. He took it and almost pulled me down in the process. I sometimes forgot just how much both of us had grown. It was weird to think there was a time when he was just barely taller than I was.

As we stood up and Jotaro brushed himself off, we both looked to the top of the stairs to see an average-height boy with reddish hair looking down at us. His sharp green eyes glinted in the light, and his expression was a mix of curiosity and something more sinister. He wore the standard school uniform, but the way he carried himself suggested a confidence that was almost unnerving. He had a canvas and a paintbrush in his hand. I squinted to try and make out exactly who it was. I think it was a new student introduced earlier today in one of my classes, but I didn't remember his name.

The girls from earlier began to surround us again and practically jumped onto Jotaro, asking him what was wrong, pushing me away in the process. As I regained my balance and looked back up the stairs, I saw the boy walking down toward us, a handkerchief in his hand.

"Here," he said, looking directly at Jotaro with a menacing glare, "your leg seems to be cut. You can use this handkerchief to wrap it up. Are you okay?" He spoke calmly, but I felt something sinister beneath his words.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just a scratch," Jotaro repeated to the boy. As the boy began to walk away, Jotaro called after him. I kept looking at him and back down to the cut on Jotaro's leg. "Hold it," Jotaro said assertively.

The red-haired boy looked back over his shoulder and, after quickly glancing at Jotaro, made eye contact with me. I was almost taken aback but gave him a blank stare and slightly tilted my head. I was nearly hiding behind Jotaro as his arm was slightly in front of my chest, almost as if telling me to back up in case a fight broke out.

"I forgot to say thanks. We haven't seen you before. Do you go to our school?" Jotaro asked. He must have been skipping class during his introduction, but I was just as guilty because I wasn't even paying attention.

The boy fully turned around. "I'm Noriaki Kakyoin. I just transferred here. I'll continue to see you two around." He shared a glance with Jotaro and me before he turned around once more.

The horde of girls began speaking again among themselves as Jotaro put a hand over his shoulder, where the birthmark Joseph told us about was located.

"Yeah, no. That was so awkward. You don't trust him, right, JoJo?" I knew Jotaro wasn't stupid enough to not be skeptical of our interaction with Kakyoin.

Jotaro looked down at me and around us before we started our walk to the nurse. "No," he replied briefly. I could tell he was thinking about something, and I didn't exactly want to bother him because I know how he can be.

As we walked, I couldn't help but notice how Jotaro's usual stoic demeanor softened slightly whenever he glanced at me. His hand lingered near mine as if he wanted to hold it but held back. I found myself wishing he would, just for a moment, break his composure and let me in on what he was thinking. But then, that wasn't Jotaro's style. Even now, with his leg bleeding and the threat of a Stand user looming, he maintained his calm and collected facade. There was an unspoken bond between us, something deep and unacknowledged.

We reached the nurse's office, and I opened the door for Jotaro, who limped in, trying to keep his composure. The nurse, a woman in her mid-thirties with dark hair tied in a neat bun, looked up from her desk, her eyes widening when she saw the state of Jotaro's leg.

"Oh my! What happened here? Did you get into another fight?" she exclaimed, rushing over to help him to a seat. Her voice was kind but firm, clearly used to handling teenage dramas and injuries.

"Just a little accident on the stairs," Jotaro said tersely, wincing slightly as he sat down.

"Let's see..." The nurse then pulled out a small pair of scissors and went down to where the wound was showing from his pants.

"Hey, hold on. What are you going to do?" he said sternly.

"Cut your pants, of course!" the nurse replied. "If I'm going to treat your wound, I must."

"Like hell you are! I'll take them off." I laughed at how silly he was being about his basic school pants that I knew he had multiple pairs of at home anyway. While Jotaro was going to undress, the nurse turned to the other two boys who were laying in the beds by the window. The nurse said something about needing to take their temperatures because she knew they were faking sick, and I would bet she was correct. They bickered back to her, but I turned over to Jotaro.

He began to take his jacket off, and then the handkerchief Kakyoin had handed him fell to the ground.

"Here, I'll grab it." I leaned over to pick it up, and as I turned it over, there were various kanji symbols written on the side. Jotaro also saw and quickly pulled it from my hand.

"What the hell is this?" I tried to stand on my tiptoes to see, but he was holding it up closer to his face, and I couldn't make out what it said.

"Jojo, Jojo, let me see," I said, pulling down at his arm. He leaned into me to show me what it read.

'Y/N and Jotaro, today you both die at the hand of my stand! -Noriaki Kakyoin'

My eyes went wide. "What the hell did we do to him?" I frantically looked back up to Jotaro for an answer.