Jotaro x Reader: Artificial

Part 8

A firm knock at the door snapped you out of your work.

Several hours had passed since the morning and you were just about done with your report. Just a couple more details and it should be enough. Jotaro sat across with his hat below his eyes and groaned.

"That would be Rohan. Late as usual...", he adjusted his hat and pushed himself up to walk to the door.

"Good afternoon, Jotaro.", Rohan brushed past Jotaro as he was briefly invited inside and made eye contact with you, a look of uninterest flashed for a moment, "And (Y/N) as well."

You shut the lid of your laptop and set it aside as you set up another tea cup, pouring another serving.

"Good afternoon as well Mr. Rohan. Please feel free to help yourself to some tea if you are parched. I hope there are no harsh sentiments after our last encounter.", you offered a smile which he didn't pay back.

"Yes, none. Anyway, Jotaro I have the photos you wanted.", he reached into his bag and handed over an envelope, "I've made several notes on some of them, detailing anything useful or suspicious."

He picked up the extra tea cup and held it to his lips to take a sip, "Thank you for the tea..."

Jotaro flipped through the photos, skimming through the stack without much care. He divided the stack in two and handed you one.
"Here. Start looking through this and take note of anything else important on top of what's already been highlighted."

"Yes sir."

Truthfully, you saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just people going about their day. Their everyday lives. Some looking stressed, some peaceful, but all were human emotions. As you flipped through, you had sparks of thoughts, mostly to go outside. To laugh and smile with strangers, to feel what joy that was. You could feel your heart flutter at the thought of meeting new people and leaving everything behind.

"(Y/N)...(Y/N)!"

"Hm? Yes sir, apologies I was lost in focus. Is there something you require?"

"No, but your eyes looked hollow and you weren't responding to anything we were talking about.", Jotaro raised a brow, "You know if you're tired you can take a nap right? You didn't sleep all night yesterday."

"No sir, I can assure you I am not tired. I was just...looking very closely.", you glanced down at the photos you were holding and noticed something and held it up for inspection, "Observe. There is a lone polaroid in this photo. Seemingly flying with the wind."

Rohan snatched the photo from you and looked at it himself. He rose a brow in confusion, "And what about it?", he handed the photo for Jotaro to look at, "Polaroids get lost all the time."

"Yes, but if it was taken recently then would the owner then not run after it? Photos are taken with a purpose. Why would a lone polariod be floating about with nobody running after it?"

"That's kinda a good point. I can see where you're going with this (Y/N). And there's nothing worth taking a picture of here unless for investigating purposes, like us, so there must be another stand user at least for that to be there."

Rohan sighed and grumbled under his breath. He sipped his tea and laid back.

The room was quiet for a moment. Rohan took a glance at the clock.

"It's almost 4. I've almost overstayed my welcome, sorry about that. I have a manuscript due by tomorrow and I've yet to ink my art.", he put his tea cup down on the table and wiped around it. He grabbed his art book and slung it over his shoulder along with his book bag.
"Thank you for having me over.", he waved goodbye and left without another word.

Jotaro stretched in his seat and adjusted his hat, "I thought he'd never leave...".

You didn't say anything and cleaned up Rohan's cup, leaving it by a table near the door. The setting sunlight gave the tea stained cup a beautiful sheen as it was taken away.

"Do you not enjoy his company?"

You patted down your white uniform and stared at Jotaro, puzzled.

"Not really no, he can be such a pain sometimes with his Primadonna attitude", he adjusted his hat and stood up, "but we need all the help we can get so really, it's not like we have any room to complain."

"I see."

You took in his words, walking over to the window, and looked out over the rapidly setting sun. The sky turning shades of magenta, pink, fuchsia, and marigold, mixing and folding in within each other. Colors seemingly dancing upon soft clouds.

"You like the sunset?"

You jumped slightly at the sudden voice.

"Um—yes. Yes, I do. I do not get to witness it often, though I have seen pictures of it. Rarely do I ever get to observe in person.", a smile cracked your deadpan face as a feeling of warmth slowly bloomed, "It is very beautiful."

You looked over at Jotaro and his expression seemed to soften slightly. Whether it was out of sympathy, pity, or any other emotion, you would never know, but it was undeniable his expression had changed with a new understanding.

"Do you wanna go down by the beach then? It sounds like you don't get out too often. Consider it a favor for saving my life back at that house."

"Are you sure, sir? I am more than content observing the day cycle from this hotel room. I can assure you."

"Yes, I'm sure. I go by the ocean all the time, it's really no big deal for me, but if you don't wanna go, you don't have to."

"Well, um, it would be foolish of me to not take this opportunity I suppose. There is at least ten hours before my next report is due and there is only a few details left missing. This would not hinder us for too long."

"Enough with the chatting, do you want to go or not?"

You looked back out towards the fleeting sun.

"Yes. I want to watch the sunset from the shoreline."

"Alright then.", Jotaro grabbed the hotel room key and left with a foot out the door, "We only have a couple minutes if you want to do that. Grab a coat."

Quickly, you snatched a light coat from your luggage and followed the marine biologist. A strange sensation of warmth blooming in your chest, like a bunch of rockets shooting off an exploding all at once. As you trailed behind him, almost sprinting to keep up, you've never felt so alive.

A/N: Hey...sorry it's been like 2 years since I've updated this but I figured I might as well end it since there's maybe a handful of chapters left and I need to finish what I started. I had a good story going and mental illness really takes you out of doing things. But I'm back now and better than ever to finish this. Next chapter is going to be a beach episode but for fanfics. So. Yea. Have a good one yall <3