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junosartsthetic · 1 year

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A Bizarre Beginning

This is the 2k word first place fic won by @strawberrystepmom in my 600 followers celebration event.

Warning(s): Swearing, that’s basically it, this is a meet-cute sort of fic that is more like 2.5k than 2 but I got carried away, oh also this is post-part 3 but pre-part 4 mid-twenties joot, and he is still in his emo phase because i said so

You weren’t sure how you got into this situation in the first place—it was bizarre, to say the least, but you couldn’t bring yourself to regret it. It was the opposite, in fact, you wanted nothing more than to stay where you were for the rest of your life.

It all began when you met the love of your life—Jotaro Kujo. You were fresh out of college, with a bright future in your, well, future. You were ecstatic to achieve such a large goal on your road to normalcy. All your life you’d grown up with something strange always lurking around you. . . something nobody else spoke of. It was like it was invisible to everyone but you, though you knew you weren’t crazy. It was a humanoid figure, though more alien-looking than human. You could tell it to come and go, but it didn’t do much else besides hover around. Eventually, you accepted your fate, to be forever bonded to the bizarre entity, and ignored it as much as you could. It didn’t bother you nowadays, especially now that you had a normal future ahead of you.

That’s when you met him. The man who saw your companion.

It was a normal run-in—walking the aisles of a supermarket, your ever-hovering entity trailing behind you as you grabbed your groceries. You had spotted him at the end of the aisle in a large black coat, a similar colored hat upon his head. He looked rather handsome—at least from where you were standing, so you quietly slid closer, pretending to browse for nothing in particular.

You searched your mind for something clever or interesting to say to him, but had nothing. It was strange—you would normally never approach someone like this, but it was like something beyond your reach lured you closer. You couldn’t help yourself. You had to talk to him.

“Hey,” he suddenly spoke, deep voice spooking you. You jumped lightly, taking a step back. He didn’t look at you, but instead stared at the two items in his hand. Two cans of soda. “Cherry or vanilla?”

You tilted your head, though of course he didn’t see. Deciding not to question why he was asking a stranger for advice on fizzy beverages, you answered him. “Cherry-vanilla,” you said, grabbing the aforementioned can off the shelf. You held it out for him to grab. “It’s the best of both.”

He set the cans down, looking over to grab the soda, when his eyes widened ever so slightly. He leaned back stiffly, guarding himself as he stared you down. “Call off your stand before things get ugly,” he threatened, an entity materializing beside him. You gasped.

His spirit looked completely different than yours—a muscular, scantily clad god-of-a-man with long black hair and piercing eyes. It locked eyes with you, unblinking. You beckoned your own companion beside you. “You can see it, too?” you whispered. “And you have a spirit of your own.”

“They’re called stands. And they’re manifestations of your soul.” His stance relaxed slightly. “I’m assuming by your reaction you’ve never met another stand-user before.”

“I always assumed I was alone,” you said. “There’s others out there like me—well, like us?”

“Yeah. Too many, if you ask me.” He grabbed the cherry-vanilla soda from your hand, popping it open as he gestured you to follow him. “Follow me. I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

You did as told, trailing behind as he walked out of the store, chugging the soda down before tossing in the trash bin outside. “You gonna pay for that?” you questioned, glancing behind you at the clueless cashier.

“I doubt a can of soda will bankrupt ‘em. Now let’s get a move-on. I don’t have all day to play teacher.”

“Get a move-on where? I don’t even know you.” You stopped, watching as he opened the door to his car. He rolled his eyes, as though your legitimate concerns were petty questions that didn’t need answered. Still, he spoke up.

“Jotaro Kujo. And we’re heading back to my apartment. I’m not standing in a grocery store revealing sensitive information.” He gestured to the passenger door from his side. “Get in.”

“Great,” you muttered sarcastically, popping the door open and slipping inside. “This is definitely not a stupid and dangerous idea. Sure. Why not?”

“Stop talking to yourself. If you think it’s so stupid then why’d you follow me out here?” He started up the engine, pulling out of the parking lot. He turned up the radio slightly. Punk-rock played through the speakers. You two had the same taste in genre, you noted. At least if he was going to kill you, you’d die listening to decent music.

“Because I care more about answers than my wellbeing,” you replied honestly, arms crossed as you stared out the window. “My whole life I’ve never seen anyone like me. Then I suddenly run into you at a grocery store I decide to visit for the first time? It’s. . . bizarre.”

“Stand users are more common than you’d think. But even so, the likelihood of bumping into each other. . .” he trailed off, brows furrowed in concentration. His hands gripped the steering wheel, fingers occasionally tapping against it. “It’s like we’re all magnets. . .”

“Would you mind elaborating? How do you know so much about all this, anyway?”

He shot you a glare. “Damn it. I’m trying to think here!” You locked eyes with him, returning the dirty look tenfold. It’s not like it was your fault for getting coerced into a stranger’s car. Well. . . it may have been a little bit of stupid curiosity on your part, but to pass up the opportunity to get answers about the being that’s haunted you since you could remember? That wasn’t going to happen. You couldn’t let someone like yourself slip through your fingers. You had to know what he had to say.

“You told me you’d give me answers, Kujo.” You clicked your tongue. “But fine. I’ll shut up. . . for now.”

The rest of the ride was silent, save for Jotaro muttering under his breath. When he finally pulled into a nice apartment complex, you tore out of the car. You were halfway to the building before he’d turned it off. You stood on the concrete sidewalk, leaning on either foot anxiously.

He walked past you, heading up the stairs. You followed swiftly behind, careful not to step on his coat. Why was he wearing such a large jacket, anyway? It was rather hot out. If he was trying to make a statement, he should’ve gone with white. It would contrast his hair better.

You brushed off your odd thoughts, instead watching as he finally stopped at a door, swinging it open. He didn’t bother to welcome you inside, just leaving it open as he slipped his shoes off. You followed in, shutting the door behind you. You took your shoes off, setting them neatly against the entryway wall. You almost left them on in case you needed to sprint out of there, but your common courtesy forbade it.

“Alright. Now answers,” you said, taking a seat on the plush brown couch in the living area. He stood in the kitchen—the open floor plan allowing you to watch him as he dug a soda out of the fridge. He tossed a can to you. Well, more like at you.

“Would you give me a second? Good grief, you’re impatient.”

You barely caught it before it hit the window behind you. You looked at the label. Cherry-vanilla. Why did he ask you about your soda opinion in the first place if he already had. . . it didn’t matter. You popped it open, taking a sip. “I came here to talk about why the hell you and I have strange entities permanently tied to our bodies and how we managed to run into each other despite the likelihood of that happening being next to zero. Not to sip soda and have small talk.”

He finally took a seat across from you in a comfortable looking loveseat, popping open another soda. “I hear you. Jesus, woman, give me a break.”

You huffed. “Just tell me what you know, please.”

“Look.” He took his hat off, setting it on the coffee table. He propped his feet next to it. If you were his mother you’d scold him for that. “This whole thing started with my great-great-grandfather and his asshole step-brother. It’s a long story.”

Your eye twitched. You glanced over at your spirit—or stand as Jotaro called it—that was lingering beside you. “Any way you can start a little closer to the present day? Like how you managed to control your ‘stand’ like you did? All mine does is sort of hover around.”

Jotaro’s stand appeared once more, standing next to the seat. “I call him Star Platinum. All you need to do is focus on controlling it. It’s part of you. Like moving a limb.” Star Platinum punched the air a few times before letting out a swift and rather quiet, “ora”. You blinked. His could even talk? Well. . . make sounds was a better word for it, but it still surpassed your own stand, who was barely more than a semi-permeable puppet. You turned to face your entity. You examined its every detail, studying it like it was your own body. You imagined it moving its hand to pick up your soda, now discarded on the coffee table. It did nothing. You grunted, focusing harder. You concentrated with everything you had. It’s your hand. It’s your hand. It’s your hand. Move. Move. Move—

Your stand’s fingers twitched, before its whole arm came alive. It moved robotically, but with purpose. Grasping the soda can, it picked it up, handing it to you. You took the soda. You sipped the sweet beverage smugly. You did it.

“Good to know you’ll be safe next time you visit a vending machine,” Jotaro ridiculed, a barely noticeable smirk on his face.

“Shut up,” you shot back. “Anyway, what does some distant relative have to do with all this?”

“To save time, all you need to know is that the asshole step-brother became a vampire, stole my ancestor’s body, and led an army of stand users to kill my grandfather and I as we tried to save my mother from becoming victim to her own stand. Other people joined us too but they’re not important right now. They have stands as well. So does my grandfather. We killed the vampire—Dio—but stand users keep appearing, and we don’t know why.”

You resisted the urge to spit up your soda laughing. He had to be joking. Did he really think you were that stupid? Body-snatching? Vampires? This wasn’t a movie or some bizarre television show. Those so-called ‘creatures of the night’ weren’t real.

“It sounds fake,” Jotaro said, breaking your unbelieving silence. “It’s not. You know stands exist. They don’t make sense, either.”

“Fine,” you accepted. “Let’s say your little bizarre adventure is true. That still doesn’t explain how we could’ve possibly met each other. I’m not even supposed to be in this town. I took the wrong bus.” You relaxed your elbows onto your knees, leaning forward. “What’s the answer to that?”

“I don’t know,” he confessed, crunching his now-empty can. He threw it behind himself haphazardly. It landed into the bin perfectly. You wondered how long it took for him to do that.

“Well. What about your grandfather or the people you mentioned?” you asked. “Do they know anything?”

“Half of those people died on the trip. My grandfather’s in no shape to do much of anything. And Polnareff is already scouring aimlessly with no answers.”

“Oh.” You glanced at the wooden floor awkwardly. “Sorry for your loss.”

“All you need to do now is put your stand away, lay low, and watch out for anyone who may be a stand user,” Jotaro said, quickly changing the subject. “Not everyone who has a stand is an upstanding citizen. They can and will use them for evil.”

“Are there more stand users around here?” you questioned. “I guess if we’re all attracted to each other like magnets, there’s bound to be more.”

“Exactly. Which is why you need to learn to use your stand for more than picking up soda.”

“I get it,” you said, waving off his taunts. You stood up from the couch, walking towards where he sat. “I’ll keep in touch. For now, I’m going back home. I’ve had enough information for one day. Gimme a paper and I’ll jot down my number.”

He stood up, and you stepped back. You forgot just how tall he was for a second there. You wondered how many doorframes he’d hit in his lifetime.

Jotaro grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from off the kitchen counter, tossing it to you. You really did not enjoy the amount of throwing this man did. You managed to catch the pen and paper though, though it wasn’t your hands that held the objects, but your stand’s.

“You’re catching on fast,” he said, leaning against the counter, elbows holding him up. “Not bad.”

You ignored the sudden warmth of your cheeks, instead scribbling down your information before tossing the paper and pen back. “There. I put my name on there too since you didn’t have the decency to ask for it.”

With that, you slipped your shoes back on, swinging open the apartment door and walking out.

Jotaro watched you leave, a gleam in his eye and an embarrassed smirk on his face. As much as he hated to admit it, he was looking forward to seeing you again. Even if you were loud and snarky and matched his quips blow-for-blow. As strange and unexplained the attraction between stand users could be, he had a decent idea about why he was drawn to you.

He was never one for romance—he’d skipped all his school dances and after-school parties—but there was just something about you. He glanced at your unfinished soda placed on the coffee table. What a stupid way to talk to a woman. Cherry or vanilla? Though he supposed he did manage to get you home in one day. He must’ve done something right.

He looked to his side, examining Star Platinum’s giddy expression. As much control as he had in his stand, he could never get Star to calm his unwaveringly unhidden emotions.

He scoffed, shaking his head. “Good grief. My idiot grandfather would be ashamed.” How’d that old man act so charismatic all the time?

Meanwhile, after you’d finally made it back home after hours of taking public transportation, you collapsed into your comfortable bed, thinking about the man you’d met that day. You couldn’t get him out of your head. Even after all the information you’d received, all you could picture was Jotaro’s stoic expression as he spoke, black hair falling into his face without his hat to keep it up. He intrigued you. Not only because he was the first person you’d ever met with a power like yours, but also because of his demeanor. There was something more to his stoic nature. And you couldn’t wait to discover it.

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