Chapter Text
You wake up feeling groggy, you had another restless night filled with nightmares. These night terrors claimed your sleep more often ever since you got back from 1938. Even now you would wake up in a cold sweat as you claw at your chest where that accursed ring once was. You could feel the ghostly presence of it around your heart, it was cold and unpleasant. But these weren't one of those nights, it was another horrid memory from those sick and twisted people, your foster parents, you just wanted to forget them already and leave them in the past. But even when they were far away from you physically they still found a way to torment you and haunt your very being. It was much better than being stuck in that house with them, but you just wanted these memories of them gone and out of your head. You get out of bed and go about your normal day-to-day routine, you double-check your bag to make sure you have everything needed for the school day before you head out. The crisp cold November air hit your face as you inhaled the fresh scent of pine, this was one of your favorite times of the year, you loved the cold and the winter even if it made your living situation harder. You skip down your usual path in the forest, watching all the animals getting much more chubby for the winter, especially the squirrels they looked adorable and you couldn't help but fawn at them. You stop munching on the apple you had eaten halfway, one poor squirrel looks thinner than the rest and your heart ached for the poor creature.
"Come here little guy, I got a nice juicy apple right here for you." You call out to the curious-looking creature, you get down on your knees as you extend your arm in front of you low to the ground. You make sure to stay very still as the squirrel approached you, it looked on guard but it also looked pretty hungry for that apple you were holding. It grabs the half-eaten apple out of your palm and quickly scampers up the tree before making quick work of it. You smile to yourself, happy you could help the little guy out. You go on about your routine and continue your walk over to Jotaro's place, you see him standing by the gate tapping his foot and you quickly jog over to him.
"Hey, sorry I'm a bit late-" You start before he cuts you off.
"You saw a 'cute' animal." He states looking at you with a raised eyebrow with his usual unamused face as you flash him a guilty smile and shrug.
"Good grief woman, of course, that's what kept you." He sighs beginning to walk and you join him walking by his side, it was strange to think that you've known him for over half a year now. It felt surreal to think of a time before you knew him or Holly-San, they became so important, to you in such a short period. It scared you a bit if you were being honest.
"Are you excited about our class today, I can't wait to write my short fiction, I have so many ideas." You gush out, thinking back to all the drafts you wrote and ideas your brain had conjured about this assignment. You wanted to write a horror story for this assignment, you thought it would be a fun and new experience to try out.
"That's today?" Jotaro questions. You glance over at him with a disapproving face.
"Don't tell me you forgot, do you even have a draft ready?" You ask, already knowing what his answer will be, but you wanted to try your luck and see if your assumption was wrong.
"Didn't care enough to start it, I'll just wing it when we get to class." He shrugs his shoulders and didn't look like he had a care in the world, you let out a sigh as he proved you right.
"Good thing the good copy is only due tomorrow after I finish writing out my good copy I'll help you out with your story, do you even have any ideas about what you want to write about?" You ask him with a hopeful tone.
"Please tell me that he at least has a rough idea on what he wants to do, otherwise he's so screwed unless he can think up something on the spot and write a good draft in one go."
"Yeah I got some ideas on what I want to do, stop worrying so much, it's not even your mark," Jotaro says looking down at you as you roll your eyes at him.
"That doesn't matter, it's your mark you idiot, I want to graduate with the only friend I have in this school you know. I want you to succeed just as much as I want to succeed in school, I know you’re a rich boy and you could likely be set for life if you wanted. But you must have some ambitions you know? Something you want to do and achieve with your life, cmon tell me, there has to be something." You ask your friend as you see the cogs in his brain turning for a moment, he looked like he was going to give you a meaningful answer but then you see his face go back to being neutral again.
"Whatever woman, it doesn't matter, I'll do my damn work just quit your bitching about it." Jotaro says before picking up the pace at the sound of loud school girls. The two of you always walked your fastest whenever you could hear those vultures draw near. Even if you were a fast walker, Jotaro had long legs and it was sometimes a little hard for you to keep up, but you were able to continue to walk by his side. His fangirls once again like every other day complained about him walking so fast and that you were walking with him but you kept up the quick pace. Making it much harder for them to keep up, they had to constantly jog to keep up, and even then they'd be a little out of breath and couldn't chat his ear off or cling to him.
"Jojo, why are you walking so fast?"
"Yeah slow down will you, we just want to talk."
"Jojo, please"
Their whines only got more annoying and loud as they struggled to keep up, you could feel your right eye beginning to twitch and you could also see Jotaro was just about at his wit's end.
"Shut up! You're freaking annoying, I'll slow down but only if you shut your damn traps!" Jotaro yells, whipping his head around to give them a smoldering glare. He does as he said, the two of you try and continue your conversation in peace. Unfortunately, the girls were only quiet for maybe one minute which was probably a new record for them being quiet around him.
"Hey Jojo, I wrote my short fiction assignment about you if you want to read it, it's a beautiful love story about a school delinquent falling in love with a pretty girl with short black hair, brown eyes, and a slim build." A girl with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a slim build states after hearing your and Jotaro's conversation about the assignment.
"Gosh this is embarrassing, why would someone want to admit that out loud." You cringe at the girl's statement and you see Jotaro's scowl deepen at the thought of having to read that. But he doesn’t reply to her, yet she doesn’t seem to care that he’s ignoring her.
It wasn't too much longer until you reached the school grounds, thankfully there weren't too many fangirls in this class you had in the morning with Jotaro but the top three were all there along with that girl from earlier who wrote her story about Jotaro. You would rather have half the class filled with fangirls as long as Maria, Leiko, and Kyoko wouldn't be there, those three were on a new level of obsessive and creepy. Especially Leiko, you were starting to think she might need therapy because her behavior was the worst of the bunch, she was the most touchy and clingy with him, she was the one who found out where he lived and she even tried talking to his mom once. Holly being Holly thought that Leiko was a sweet girl who wanted to be friends with her son, but you and Jotaro shut her down quickly on that and told her that Jotaro was not and would never be anything remotely close to friends with her.
The desks in the class were put into pairs so there would be more space for students to walk around, Jotaro always sat next to you but he looked comedically large in the desk seat. He was much too large for his seat and his arm was always pressed up against yours, not that you cared too much, as long as it didn't hinder your writing you couldn't care less. The four girls would whine and complain about him always choosing to sit next to you in the back, but the teacher put the seating plan like that. She saw how tall Jotaro was and knew she had to put him in the back of the classroom so others could see the board, she also noticed that you made sure he did his work so she sat you next to him. The fangirls would whine to the teacher but she would immediately shut them down, she knew the reasoning they would want to sit next to him and since it wasn't for academic purposes she refused to budge.
You both took your seats at the back of the classroom as the teacher handed out good paper for you all to write your good drafts down, you took out your draft of your story and you were proud of your work. You take out your pen and start to drag your pen across the paper as you form the words onto the paper. (This is a short fiction my friend Veronique wrote for class it has nothing to do with the story but I asked her if she would be okay if I put it in here, you can skip it if you'd like. I just thought it would be cool to have some of the actual work that she did in this story, it's inspired by a Five Nights at Freddy's book titled "Into the Pit" specifically the "Count the ways chapter". Let me know what you think of it if you choose to read it, I'll tell her what you guys think.)
Give Me One More Chance
Death, oh death
Grab me by the hand and whisk me away in your dance
Pluck this dead rose out of this disgusting garden
Embrace me with your cold boney touch
Take me away from this bed of weeds
Death, oh death, my sweet prince, my one true love
Millie swiped everything off her desk, papers flying and pencils rolled everywhere.
“This isn’t good enough,” she mumbled, face-planting into her bed. She groaned at the sound of footsteps approaching as her roommate Sarah poked her head in.
“Is everything okay in here?” Sarah said, scanning the darkroom with narrowed eyes. “I heard a loud noise.”
Millie sneered at the chestnut-haired girl with her arms crossed.
Sarah raised her hands in front of her in defense. “Sorry, I should’ve knocked first. I know you’re working on your poem for Ms. Choy’s class. I’ll go now. Good luck bestie,” she said, shutting the door.
“We’re not besties!” Millie shouted after her long-gone roommate.
She sighed frustratedly as she grabbed the pink and white teddy bear on her bed. Her grandfather made it for her when she was 7-years-old. She looked at the landline on her dresser, contemplating calling the old man. She hadn’t spoken to him since starting her second year at Whitman College.
She glanced at the clock and realized she would be late for work if she didn’t get ready now. She decided to call him on her 20th birthday, which is only two weeks away. She grabs her keys, wallet, and Walkman.
She scanned her room one more time in case she had forgotten anything, her eyes landing on the pink and white bear leaning against the landline, staring right at her.
She stepped back, her skin crawling with goosebumps. She thought she had left it on the bed. Maybe she was just remembering wrong.
She brushed it off and left the apartment, ignoring Sarah's goodbye.
Millie trudged with hunched shoulders to the bus stop, dreading working on a Friday night.
She cranked up the volume on her Walkman as she got on the bus, lip-synching along to her favorite song “Under your influence” by Dag nasty. “Under your influence, Right goes wrong.”
Millie got off at the last stop and walked over to the secluded Autohaven Wreckers. She hated working at a junkyard, but it was the only job that paid more than minimum wage and accommodated her school schedule. She clocked in, dragging her heels over to her station. Her job was brain-dead work: use the conveyor belt to get the car into the machine, remove the tires and anything else of value, crush it, and then shred the scraps.
“Good evening Ms. Fitzsimmons,” her boss said, strolling by.
“Good evening Mr. Afton,” she replied tiredly as she stripped the tires off the white BMW.
Mr. Afton paused to admire an old robot that was oddly similar to the bear she had at home.
“You know Millie, I once wanted to be a designer. Not just any designer- I wanted to design and build robots for children,” he says, stroking the face of the machine. “Ah to be young and full of dreams.”
He sighed with a smile before turning back to face Millie and scowling. “But dreams don’t come true, remember that kid.”
“Sheesh, whatever, old man.” Millie mumbled, pulling the last tire off the car.
“Did you say something Millie?” Mr. Afton asked, giving her a tight-lipped smile.
“Nothing, Mr. Afton,” Millie huffed in a half-assed obedient tone.
“Keep up the good work,” he replied, walking off.
Millie sighed, wanting to go home already and catch up on the latest news about the gang wars. She was particularly interested in the Dust Devils, who were rumored to be located in Washington, her city.
She was about to crush the car when she heard rustling. She retracts her hand from the button and strained her ears. She heard the same sound coming from the BMW. She walked over, warily opening the side door. She covered her mouth to muffle a gasp, trembling at the sight before her.
Inside was a man, bound and gagged.
With shaky hands, she untied the man.
“Help me, please,” he rasped before coughing up blood.
“What do you think I’m doing?” Millie tried to sound nonchalant but her voice shook as much as her hands did. She helped him out of the car, nauseated at the thought that she almost crushed a man.
The man immediately took off towards the exit, but before he could even reach the door a loud sound flooded the quiet area. Millie saw the man she just saved slump to the ground with blood gushing out a hole between his eyes.
Millie let out a blood-curdling scream, stumbling backward as her co-worker stalked towards her and co*cked the gun.
Terrified, she backed up faster, only to bump into another work colleague of hers. He grabbed Millie in a death grip, and she gasped for air. She tried kicking him and wiggling but his grip only tightened. Her other colleague struck her head, and she felt her body go limp as she succumbed to the darkness.
Millie woke up with a throbbing pain in her head and something warm and sticky dripping down her forehead. She tried to wipe her face but she couldn’t move her arms. Panic flooded her body as she tried to move her legs, only to find that they were bound as well.
She panicked, realizing that she was in the very same car she was supposed to crush. In vain, she struggled against her restraints. She tried screaming against the gag, hoping someone would hear her. Tears rolled down her face and her breathing became erratic.
She heard footsteps and tried to make as much noise as possible to get their attention.
Mr. Afton peered through the window and she jerked her chin towards the handle, silently begging him to open the door and help her. She stopped sniffling as he opened the car door, yanking the gag so it dropped down her neck.
“Mr. Afton, thank goodness you found me! Some of your workers knocked me out and-” Millie quieted as Mr. Afton pressed his index finger to her mouth making a shushing noise.
“Who do you think ordered them to do that?” he asked, a sinister smile creeping across his face.
Millie felt her stomach drop as she screamed as loud as she could. As she realized that nobody who cared would hear, the tears started to flow again.
“Why?” is all she could manage to get out between shaky breaths. She trembled helplessly as he pulled the gag back up her neck and shoved it in her mouth.
“I don’t have all day so I’ll make it snappy,” he sighed, leaning against the open car door. “You’ve seen this old bear before.” He pointed at the haunting robot as Millie nodded weakly. “I’ve used it to keep an eye on you. Its eyes are video cameras that are connected to my office computer. Isn’t that amazing? Unheard of in 1987! I’m a technological genius.”
He laughed smugly. “Little Millie got curious, so I told my boys to check up on you. And as usual, I was right. I’m surprised it took you so long- you’ve probably crushed 30 people in here.”
Millie’s eyes grew wide with horror and realization as her stomach churned again.
“You were a good worker, but I’m afraid you’ve seen far too much, so your story ends here.” With that, he slammed the door shut and walked over to the button. “Nothing personal kid, just Dust Devil rules: never let a witness live.” He slammed the button as the lights went off, the machine groaning as it turned on.
Millie wiggled frantically in her restraints but it was futile. She slumped down the seat, staring out the car window. That pale accursed bear stared at her with soulless eyes, the creepy metallic smile glinting in the dimly lit area.
She thought back to the stuffed bear her grandpa gave her and let out a few choked sobs.
If only she had known she was going to die today. He was always so kind to her, and she repaid him by being cold and rude. If only she had spoken to him today.
Millie thought back to her sweet and kind roommate. Sarah was the only friend she ever had, but Millie had been a complete asshole to her today. Her angry “We’re not besties” rang out in her mind.
If only she could take it back, maybe even hug her.
She’d never have either one of those opportunities again.
The space in the car shrank and her body started contorting, twisting abnormally. She screamed against the gag as her joints bent and snapped out of place. Her shoulders cracked and popped as she felt the flesh tear.
She coughed, blood filling her mouth as she thought back to her poem. Her vision started to tunnel and her body went limp and numb as she rewrote the poem in her mind:
Death, oh Death
Let go of my hand and excuse me from this dance
Abandon this wilted rose to the beautiful garden
Let me embrace my loved ones one last time
Leave me in this bed of blooming flowers
Death, oh Death
Retract your cold touch
For you are not my love
You put the pen down, your hands aching a little from writing so much so quickly, but after rereading it one more time you were satisfied with your work, you had put a lot of time and effort into it. You look over at Jotaro and he’s written down a skeleton rough draft at best, you let out a sigh as you write your name in your paper before handing it in early, you go back and take your seat looking at Jotaro's paper.
“How’s it coming along?” You whisper to him as he glances over at you, putting his pencil down and leaning back in his chair, his arm bumping into your own.
”I got my ideas down and the gist of the story, mostly just need to add detail and polish it up.” Jotaro says as he kicks his feet up on his desk, the teacher shoots him a dirty look but knows there isn’t anything she can do to stop him.
“What did you write about?” You ask in a hushed tone, not wanting to disturb the other students writing process.
”It’s just a catalyst of events that leads up to a plane crash, it’s basically having the main character go through a series of misfortune.” Jotaro replies as he adjusts himself into a more comfortable position, tipping his hat down casting a shadow over his face, and blocking the light.
”Are you seriously going to take a nap right now?” You question him a whisper-shout as he just makes a grunt of acknowledgment, you just scoff at him and roll your eyes knowing full well he couldn’t see you.
”Quit rolling your eyes at me woman.” Jotaro says without even peeking from under his hat, he just crossed his arms over his chest finally getting into what looked like a comfy position.
”How did- you know what, I’m not even going to bother with you Kujo, hell I’m already done my work, guess I’m joining you in a nap, g’night.” You don’t kick your feet up on your desk as he did, you just kick it up on a chair that no one was using in front of you. You lean back in your chair and put your hands in your lap as you let a yawn pass by your lips. Not long after you hear Jotaro let out a small yawn as well.
“Night.” Replies in a low and gruff voice, he sounded like he was drifting off already, you had forty-five minutes left in class anyways and you had finished the only task you needed to do. You let your hair fall in front of your face to block out some of the light as you adjust in your seat until you get into a comfy position.
“I’m using your arm as a pillow.” You mumble out to him in a quiet voice as he just makes a grunting sound. You weren’t sure if that meant yes or no but you really couldn’t care less, if he wasn’t moving you by force then you assumed he didn’t care either. You lean your head against his arm and he was pretty warm, after having something to support your head and even with all that muscle, it was soft enough for a makeshift pillow. Slowly you drift off into a peaceful slumber by the sounds of Jotaro's slowed breathing, heartbeat, and the sounds of a pen scrawling on paper.
“Hey, wake up, stop leaning on Jojo like that.” You hear some whiney girl say as your eyes flutter open, still sticky with sleep as you wanted to shut your eyes from the bright classroom lights. You squint and see that most people had left the classroom and three girls were standing in front of your and Jotaro’s desks.
”What do you need?” You say with a groggy tone as a small yawn leaves your mouth, you rub your eyes a little and adjust to the lighting as you open your eyes a bit wider.
”We want you to stop leaning on Jojo like that you clingy bitch.” Leiko says with an annoying voice and you just roll your eyes.
”So in other words you woke me up for nothing, I don’t care what you want.” You say as you feel Jotaro being to stir and wake up as well.
”We know what you’re trying to do you snaky little skan*, you’re trying to pretend to be his friend and have him all for yourself but it won’t work. Jojo is much smarter than to fall for your bullsh*t, and once he’s mine I’m making sure he never wants to breathe the same air as you again. Don’t mess with me I can spread rumors about you and people will just eat it up since you’re a nobody. No one cares for you anyway.” Leiko spits her venom out at you and you continue to stare at her with a blank expression, her words and other people's words meant nothing to you. If it wasn’t someone you cared about you didn’t care what anyone else thought of you, she could go ahead and spread her rumours. It’s not like you talked to anyone else anyway, it wouldn’t make a difference to you.
”That all you have to say? Listen Leiko I really don’t care what you think or have to say, I like spending time with Jotaro not because I want to ogle him or ‘get into his pants’ as you said before. I like being around him because of who he is as a person, not that you would know what his personality is like, all you do is chat his ear off and feel him up like a creep. Do him a favor and leave him alone, I don’t care if you want to harass me about my friendship with him, hell I don’t care if you want to bully me. Just leave him alone.” You say with a cold tone as you sit upright in your chair, no longer leaning against Jotaro as you glare at the three girls.
”Really? We’ll see about that miss ‘nothing bothers me I’ll find a way to get you away from him. And I and my squad are going to make you regret ever coming to this school again, you’ll be so miserable you’ll beg your parents to make you transfer far away. Your little friendship with Jotaro will be over as quick as it started, doubt he’ll miss you when he will have me by his side.” Leiko sneers at you as she flips her hair over her shoulder.
”Can you shut the f*ck up already, all of you are so damn annoying.” You hear Jotaro say in a rough voice as he sits upright and stares at the three girls.
”Jojo, can’t you see she’s not good enough to be your friend? She’s manipulating you and trying to take you away from us, we’ve known you much longer than she has. We’re all devoted to you and your well-being.” Maria complains while pointing at you in an accusatory manner.
”Yeah trust us, Jojo, she’s a no-good snake.” Kyoko adds with a snarl in your direction.
”Jojo don’t you trust us, we only want what’s best for you, I’d never want to put a good friendship in jeopardy. She’s just not a good person and she doesn’t deserve to be in your presence, why not hang around us instead we’ll treat you right.” Leiko says in a sultry voice as she twirls a hair strand around her index finger, brushing her other hand against Jotaros's arm which he brushes off immediately.
”Are you all f*cking stupid?” Jotaro says as he stands up to tower over all of them, his chair screeching against the floor, slamming his hands down on his desk. “Did you really think I didn’t hear what you were just saying to Veronique right now? Now scram you bitches before I show you just how pissed off I am.” Jotaro says as he balls up one of his fists, the girls all went pale as they ran out of the classroom saying stupid and fake apologies. You look over at Jotaro who has his knuckles pressed into his desk, his eyes narrow at the girls as they scramble out from his sight before he turns to look at you.
”Is this how they talk to you all the time? What other bullsh*t have they said and done?!” Jotaro demands in a loud voice as you stand up to look at him so you don’t have to crane your neck so much.
”Yeah basically, I mean the crap they’ve done isn’t that bad, they leave nasty notes in my locker and desks for the classes I don’t have with you. They’ve attempted to trip me, shove me around or pretend they accidentally bumped into me, just some petty stuff like that.” You say with a shrug as you grab both your and Jotaros's bags off the floor, you start walking towards the door and Jotaro follows behind. You can feel the anger radiating off of him and you had a feeling you were about to get an earful on why you didn’t tell him as soon as you get to the rooftop. He picks the lock angrily as he shoves the heavy metal doors open with much more force than needed, after you close the door and turn to look at him you see his eyes darken, clouded with anger.
”You’re telling me they’ve been doing all that sh*t to you and I’m only finding out about this now.” He shouts louder than necessary considering your proximity to him.
”Yeah it never really bothered me much, it was just minor inconveniences and it was annoying to hear their voices. But I promise it’s nothing I couldn’t handle otherwise I would’ve said something to you about it, most likely complain about it.” You try to calm down your friend who still looked like he was ticked off. Thankfully your words seemed to have somewhat gotten through to him since his facial expression relaxed a little, so you decided to keep going and try calming him down with your words. “Plus everything they do doesn't bother me, if anything it’s kind of amusing how much they go out of their way to try and bully me. Everything they do and say I couldn’t care less about, I only care about people's opinions who matter to me, like you or Holly-San.”
“Fine but if they pull the sh*t they said they would you tell me, otherwise I’ll kick your ass for keeping quiet about it.” Jotaro says with an aggressive sigh as he takes a seat in your usual spot, the two of you started eating lunch together towards the end of last school year and it just seemed to continue to the next year. Not that you minded, it was nice to have some company around after being alone for most of high school, you liked having him around anyways. Sometimes neither of you would talk for all of lunch and just eat quietly in each other's company, and other times you would be talking nonstop with Jotaro giving surprisingly not dry replies. You supposed that meant he’s warmed up to you a lot since you first met him.
You take your seat down next to him as you take out a small snack you had for lunch, since you weren’t able to make money over the summer break due to travailing back in time you decided to eat less. It wasn’t ideal for you but there wasn’t much you could do, you needed to save up on money, plus it beats starving like when you lived with your foster parents. When you had lived with them it was always a gamble when your next meal was, your body had adapted to that lifestyle and now it couldn’t intake as much food anymore. You were just going to eat an energy bar and an orange, which was honestly enough for lunchtime. The heaviest meal you would eat would be right before work, that one hour grace time you had between your busy schedule.
”That all you’re eating?” Jotaro inquires with a raised eyebrow as he looks at what you were holding.
”Yup.” You say as you start munching on the sweet energy bar you had packed, it was something nice to treat yourself with since you couldn't get sweets very often.
"Good grief woman." Jotaro says as he rummages through his bag before tossing something into your lap, it was a small bento box you had seen other students eat before. You stare down at the box and blink a few times and then look towards Jotaro with a puzzled face as you ponder why he had an extra bento just sitting in his bag.
"He was eating his food, so why did he have a spare bento on him?" You think to yourself as you see Jotaro's eyes meet your gaze.
"What the hell are you staring at woman, eat your damn food." Jotaro says with a scowl on his face.
"Thanks and all but why did you have a spare bento in your bag?" You ask with a small head tilt as you scan his face for a possible answer, and to your surprise, he just rolls his eyes at you as you would normally do. It was subtle but you still picked up on it nonetheless.
"I had a feeling you'd pull some stupid sh*t like this so I put this in my bag ahead of time, stop trying to starve yourself." Jotaro scolds you with a cold tone as you stare at him in disbelief.
"So he does care."You think to yourself with a soft smile.
"Oh Uhm, thanks but the only reason I didn't pack much for lunch was to save up on money, I'm used to not eating much so it wouldn't be too bad." You say as you struggle to open the box since you've never eaten from one before, but thankfully it didn't take you too long to figure it out otherwise that'd be embarrassing.
"Did your foster parents not always feed you?" Jotaro asks you softly, well as soft as Jotaro gets, probably not wanting to upset you with his question, which you appreciated.
"No, they didn't, the longest they've made me go without eating anything was three days, most of the time it would just be 24 hours but that time was pure torture. They'd make me skip out on eating normally once or twice every week, I can't say it was pleasant but now I can make sure I eat every day, even if it may not be much all the time, it's still something." You say as you use the chopsticks he gave you to start eating, and it beats eating just an energy bar and an orange for lunch. Having some proper food in your system was refreshing and tasty, and you made a mental note to do something nice in return for Jotaro sooner or later.
"Good thing I'm part vampire, a fully human body could never survive that, I'd be way too malnourished and likely be an unhealthy weight."You think to yourself with a shudder, sometimes being part vampire had its perks. Especially if you consider the fact that they made you eat raw meat before, it was bloody as well which was good for you. Not that they knew you needed that blood to survive.
"Those f*cking assholes really did that to you? Alright I know you told me not to interfere but after you turn 18 and are out of their grasp we're reporting them to the police, my old man will pay for the lawyer so they can't pull this bullsh*t with any other innocent children." Jotaro says with a clenched fist as he shoves his empty bento box back into his bag with more force than needed. You were about to protest against the idea of him paying for some expensive lawyer to get revenge since you knew you could never pay him back until he spoke up again, this time grabbing you by the collar of your shirt and forcing you to look into his eyes.
"This isn't negotiable so don't even try it, you don't need to try and pay me back woman, I want to do this for you and I don't want those assholes to be able to destroy another child's life." Jotaro spoke harshly but he got his message across and you knew he had a point, it would be better for the authorities to handle them instead of you, but you would need solid proof, scars on your body wouldn't do. He had this fiery determination ins his eyes as well and you knew it didn't matter what you said, he had his mind made up.
"Okay, I won't argue, you're right I wouldn't wish what they did to me to anyone, those cruel bastards deserve to rot in a prison cell for the rest of their lives." You say with a mix of anger and sadness as Jotaro lets go of the collar of your shirt, letting you lean back against the wall instead of your body facing him and his aquamarine eyes.
The rest of lunch goes by rather uneventful and you head off to your separate classes you only had two classes with him this semester, one today in the morning, and the other on the next day in the afternoon. Science class without Jotaro was a bit boring, last year you had more fun with him in your class but it could be worse, there weren’t many fangirls in this class at least, it was just Kyoko and two other girls whose names you didn’t know nor care about. You sat in the back of the class like you usually did and just paid attention in silence, once the lesson was done you made sure to finish as much homework in class as possible. It was very hard for you to get home from work at 10:15 pm and to try and do homework then, it always left you exhausted and you normally spent your weekends with Jotaro and Holly-San. Sometimes you would ask Jotaro to come over here instead and you’d show him more around the forest and show him what your day-to-day routine was like, besides your hamon training. You made sure to keep your promise to Lisa Lisa-Sensei and dedicated at least 20 minutes a day to practicing hamon, whether it was in the morning or after work or late into the night.
By the end of the school day, you only had three more homework questions to do, which you could manage, you were just happy that it was home time, even if you did have to go to work in an hour. You hurry out to the front stairs and see that you got there before Jotaro did, you stand at the end of the staircase waiting for him to arrive as you sit down on the last step at the edge and try to work through one more question. Right as you finish answering one of the three questions a tall shadow was cast over your notebook and you look up to see Jotaro towering over you.
”Oh hey, give me a moment.” You say as you stuff your textbook and notebook into your bag and quickly stand up. Jotaro just continues to watch you scramble as you both then make your way up the stairs. Thankfully his fan club could never catch up with either of you after school since you would always leave so fast, so the walk back from school was always pleasant and normally quiet.
“Oh yeah did you need any help with your short story? It’s due tomorrow after all and you slept through class instead of working on it.” You ask craning your neck up to meet his eyes.
”You slept through it as well.” He retorts to your statement.
”Well the difference was that I finished my work, you barely have a draft done. I’ll come over for a short bit until I have to go to work and help you out, otherwise knowing you, you’re just going to half-ass it and hand it in or not do it at all.” You sigh with an eye roll knowing that he was likely just not going to bother with it.
”Plus he did give me something to eat at lunch, I’m still full from eating all that anyways, skipping dinner won’t be too bad. It’s not like I have enough time to grab something to eat before work if I stick around to help him out.”
”Whatever, do what you want woman, I don’t care.” Jotaro says without looking at you as you fall back into a silent walk, it only took five minutes to reach his place at the speed you were going at. You kick off your shoes and practically dragged him to his room to get started right away, you made sure to say hi to Holly-San first, you had your priorities.
You ended up helping him a decent amount with some ideas and it made you feel better about him giving you lunch, you felt like you owed it to him to do something nice in return. But eventually, after forty minutes of working on his short story you knew you had to head to work, you bid him and Holly-San a farewell. Jotaro told you to come earlier than you normally did to see if you could try and ‘ditch the annoying bitches’ as he would put it and you agreed. You run all the way to work to avoid being late.
You clocked it just on time and you could see your coworker's eyes lighten as he immediately ran to clock out before another customer could get into his line. You just laughed inwardly and quickly set up your workstation before opening it up for customers to line up. Your workday went by how it normally would, you’d work the cash register, then help stock some items up before going back to working the register. You had a few hiccups here and there with some customers, but that’s part of the job of working at retail, you couldn’t care less if these random people cursed out your family, you didn’t like your foster parents anyways. You weren’t sure why people always blamed the cashier for the prices, it’s not like it was their fault. They’re just checking out your items for you and giving you your total. It’s not like these people were usual's who would like to curse out the cashiers, well that was until you saw Leiko and an older woman who you assumed to be her mother enter the store.
Your line was always quicker so people tended to gravitate towards you, you always did a good job because you cared for Yui-San and her business. Also you needed this job. You just prayed that Leiko and her mother wouldn’t come into your line, or that by some miracle Leiko wouldn’t recognize you. You kept scanning items anxiously as you kept checking who went to your line after every customer, and to your dismay, you saw Leiko and her mother join your line. You suck in a deep breath before exhaling it, knowing there wasn’t much you could do about it, do you decide that you would treat her like any other customer. Her mother began to load her items onto the conveyor belt and you scanned the items quickly, your eyes meeting Leiko's. At least the look of shock on her face was mildly amusing for you to see.
”Veronique, you work here?” She says with a sly grin forming on her face, her eyes turned bright with malicious intent and you can’t help but want to punch her in the face.
”Dang, did I really want to punch her face after just seeing it once? I must be hanging around Jotaro too much.” You chuckle inwardly at the thought.
”Yes, I do.” You reply with a nice and bright smile on your face as you scan the items, this woman was probably buying the whole damn store, she was still loading stuff onto the conveyor belt.
“Now why would you be working here? Our school is for the elite, don’t tell me your family can’t afford your tuition.” Leiko says with a scoff and high-pitched giggle that would likely shatter any glass nearby, the very sound irked you beyond words
“Not that it’s any of your business but no that’s not the reason, my parents can afford my tuition just fine. I want to have working experience for later in life, it’s good to find a balance between work and school.” You state calmly as you continue to work down on the mountain of groceries this woman had.
”Yeah sure, sure. Does Jojo know you work here?” She asks smugly, tapping the counter in front of you, and you feel your right eye twitch a little with annoyance.
”Yes.” You say curtly if you gave her dry answers hopefully she’d leave you alone and let you do your job in peace.
”And he still hangs out with you?” She asks her voice slowly becoming laced with annoyance.
”Mmmmm.” You make a sound of acknowledgment just wanting her to shut up already, and you finally make it halfway through the mountain of items you needed to scan.
”What the hell did you do to him, are you blackmailing him? Do you have dirt on him?” Leiko says with a raised voice, slamming her hands onto your counter. You look at Leiko with a deadpan expression, and then you look back down at her hands, blocking the scanner.
”I’m going to have to ask you to remove your hands from the counter.” You say in your best retailer voice as you dodge her question, her mother now taking notice of your little interaction with her daughter.
”My daughter is entitled to do as she pleases young miss, just do your job.” The woman says curtly and with a snarl on her face.
”Well they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree for a reason.”You mentally groan as you wish you could get them both to shut up and let you do your job.
”Of course, she can do as she pleases unless what she is doing interferes with me scanning your items Miss. Her hands are blocking the scanner.” You state while pointing down at Leiko's hands her mother gives her a stern look and she quickly removes it, letting you get back to work.
”Anyways that doesn’t matter, you didn’t answer me earlier, what the hell did you do to Jojo, you must have done something otherwise he would’ve been with me by now.” Leiko shrieks at you angrily and gets a few strange glances from other customers, making you want to shrink in a hole and die of embarrassment. You hated when people causes a scene like this, and you hated being the center of attention even more. And Leiko's yelling seems to have drawn a decent amount of attention from the other customers nearby, letting them have a show while they wait in line.
”Leiko, keep your voice down, you’re making other customers stare.” Her mother lectures her as you go back to scanning items, you had one-third of groceries to get through and you couldn’t be happier about that.
”But mom she’s that bitch that’s trying to take Jojo away from me, the one I told you about.” Leiko whines to her mother while shooting you a dirty look, her mother slowly turns to you and she looks pissed off, to say the least. And you really wish you were home right now instead of dealing with this garbage, how you wish you were drawing instead.
”Why are you trying to take my daughter's boyfriend away from her? Do you have any idea how disrespectful that is, what’s your home phone number? I need to have a serious talk with your parents!” The woman starts yelling at you and you just stare blankly at her and then look at Leiko who looks extremely smug at the moment.
”I’m sorry miss but I don’t have to give you anything, I don’t owe you my mother's phone number nor am I trying to take away your daughter's boyfriend. But your total is $78,980.45, will you pay with cash or card.” You say with a fake smile on your face, but your reply only seemed to aggravate the two women in front of you more. And you were understanding why Jotaro really hates loud women, the way their voices become shrill when they yell isn’t very pleasant.
”Who do you think you are, I demand your home phone this instant, this disrespect is disgusting. Did your mother raise you so poorly?” She yells to your face as you wait to see if she is going to pay or not.
”Yes my motherly raised me poorly, now will you pay with cash or card.” You repeat more irritated but still with a smile on your face, and you hear a few customers in line begin to snicker at your comment. And knowing how these types of people are, the laughter is only going to make them angrier.
”I demand to speak to your manager this instant, I should talk with the school about your behavior if you don’t give me your home phone, give my beautiful daughter an apology and stop sabotaging her love life!” She yells at your face. You keep a neutral expression on and wait for her to finish yelling, you feel your right eye begin to twitch from irritation but you try and stay calm.
”One moment please.” You say as you reach for the intercom and signal for Yui-San to come over to the work station. “She will be here shortly, now are you paying with cash or card.” You repeat once more with a calm voice knowing this nightmare will be done with soon.
”CASH, now stop sounding like a broken record you brat!” She screams, you could see where Leiko got her rotten personality from, she must be pampered like a princess at home.
”Hello there sorry for the wait, what seems to be the problem here.” Yui-San says as she walks up to your register and looks between your calm face and the two fuming women in front of you.
”Yes this young lady here is the most disrespectful worker I have ever encountered in your establishment. She’s trying to steal my precious baby girl's boyfriend away from her, she was constantly back talking and being incredibly rude. I demand to speak to her parents this instant!” Leiko's mother yells at Yui-San and points aggressively toward you, making you tempted to bite her finger off if she moves it any closer to your face. Oh, how you'd love to sink your fangs in her right now.
“Okay, let me ask my employee what happened now.” Yui-San says turning towards you with a soft smile and worried eyes. “What happened here, Veronique?”
”I was scanning their items like usually then her daughter comes up and talks to me, then said daughter talks about how I’m ‘trying to take her boyfriend away from her’ which is strange because I know her supposed boyfriend isn’t dating anyone right now. Then it escalated from there with her demanding that I give her my home phone so she can talk to my parents and I decline. Then I ask her to pay for her items which she just did now.” You say calmly to your manager, doing your best to keep this fake smile plastered on your face, but your irritation was clear in your voice despite you trying to hide it.
”The kid’s telling the truth, we witnessed what happened from the side here.” An older gentleman next in line says to confirm your words. “That woman and her daughter were being awful to the poor girl, I was about to step in but she handled it spectacularly.” He adds with a smile.
”Thank you for your input.” Yui-San says with a smile to the man and you as she turns to look at the troublesome women. “Why were you harassing my underage employee about personal matters at work? That is very inappropriate behavior, she doesn’t owe you her home phone and you shouldn’t be threatening a child. Now if this is all you called me down here for I’m going to have to ask you to gather your things and let my employee do her job.” Yui-San scolds them with a strict tone, her smile turning into a frown as they mumbled quietly under their breath about how this isn’t over. You just rolled your eyes and enthusiastically greeted the next customer who had pitched in and helped confirm your story.
”Thanks for the help back there, I don’t know what that girl has against me.” You sigh out to the older gentleman as you scan his items.
”That seemed like a lot of drama, what was that young girl on about anyways.” The old man asks with a polite tone. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Oh I’m just friends with someone at my school who seems to attract a lot of females, he doesn’t appreciate it happening but he can’t do much. And those girls are all mad at me since I’m friends with him and they aren’t, that girl is delusional enough to think of him as her boyfriend even though he can’t stand her.” You inform the man as he lets out a hearty laugh, gut-shaking, rosy cheeks and all.
”Oh my that sounds crazy, high school really is something else, stay strong kiddo.” The old man says with a sweet smile and you can’t help but return it. You bid the man a farewell and went on about the rest of your shift as you usually did, thankfully not having any more drama. As you clock out from your shift you see Yui-San walking up to you and you turn to give her a wave and smile.
”How are you holding up dear? I watched the security feed and that woman was being horrible.” Yui-San says with a concerned look in her eyes.
”Oh don’t worry I’m fine, I deal with much worse at school, this is a piece of cake for me.” You attempt to reassure the older woman as you grab your bags out from your locker.
“Well if you deal with much worse at school I’m scared to ask what children are like these days.” She says half-jokingly and half-serious.
”Yeah well that’s how children are, the mind isn’t fully developed, people make stupid mistakes and act in a way they shouldn’t. It’s all a part of growing up.” You say closing your locker and walking over to her.
”As long as you’re okay and nothing gets too out of control.” Yui-San says worriedly.
”Don’t worry I’ll be fine Yui-San, anyways I should head out now, have a good night.” You say with a smile as you head for the exit.
”You too dear, get home safely.” She calls out to you and you wave to her one more time before stepping out into the night, the air was chilly and the wind was lightly blowing against your skin. This was the kind of weather you loved, the cold was always welcoming and you liked that it was nighttime, your skin was never irritated during the night and you blamed it on being part vampire.
You walked home peacefully humming to yourself, there was hardly anyone out at this time and it was very nice and quiet, the low hums of the street lights and wind blowing was all that filled the silence. You walked by some shady-looking characters but you didn’t pay them much mind, as long as they didn’t approach or follow you it wasn’t any of your business what they were doing out so late. Once you get to the forest entrance you confirm to see if anyone was following or watching you before you slip in-between the thicket of trees. You made sure to set up your home in a more inconspicuous area, just in case someone did choose to wander the area despite the superstition about the forest. You followed the trail you had memorized and found your little tent, your home, your safe space that was shared with only one other person, Jotaro.
You step inside and immediately get changed, stripping off your work attire as you sat in your sports bra and shorts in front of the small table you had. You wanted to be ready for bed so once you finished your work you could immediately jump into the soft covers of the sleeping bag you had, you were beyond thankful it could withstand such cold temperatures. You finish the last two questions you have with ease, Grayskull acting as a flashlight, her glowing blonde hair and blue eyes could become rather bright when she wanted and it was pretty convenient for you. You mouthwash and crawl into your sleeping bag with Grayskull by your side, she liked sleeping next to you, even if she wasn't in the sleeping bag, she just always liked being close to you and you didn't mind.
"Goodnight Gray." You say with a yawn as you shift around to get comfy and warm enough to fall asleep.
"Goodnight Veronique." She replies as you play with her hair until it lulls you to sleep.
"Hey daddy, how come we never go out during the day together? You only ever like to go out at night." You say leaning against the arm of the chair he was sitting on. He placed his large hand atop your small head and ruffled your hair a little before putting his book down and turning his attention to you.
"I'm sorry little one, daddy has very sensitive skin and can't go out into the sunlight, but we have fun indoors during the day don't we? I thought you didn't like the sun either princess." He says as he picks you up from your underarms and places you on his lap. Stroking your hair gently with one hand, running his fingers through your long chocolate hair.
"I don't like the sun, it's icky, but sometimes it can be nice, especially sunrises and sunsets, all the colors in the sky are sooo pretty." You gush with excessive hand gestures, attempting to emphasize your point more clearly.
"Really, what colors have you seen." He asks as you lean against his chest and look up at him.
"Well, I've seen a lot of pink, orange, yellow and red... Ooooh ooooh, and I also could see some purple." You say tapping your small index finger against your chin. "It's really pretty, I wish you could see it too." You say with a frown upset your dad couldn't see the beautiful view with you.
"Why would I need to see it when I have such a detailed explanation, I can already imagine what it must look like, it's just as beautiful and as colorful as you told me, my little angel." Your father lets out a soft chuckle as he places a kiss on top of your forehead, you let a few giggles pass your lips as he gives you a little barrage of head kisses, attacking you with his affection.
"Daddy?" You say with a sweet tone.
"Yes, princess?" He says, returning to combing your hair with his fingers. He looked down at you with a certain fondness that you knew was reserved for you alone.
"I love you soooo much." You gush while hugging as much of him as possible, but your small arms couldn't quite reach all the way around him.
"I love you too my little angel." He says, returning your hug, his giant arms could easily wrap around you twice, and you felt safe and loved in your father's arms.
You woke up feeling a few tears stream down your soft skin, you felt a certain warmth when you were asleep. But now you had awoken to a cruel reality. If only you could go back to being that little girl from those memories that felt so far away. If only you got to live in that child bliss of being oblivious. You wipe away those few tears with your hands as you sit up, feeling the November air dance across your exposed skin, you shiver a little before getting out of bed and getting ready faster than usual.
Jotaro said he wanted to try walking to school earlier to avoid those annoying girls, and you happily agreed, maybe you could read over his short story and make any edits in case he missed something. You got dressed and you skipped out on breakfast, not really feeling that hungry today, but you made sure to pack a slightly heavier lunch, a sandwich in other words. You made sure to walk quickly out of the forest and even do a light jog over to the Kujo residence, the familiar architecture still amazed you to this day, even if you've been in it several times and probably knew every inch of it at this point. Right as you approach the gates you see Jotaro emerge from them, greeting him with a happy wave.
"Morning Jotaro, did you finish your short story?" You ask gazing curiously at his bag as if you could see right through it, he had a traditional Japanese school bag while yours wasn't. It had straps and you wore it on your back, your parents had told you that you didn't deserve a traditional Japanese school bag since you weren't Japanese, you found that reason to be stupid but you didn't argue. You were now accustomed to the different style anyway.
"Yeah, I did, thanks for the help." Jotaro mumbles out still looking half asleep, and you blink at him with wide eyes a few times to make sure you didn't hallucinate.
"Did you just thank me? Did you get enough sleep last night, are you not feeling well or are you some kind of imposter?" You tease him after hearing such a foreign word leave his mouth, you were pretty sure you had never heard him say thank you before, it sounded weird in all honesty.
"Shut your damn trap woman." He says with an annoyed groan as you begin to walk, all you do is laugh in response to his usual mood.
"Yep, that's the Jotaro I know." You giggle out and he just quietly mumbles good grief under his breath.
The two of you take this opportunity to finally walk in peace to school, the sounds of a few cars and the morning chirps of the last few birds in the area were all that could be heard between your footsteps. You finally see the school stairwell in sight and you decided to speak up, a few men were standing near the end of the stairs but you didn't pay them much mind.
"Wow, it's so nice and quiet without your fan club bugging you. Although I don't know how worth it, it was for you to get up so early, I know you aren't a morning person." You chime in as you hear him hum his usual sound of agreement, you walk down the stairs and see that small group of 6 men look at you both before standing up and staring at Jotaro. You look over at Jotaro who doesn't seem like he's really in the mood to deal with what those guys might want from him and he walks closer to you just in case. You descend the stairs and the small group of men blocks your and Jotaro's pathway towards the school.
"Hey there you two, where do you think you're going." One of the men speaks up, eyeing you and Jotaro. You knew you hadn't gotten into any fights lately besides that time before the school year started. Well save for the few scraps you had with some other students but you were pretty sure this wasn't about that. You thought back to that group of people and connected the dots rather quickly, these men wouldn't be after you otherwise since you weren't involved in Jotaro's other affairs and fights.
"So those guys from that small gang came crying to you? You here to deal with us because we kicked their asses and landed them in the hospital?" You ask, the men looked rather surprised that you had deducted it to that possible explanation so quickly. Before they could get any words in you hear Jotaro click his tongue against the rough of his mouth in annoyance.
"Guess we're going to have to wipe the floor with them again and teach them another lesson for opening their damn traps. I knew that damn coward was lying when he said he wouldn't snitch." Jotaro says calmly to you and you nod your head in agreement.
"Do you men need anything or you gonna let us by without any trouble because if so just say off the bat you want a fight, I'm tired of people trying to come up and be intimidating, it's so damn annoying, and I don't feel like being late to class." You deadpan to the group of men who looked rather irked with your and Jotaro's behavior.
"If you want to be beaten up just ask, I'll happily oblige." Jotaro says to the men with his hands still in his pockets.
"Watch your mouths kids, we were just here to give you a little warning but now we're going to thrash you around much harder than you'd like. Especially you girly, don't talk such a big game for someone so small, I'm an ex-boxer after all, you kiddies got nothing on me." One of the men pipes up and you could see by the scars on his face he was telling the truth but you still didn't care too much.
"So I helped kill pillar men who are far more superior in almost every aspect in comparison to humans, this guy has nothing on me, and Jotaro here can definitely hold his own. I've seen him prove that over and over again."
"Are you done running your mouth, I want to be in class before the bell." You roll your eyes, shrugging your bag off and tossing it to the side. You roll your shoulders a little to loosen them up.
"You heard the woman." Jotaro says tossing his bag next to yours before positioning himself for a fight. The two of you were now ready to take them on.
"Now you punks are getting on my nerves, there's six of us and two of you, one of you being a girl nonetheless. A few weeks in the hospital should do you two some good. Now two of you get that mouthy girl, I and the others will go for the big guy." The ex-boxer yells as the others start to move on his command. By now you could tell you've got a crowd of students watching Jotaro and you from afar but you don't focus on that.
You look at the two larger men who charge towards you as you swiftly dodge between their punches, they weren't expecting you to have much fighting experience like most other people you fought. You didn't mind being underestimated, it normally lets you get in the first hit in anyways. You punch one of the men really hard and with a bit of hamon under his jaw and send him stumbling backward, the other man going for a hard kick to your side, and you quickly jump over it.
You notice some of the men taking out knives and nunchucks, which you somehow didn't notice sooner, one of the men goes for a stab on you and you barely move out of the way on time and grab him by the wrist before twisting it. Forcing him to drop the knife as you kick him hard in the balls to get him to back off, the other man comes at you with nunchucks and you weren't sure how to disarm him, you've never had to defend yourself against nunchucks. You use your arms to block most of his in-coming attacks but you knew it was going to bruise your arms a lot, you watch his pattern of attacks and you were able to grab one handle as it came flying at you.
The man wasn't expecting that and you yanked it towards you him following not far behind, you move to the side, and when he begins to fall you elbow him in the neck as he slams against the ground in pain. Your arms were a little painful and you tussled with the other guy for a bit before kicking him into the stairs, hearing his back crack against the concrete steps. The other man got up and slit your lower leg with the knife you left on the floor.
"These pants cost a decent amount you asshole." You say enraged, punching him in the face, he goes for another slit but to your arm but you just grab the blade with your hand, it was a pretty blunt knife so it didn't cut too deep. He was stunned for a moment and you grabbed a handful of his hair and shoved his head downwards making it connect with your knee. He falls to the floor holding his nose as you could see it bent out of place. You pull the knife out of your hand like it was nothing, the adrenaline really helping you out.
You look over at Jotaro and you were absolutely stunned mouth agape and all. There was this strange extremely tall purple-skinned ghost floating next to him. It went ballistic and was punching and beating all the men with ease, his fists were punching so fast that they blurred together and looked like multiple arms, all four men were knocked out and you could see Jotaro doing his best to try and stop it.
All the men were writhing in pain on the floor as several of their joints looked bent and snapped out of place, then the purple spirit turned to you and floated over with his fist clenched as he punched something behind you. You heard the sound of one of the men going flying into the staircase behind you as you heard several cracks and screams from the man, the purple ghost looked down at you and smiled before disappearing as Jotaro walked over to you looking rather alarmed.
"Did that thing hit you?" He asked looking you over as you shook your head, indicating a no to him since you didn't trust your vocal cords. Your mind was still on that strange purple ghost, it had medium length dark majestic hair that seemed to be floating in an imaginary wind, it was somehow even bigger and beefier than Jotaro was, it had a Greek-style loincloth and had the accessories of a fighter. It had a sharp face that looked similar to Jotaro and two gold lines that went down its body like tattoos, you didn't know what to think or make of it.
"What was that thing?" You ask looking up at your friend, not paying any attention to the men you and Jotaro had just beat up, but oddly enough Jotaro seemed shocked by your reply.
"You could see it too? Those guys I just beat the sh*t out of couldn't see it." Jotaro inquires curiously.
"Was I not supposed to be able to see it?" You ask as you and Jotaro stare at one another in confusion as you finally take note of the huge crowd of students who just witness you both beat up some thugs. "We'll talk about this later." You say as you quickly pick up both your bags and start to walk towards the school, for once the sea of students parting for you even though Jotaro was trailing much further behind as he looked down at the ex-boxer.
"Thought we 'kiddies' had nothing on you old man, don't ever come near either of us again unless you want us to wipe the floor with you again." Jotaro threatens the man before catching up with you, you could hear several whispers from the students and you knew word would spread like wildfire at school.
"We're stopping by the nurse's office for you." Jotaro says as he tugs you another way, you were about to ask why and he just points at your hand. You look down at your hand and remember you had pulled a knife out from it, even if the cut wasn't that deep it was bleeding a decent amount.
"My hand is just being overdramatic, the cut wasn't that deep." You scoff and scowl at your hand and you hear Jotaro let out a small snort of laughter at you being you again.
"Good grief woman." He says, shaking his head at you with a small smirk on his face, you knew after being in a fight he was always in a better mood, but something seemed off. Maybe it was that purple ghost thing that you had seen earlier before, but you push it to the back of your mind for now as you enter the nurse's office.
"Jotaro, what brings you here? Who's this, a friend of yours?" She asks sweetly and you give a small smile and wave with the wrong hand as you see her go a little pale at the blood dripping down your arm ruining your uniform sleeve.
"Oh my goodness what happened." The nurse says running over to you and leading you over to a chair and sitting you down, she immediately goes to grab some medical supplies from her cabinet.
"Oh this, yeah sorry some asshole took a knife out during the fight and tried to stab me, but since I knew the blade was dull I just grabbed it. Although he didn’t expect me to do that so I was able to yank the knife out from his hand." You say with a shrug as you kick your feet back and forth on the chair.
"Are you kidding me, did you really grab a knife as he tried to stab you." Jotaro asks with an 'I'm so done with your stupidity' tone.
"Yep, I just grabbed it." You said with a smile and chuckle at Jotaro's expression as the nurse comes rushing back and starts to clean the wound.
"You were in a fight? What happened? Are there any other injured students I should know about?" She asks specifically eyeing Jotaro who just scoffs at the woman.
"No it was just me, Veronique, and some stupid thugs thought they could take us in a fight, even had weapons on them, probably the only reason she got hurt." Jotaro says leaning against the wall.
"You and this girl right here, fought some thugs? Did I get that right Jojo?" She says a little flabbergasted looking at you up and down.
"That's what I just said woman, were you not listening." Jotaro snaps at the kind nurse.
"No no, I was, just I'm surprised is all, I've never seen her here before in the nurse's office. And I've never heard of you fighting alongside someone else before, it's just a little shocking is all." She says as she begins to wrap your hand up with some bandages.
"Oh I have no doubt Jotaro could've taken on all six of them instead of four of them, but they had it out for me as well." You say as you thank her for wrapping your hand up.
"Do you have any other injuries?" The kind short brown-haired woman asks you.
"Just a cut on my leg but I'm sure it's fine." You say as you turn your leg over to see that it bled a lot and stained the whole bottom part of your pants. "Or I guess not, huh." You say as you stare at the cut, you roll up your pants as the nurse gets started on treating you, it doesn't take too long and she makes some idle chatter with you and Jotaro. After she finishes patching you up you roll down your pants and get off the chair, your leg feeling good as new.
"Thanks, sensei, I'm feeling better already." You say with a smile and wave, you and Jotaro exit the office and head to class.
"The cops are likely going to be called, right?" You ask Jotaro with a worried look, you didn't mind the cops coming, it's what your parents might do to you after you would be let out.
"Probably, they'll likely want to detain and question us, but since it was all self-defense and we got several witnesses we'll be alright." Jotaro says looking down at you as you go up the stairs.
"It's not the cops I'm worried about." You say meeting the gaze of his sea-like eyes with concern in yours.
"We'll see what we can do to avoid that from happening." Jotaro says as he gives you a small pat on your shoulder. Jotaro hands in his assignment and you take your seats at the back of the class as you anxiously await the police. Class barely started and you hear the sounds of sirens outside, the teacher continues teaching despite the noise and disruption, not too long after you see a few cops come into the classroom and you let out a sigh.
"Sorry to disturb your class, but we're looking for two students, Kujo Jotaro and Reyes Veronique." The cops say scanning the classroom, you and Jotaro stand up.
"That would be us." Jotaro says calmly as you both walk over to the cops, there were four of them in total and they apologized once again to the teacher. After you were both taken out from the school they put you both in handcuffs as a safety precaution, they said neither of you was in trouble and you were just being brought down for some questioning.
You and Jotaro were placed into the back of one car and you could see the ambulance picking up the men you had both beaten up. You sit quietly in the back of the vehicle until you were brought to the police station where they confiscated your school bags, telling you that you would get them back after being released. The two of you were tossed into a jail cell together since they didn't have much room available in this police station and they didn't want either of you to be put in a cell with someone dangerous. They told you both to wait in the cell for a bit while they get everything organized and that they were sending someone to talk to the thugs you had both beaten up and then they walked away leaving you both in the cell.
"Well isn't this fun." You joked laying down on the surprisingly comfy jail bed across from Jotaro who was also lounging on a bed.
"This is one way to ditch school." He jokes and you just chuckle at his statement.
"So what was that purple ghost anyways? You ask as you see Jotaro get a puzzled look on his face.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out, he didn't hurt you did he?" Jotaro asks facing you from across the small jail cell.
"No, after he punched the guy behind me he just looked down at me and smiled before he disappeared." You say remembering the strange toothy and happy smile the ghost had given you. It was a little endearing, to be honest, but also strange to have a strange ghost smile at you.
"I wonder if he's like Grayskull? Although I shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. I'll give it some time and then maybe I'll see if he can see Gray, but for now, I'll keep quiet about it."
"That's good to know." Jotaro adds with a sigh of relief. "I think it must be some evil spirit possessing me, I don't know if it will hurt you or not but I'm not willing to find out."
"I think if it wanted to hurt me I would've already joined those men in the hospital, and I doubt he would've smiled at me politely if he had malicious intent." You say arguing against what Jotaro was saying and he seems to think on what you said before replying.
"Still that thing might be dangerous until I can find a way to get rid of it be careful around me." Jotaro informs you with a serious tone.
"I don't think there's much for me to be afraid of but sure, I will be 'careful' around you." You say with air quotes, kicking your feet up in the air like a child.
"Do you think he'll show himself again?" You ask turning to face Jotaro once again.
"I don't know, I wasn't sure why he came out in the first place, but for everyone's sake let's hope he won't show his face again." Jotaro says with a worried undertone to his voice and you don't think you've ever seen him like this before. You both go silent for a while, knowing that these policemen might take some time to come back and ask you both some questions. It must have been half an hour before you heard Jotaro complain about something under his breath.
"What's the matter?" You ask sitting up to face him, even if he was across the small jail cell you felt like you needed to look his way when talking to him.
"I could really go for a beer or a smoke right now but they took away all of our sh*t." Jotaro says in a ticked-off manner, sitting up as well. "I'm betting you could also go for some beer to cool your nerves down a bit, it's your first time being detained after all." Jotaro looks at you and you shrug your shoulders and nod.
"It would be nice to have a bit of a drink to take the edge off of all this but it's not like we can do anything." You say with a shrug, Jotaro nodding his head, not long after your brief conversation you see the purple ghost manifest next to Jotaro and you see him tense up a little bit. The ghost doesn't do anything for a moment but then you see it phase through the bars as it disappears for a short amount of time.
"Wait how far can that thing go from you if it's possessing you?" You ask a little frantically, looking at Jotaro who looks a little nervous as well. The benefit from this bizarre situation is that you could see some emotion on the face of this brick wall. Plus ditching class in jail was now something you could tick off your bucket list. What can you say, it was always something you were curious about. Now, thanks to those men and Jotaro you got to experience it.
"I don't know, I didn't know it could go that far either." Jotaro says, both of you stare at the place where it last was seen before it returned and it was holding something, you look closely at its large hands as it hands Jotaro a beer. It then turns to you and floats over as you notice just how huge this thing was, and you got to admire how cool it looked up close. It then held out another beer to you, and you were shocked to see that happen, you reach your hand out and grabbed the beer from its hand.
"Uhm, thanks?" You say not knowing if it could understand you or not. To your surprise, it smiled at you once again before nodding its head and returning to Jotaro's side as it disappeared from exitance once again. You and Jotaro just look at your beers and then each other for a moment in silence as you question what the hell was going on.
"Well if we're both seeing the same thing that means we aren't crazy." You state snapping out of your initial shock, walking over to Jotaro and sitting down next to him. You compare the beer cans as you both confirm they are real objects. Both of you silently open the beer cans and peer inside, seeing the bubbly dark liquid inside was a clear indicator that you weren't crazy.
"Cheers to whatever the f*ck is going on here." Jotaro says as he holds the can up to you as you clink drinks.
"Yep." You say, both of you take a swig of the bitter liquid as it burns down your throat in a satisfying manner, that was your favorite part, you could do without the carbonation though, bubbly drinks weren't your favorite.
"Although I'm likely not going to be able to finish mine so you can have the rest of it when I can't drink anymore." You say taking another swig from the can as you hear Jotaro hum in acknowledgment, you drained it about halfway down before you decided that was enough for you and you handed it over to Jotaro who finished it rather quickly. You both sit there chatting for a while longer before you see one of the same officers walk over to your cell.
"Kujo, Reyes, we're ready to question you, can you both step out of your cells and follow me please." The cop says. opening the door, you and Jotaro both step out compliantly as they lead you to separate interrogation rooms next to one another.
The quiet hum of the light-filled the room as you sat down in front of a table. You were just whistling a random tune while you waited for the officers to enter the room. It was a small and confined space, but at least there was light so you were alright with that, other than that you weren't a huge fan of small dark rooms for painfully obvious reasons. You hear the door click, two officers step inside, one female and one male officer who you hadn't seen when you and Jotaro were initially detained.
"Good morning Veronique, my name is officer Takahashi and this is Officer Satō. I assume you know why you are here, we're going to ask you some questions and we would appreciate it if you answer honestly. You don't need a lawyer, but if you want one we will oblige. You aren't going to be in any legal trouble since we have this written down as self-defense from both you and your friend." The male officer says taking a seat down in front of you and the woman sitting next to him with a clipboard in hand.
"Alright, go ahead." You say as the woman writes something down.
"Why were these thugs going after you?" Officer Takahashi asks calmly.
"They were attacking me and Jotaro because of some gang that we had beaten up before the school year started, but that was self-defense as well. We were outside a convenience store when they randomly jumped us." You add not wanting to make you and Jotaro look like some punks, even though technically speaking that's what you both were.
"You didn't report that attack to the police?" Officer Takahashi asks with a raised brow.
"No, I didn't think much of it after it happened, Jotaro and I were fine so I thought we wouldn't have to report it." You say with a shrug, you forgot that you were supposed to report those types of incidents. Oops!
"Why did those gang members attack you?" He asks as the woman continues to write down notes.
"To be honest I'm not too sure, they said they wanted to harm Jotaro so they went for me, but I and Jotaro came out mostly fine, just a few scratches." You lie about the injuries so that they won't want to take a look, otherwise, they might see your other scars and things could get complicated from there.
"I see." The officer says leaning back in his chair, they ask you a couple more questions about what exactly happened and they told you that you should be a little less rough in your self-defense and that you and Jotaro had seriously injured those men. But apparently, they were all wanted criminals. So it was good that the two of you had landed them in the hospital since it would be easier to put them behind bars after.
"Alright, that's all we have to ask, thank you for your compliance, you'll be escorted back to your cell and we'll give your parents a call so they can come and pick you up." The officer says standing up.
"Wait!" You call out to them as they turn to face you. "There's no need Jotaro and I are heading to his place after school, I'd hate to bother my busy parents with the inconvenience of picking me up, can't I just wait for Holly-San, errr I mean Jotaro's mom to come and get us both?" You plead to the officers as they give you a strange look.
"I suppose if your parents are really busy it wouldn't matter but are you and Kujo close? That his mother is alright with picking you up as well." Officer Satō asks you with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, he's practically my best friend, my only friend you can go ahead and ask him if you'd like." You add to sound more convincing as you give them a sweet smile and pleading eyes.
"Alright Officer Satō will take you back to your holding cell and I'll go ask Kujo about this to confirm what you're saying." Officer Takahashi says with a sigh as he smiles at you. "Now run along kid, you seem like a good young girl, I hope to not see you inside these bars again."
"Of course officer, thank you." You say with a bright smile as you follow officer Satō back to the holding cell you were in initially. It wasn't much long after that Jotaro was also placed back in the same cell as they told you to sit tight and that they were going to call Holly-San to come to get you both. After the officer left you turned to look at Jotaro who had another beer but he placed it to the side for now and there was also a stereo system in here which you didn't notice earlier. You assume the large purple ghost must have brought it for Jotaro. There were a few random men who were also in the cell on the opposite side of the room and you assumed they just go detained. They glanced over at you and Jotaro once before keeping to themselves.
"Thanks for confirming my words, I don't know what would've happened if they called my parents." You said quietly to Jotaro with grateful eyes. Jotaro hums as his way of saying you're welcome. You see the purple ghost appear a few times as it brings Jotaro and occasionally you more stuff, and the men across the cell from you looked rather weirded out that you were getting objects from presumably midair. The two of you sit in silence for a while, reading a book the ghost had brought. Until you hear loud echoing footsteps down the hall as they rapidly approach.
"Jotaro! Veronique." You hear Holly-Sans worried voice as she keeps calling both of your names, you were glad to hear her voice but you couldn't say the same for Jotaro, who had a twitching eye and you see Holly-San stop in front of your cell.
"Shut up, get out of my face you bitch!" Jotaro shouts coldly at his mother, and she just smiles happily to see you both safe and sound.
"Okay~" She says in a sweet tone as you see the officers who detained you both follow up not far behind Holly-San.
"I promise you, he's a very sweet boy, he's just not capable of doing something so appalling, oh and Veronique is so sweet and kind, she wouldn't even hurt a fly." Holly-San says turning to the officers as she buries her face into her hands, you wish what she said about you was true but it wasn't. Jotaro just rolls over on his bed and faces away from them all and you see the officer look at him with an annoyed face.
"Hey on your feet Kujo, you're being released. What part of go home don't you understand!" The officer yells at him and Jotaro just turns his head to face them with a dark look in his eyes and you see the officers both stiffen up a little, clearly intimidated by the delinquent. How typical of Jotaro to even intimidate police officers.
"Listen, mom, you can leave and take Veronique with you, I'll be staying here for a while." Jotaro says and you hear Holly-San gasp, a little shocked and surprised by his words. "Seems I've been possessed by an evil spirit, and I've no idea what it'll make me do next, during that fight it took all I had just to stop it. So do everyone a favor and leave me in this cage, just make sure Veronique gets home safe alright, I don't want her getting hurt by this evil spirit either." Jotaro says turning over to face away from the officers once again and putting his arms behind his head and you look at him with concern on your face.
"For crying out loud do you see what I'm talking about, we're trying to release him but he refuses to go, I'm sorry to have to ask you this but are you sure everything's alright with your boy upstairs." The shorter officer says while tapping his head.
"This isn't a hotel you know ma'am." The taller officer states as you see the men from across the cell run up to the bars and start pleading to be let out.
"Cmon let us change cells, please!"
"He's not lying about the evil spirit thing!"
"Cmon you gotta let us out!"
"Please we'll do anything!" The three men say as the rest of their pleads become incoherent begs as the officer looks fed up with them.
"Alright alright, that's enough, all of you shut up." The officer yells as he hits his baton against the bars to get them to back up and quiet down. You look over to Jotaro who takes a pen out and stabs one of the beer cans he had stored in here as everyone gasps in shock looking his way, as he drinks from the can in a stranger manner.
"Is he....? Seriously....? What are you doing with a beer in a jail cell, how did you even get that in there!" The shorter officer yells with a nervous voice as Jotaro just crushes the can and lets out a solid fresh burp.
"Heh, nice." You say to him and he nods his head your way, the three men push themselves up against the furthest wall to get away from him.
"I told you, I've got an evil spirit." Jotaro says as you see the arms of the purple ghost lift up the comic book into his hands. "And sometimes it likes to bring me things." Jotaro finishes as you see the ghostly arms press the button on the stereo you saw earlier, but to other people, it must have looked like it turned on all by itself.
"What the hell! He's reading a Shonen Jump and listening to a radio." The short officer exclaims as he grabs onto the bars and gets a closer look.
"Sir how is this even possible, we have a major problem here!" The taller officer says backing away from the bars.
"Hold it!" Jotaro says loudly to the men in a calm manner as he gets up off his bed. "This might not be enough to make you guys keep me locked up in here, but I'll show you just how evil the spirit is anyways." Jotaro says taking off his hat and tossing it on your head, for now, it was warm and oddly comfy, you could see how he could wear this all day. He walks over to the bars with the shaking officers as they look nervous as he approaches them. "Maybe then you'll see why letting me out of here is a bad idea." Jotaro says as he reaches a hand out in front of him towards the officers as you get up and walk a little closer to get a better look, catching a glimpse of the terrified men in the cell with you. You see the purple ghostly arm extend out from Jotaro like an extra appendage as you see him reach for the gun on the officer's belt as it tears off the safety clip and as it pulls back so quickly to Jotaro as he is now the one wielding the gun and not the strange purple arm, you see everyone stare at him in shock.
"T-That's my gun he has in his hand but how'd he???" The taller officer says stumbling backward.
"This is really bad" The shorter officer panics.
"You didn't see it just now? Well if you guys didn't see my evil spirit... Then watch this." Jotaro says as he turns the gun and points it at his head, you felt your heart drop as you watch the barrel turn.
"No! Jotaro!" Holly-San yells as you attempt to stop him but he pulls the trigger before your body could register that you wanted to move you saw the bullet fly through the air before it got caught by the same purple hand you saw earlier. You hear everyone scream and you see the smoke fade away and Jotaro is panting and he even looked a little nervous which wasn't much of a surprise, he put a lot of faith in that 'evil spirit' just now. Jotaro lowers the gun and the purple hand lowers the bullet from being so near his head.
"It's like there's someone behind me, it bound itself to me not long ago." Jotaro says as he reaches out to the officers spinning the gun so they could grab the handle as the purple ghost dropped the bullet he caught. The bullet clatters against the floor as everyone stares at him in pure shock and horror, you see Holly-San standing still as a statue as she stares at her son.
"So I'm staying in here until I can figure out what it wants from me you got that!" He yells at the officers as they whimper and take the gun away from him, Jotaro then turns to you and you take his hat off and hand it over to him. "Veronique go home safely with the old woman until I can figure out what this is I don't want you to be too close to me, proximity-wise." You wanted to argue with him against it but you knew his mind was already made up and he wouldn't listen otherwise.
"Alright but I'll be coming back here with any homework you might miss depending on how long you stay here, it is Friday after all so you shouldn't be missing much for now at least. Just because you'll be in a jail cell doesn't mean I won't come to visit you, and there isn't anything you can do to stop me so don't bother." You say playfully punching his arm as he chuckles.
"I knew you'd say that." Jotaro says with a soft chuckle. "Now go on, go comfort the old woman she looks like she's going to pass out any second." Jotaro says pointing a thumb at Holly-San as the officers release you from the cell. You walk next to Holly-San as you say goodbye to Jotaro as you watch him return to lounging around on his bed once again. You get your bag back from the officers at the front and you tell them to expect to see you come by tomorrow to visit Jotaro, you walk with Holly-San to her car and you get in next to the driver's seat. She doesn't start the car right away but she just stares forward with this devastated look on her face.
"Hey, Holly-San are you okay? I know that must have been scary for you to see Jotaro almost shoot himself, but the purple ghost was able to stop the bullet." You say reassuringly as you pat her shoulder, she just turns to you with a shocked look on her face.
"You could see it too Veronique?" She asked with wide eyes and you were equally surprised that she could see it too.
"Yeah, and you could as well?" You inquire as you see her nod her head, you both sit in silence for a bit as she starts the car and pulls out from the parking at the police station.
"If it's not too much to ask could you spend the night at mine, I don't want to be alone right now, and knowing that my poor baby boy is sleeping in a jail cell is too much for me to handle on my own." Holly-San says with a sad smile and a quiet sniffle as she begins the drive to her place.
"Of course, I don't mind Holly-San, even though Jotaro is my friend you are also my friend, I've known you for longer and it doesn't matter that you are years older than I am. We're friends Holly-San, nothing will change that, I'll be there for you." You say with a smile as you see a few tears slip from her eyes as she mouths a quiet thankyou, the rest of the drive to her place was in silence as both of your minds were on Jotaro.
Alright everyone we are getting this show on the road, I had so much fun writing this and I can't wait to get started on the next part, thank you so much for reading this. I can't believe that this almost has 1000 reads, you guys are all so sweet.
