Word Count: 3616

"Mom, I'm off!" You called out into the house as you stood by your door.

A weak "Have a nice day!" Sounded from her room and you smiled a bittersweet smile before turning around and opening the front door. Your mom was sick. Very sick. For the past month, she had been bedridden and you had barely been able to interact with her for fear that you'd get sick too. She tried her best to work from home and keep money flowing but it was a desperate attempt and you knew it.

Years ago, your family moved to Japan for your dad's work, only for him to step out of your lives a few years later; leaving you and your mom struggling financially. And now that she was sick and could barely work? It was even harder.

With a sigh, you left your porch and made for school, just like every weekday.

The closer you got, the more people and students littered the streets, forming into crowds. Preferring to avoid them, you stuck to the sides and kept to yourself, speed walking to get to your destination while avoiding all eye contact.

At one point, you nearly tripped due to the skirt of the school outfit not complying with the large strides you were taking. Gods how you disliked the skirts. Every once in a while for a fancy occasion? Sure, skirts and dresses were fine. But for every day? No sir, you preferred pants any day. You didn't have the guts to disobey the school rules and change the outfit or wear something different though, so you just sucked it up and accepted it. Thankfully, you had never had a clothing mishap with it and you were intent to keep it that way.

Finally reaching the school grounds, you let out a silent sigh of relief before flinching as a shrill sound filled the air. You immediately recognized it as the screeching of girls as they rushed past to something behind you.

One of them harshly bumped into your shoulder, making you spin 180˚ while she just ignored you and kept running as if nothing happened. Grumbling slightly, you rubbed your now painful shoulder and looked up to see exactly what you were expecting.

Jotaro Kujo had walked onto the school grounds and was now being swarmed by squealing girls, fawning over him as if their life depended on it.

You knew it wouldn't take long for his fuse to blow so you quickly turned back around on your original path and walked into the school, hearing the shrieks and giggles fade away as you made your way to class.

- - - -

Sitting in your assigned seat by the window, you just stared outside at the trees and skies while the teacher had just started explaining the history of WW1.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and you jumped a little in your seat, being disturbed from your staring contest with a branch. In the doorway stood the famous school delinquent, walking inside without a regard for anyone and taking his seat behind you.

You mostly kept your head down while the class – mainly the girls – were muttering and greeting the boy. Only glancing up briefly when he walked past you, you saw him looking down at you with his usual glare and quickly turned your head to the window again.

To be frank, he scared you. His hard glare, cold demeanor and size were enough to intimidate you to avoid him. Pair that with a short fuse that made him frequently shout at those around him, and you did your best to stay out of his way. Although you couldn't blame him for that last part; everyone would lose their mind if they had those girls around them constantly.

You heard him sit down behind you and let out the breath you were subconsciously holding. It was just your luck that you had been seated right in front of him at the back of the class – probably because you were the quiet type which made the teachers hope you'd rub off on him or something. Good luck with that.

After that interruption, class continued as normal and you paid only a little bit more attention.

- - - -

The rest of the school day passed as usual. You sat alone at lunch, not having the gut to walk over to other people and strike up a conversation.

Social anxiety's a bitch.

Since all the cliques in school had already formed, you were just left alone. Although you did not mind per se, you liked a bit of quiet and spent lunch reading in a secluded corner outside of the school building – like usual. Were you lonely? Yes. Sometimes you wished you could break out of your shell, laugh and joke around with your peers, make sarcastic comments and just be happy and lively. But no one had ever made an effort to get to know that side of you and everyone only ever saw the silent girl sitting in the corner. So, after a few years, you stopped trying.

With those depressing thoughts you packed up your lunch since break was over. After that, more classes until you heard the final bell ring. You were finally set free.

Looking at the clock, you saw you had about an hour before your shift at the aquarium started. How you had managed to land the job there remained a mystery but you couldn't be happier about it. It provided you with enough money to support you and your mom (Paired with her own salary) and it was actually a job you enjoyed. Interacting with those dolphins was the highlight of your day and those animals were practically the only ones who got to see the real you.

With a quick movement, you packed up your bag and rushed out of the classroom, startling several students as you ran past. You could have sworn you felt eyes watching your every move from behind as you ran out but you shook it off and just kept running.

- - - -

It was 9:30PM by the time you got home, your shift running late that day. After making a quick meal and dropping it off at your mother, you went to your room and did your homework as you ate, ready to crash into bed as soon as possible.

- - - -

Groggily opening your eyes, you looked beside you to the clock on your wall, only for you to yelp in shock and tumble out of bed. Painfully landing on your face, you just rolled over so that you could get up before rushing around the house to get ready for school. How could you have slept in!?

In record time you got everything done, still busy properly pulling on one shoe as you stepped out of the door, nearly tumbling down the steps of your porch as you did so. But with that near accident, you started on your way to school.

You were speed walking as you went, to try and make up for lost time. Your mind however, was still back in your bed and so, you were groggy and distractedly looked off to the side, not paying the best of attention nor going as fast as you actually would have liked to be going. The road and sidewalk you were currently walking on ran on a tall hill. There was a railing on the side, protecting people from falling down the grassy, tree covered slope, but as you observed it, you realized it didn't even reach your hip. People could fall over it without trouble and you raised an eyebrow at that fact as you walked.

Heavy footsteps suddenly reached your ears and you perked your head up, looking around as to where it came from.

On the other side of the road, you saw the familiar black cap and outfit of your favourite delinquent. He seemed to be on his way to school, for the second time in a row. That's surprising. You however, turned back around, pretending you didn't see him as you walked down the road in a quick pace while trying to make it seem as if you were just walking casually.

No matter how hard you tried though, Kujo's legs are quite long and your panicked quick-ish pace, was his normal pace. Eventually, he crossed the road, making him walk on the same side of the curb as you.

You were a little bit ahead of him when a car suddenly sped by you. From the corner of your eye, you saw a small projectile make its way over to you at a high speed. You didn't even have time to raise your arms to cover your face but on instinct, your Stand came out; her shield protecting you from the small barrage of pebbles that the car whipped into the air.

The ghostly figure blocked all the rocks, making them softly clatter to the ground before she dropped the shield at her side and looked at you, giving you a closed eyed-smile. How that worked when she had no visible mouth was a bit of a mystery, but you appreciated it nonetheless.

You retracted her back into your body and suddenly realized you had stopped walking. With a quick look behind you, you saw Jotaro was not too far behind, standing still as well and slightly squinting at you. Thinking he didn't want to get close to you, you quickly started walking again, keeping your eyes to the floor and nearly sprinting away in embarrassment.

Hell, he saw you looking and smiling at thin air since you knew that no one but you could see your ghostly friend. Ever since you were little, she had looked after you, so you were used to having her around and protecting you. You knew you had to tread careful around other people though. One wrong move and you'd end up in a mental ward.

The footsteps started back up and to your dismay, you realized Jotaro had started walking again as well, being closer than before.

It was an awkward walk to school. You, refusing to acknowledge he was behind you, and him not even bothering to give you one glance or start a conversation. Not that you were in conversation distance since he was walking a few meters behind you, probably hating the fact that you were walking so close to him. That's what you thought at least, Jotaro himself was actually quite deep in thought, debating on what the hell he just saw.

Once you finally reached the school and your class, you slid the door open and stepped inside, gaining all eyes of the class on you and making you look at the floor.

"Sorry I'm late." You muttered before quickly walking over to your seat by the window. The teacher was just about to reprimand you for leaving the door open when Jotaro appeared in the doorway. You had seen him a few paces behind you in the hall and left it open for him.

His eyes followed you as you walked to your seat before pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes and walking over to his seat behind you.

"L/N, Kujo, nice of you both to join us." Your teacher said with a raised brow, closing the door that Jotaro had blatantly left open before walking back to her desk.

You were practically shrinking into your desk at the comment. Why did teachers always have to put the spotlight on things like this? Or when you weren't paying attention for a second, making them practically ridicule you in front of the class...

"We were just discussing the upcoming project. It is to be done in groups of two and as you seem to be so in sync already, why don't you two partner up? You might even be able to help him with his English grade, Miss L/N." Your teacher had an evil looking smirk on her face as she said that last bit to you specifically and you could feel your heart sink. You had to do a project with Kujo? There had to be someone else you could do it with, right? "Besides, all the other groups have already been formed." The teacher then turned to the rest of the class again while you could feel some jealous stares from the other girls in the class, making you cringe. "Choose a topic, be it an animal, place or culture – that doesn't matter. I just want you to write a paper on it in English and hand it in in four weeks. Alright, go ahead and get to work!" The teacher finished and took a seat at her desk while the class erupted into talk and muttering, everyone starting to discuss the project.

Dreading the next few weeks, you groaned silently to yourself and let your head bonk down onto your desk, staying there for a bit. You could feel Jotaro's eyes on the back of your head and, realizing you at least had to try, you got up and timidly turned around so that you were sitting sideways in your seat, making you able to look at him while also not seeming too invasive or eager – like his fangirls would be. He had his feet up on his desk and you sent him a nervous smile as you swallowed, unsure of how to begin – and if you should even begin to talk. The last thing you wanted was for him to shout at you and you were already going through scenarios in your head where he would completely ignore you and you had to do the project on your own. Maybe that would even be the best option.

Deciding to suck it up and try it anyways, you raised your head so that you could properly look at him and your eyes crossed with his. He had a calculating gaze and you quickly looked anywhere but directly in his eyes, awkwardly scratching the back of your head.

"So... what would you want to do the project about? It's practically an essay so it would be best if it is something that we can gather a good bit of information about."

He remained silent and you just sat there, tapping your legs a bit awkwardly and unsure of what to do. At least he hadn't cussed you out or yelled at you. With no other option, you just started listing off a few topics.

"Um, we could do jungles?" He remained unfazed, except now he was looking outside. Taking that as a no, you wracked your brain for another topic. "Mythologies maybe? The gods of the Aztecs for example?" You suggested and for a split second, a flash of recognition could be seen in his eyes. It was gone as soon as it appeared however and you took it as another no. "Marine life?"

When you uttered those words, he turned his head to you and while you had expected a hard glare, instead you saw a different look. Almost... curiosity? Given that he gave you a somewhat positive reaction, you perked up in happiness. With your job, you knew more than most and it was actually something you really loved talking about.

Without thinking, you gave Jotaro a smile, your mind racing too much to worry about the fear of annoying or angering him. "Marine life itself is too big of a topic so we can narrow it down to a certain area or animal species maybe. Dolphins and whales perhaps?"

You turned back to your notebook and scribbled somewhat of a plan inside it. Given that this was Jotaro Kujo you were talking to, you took into consideration the big chance that he would do 0% of the work.

"Alright so if you could search up some information about dolphins native to Japan maybe? Then I'll research the whales and in a week or so, we can start to assemble the essay."

He didn't respond and, realizing this was most likely gonna be as far as you'd come today, you turned around so that you were sitting properly on your chair again, biting your lip as you tried to settle your hammering heart. Talking to the school's bad boy was more than enough to make your anxiety spike. In fact, that was probably the most uselessly stressful thing you'd done in a while but at least you got through it. You didn't expect him to do a single thing so like this, you had a week to research whales and still have plenty of time to research the dolphins and put together the essay without stressing about deadlines.

- - - -

A week passed quickly. Almost every moment of every day was spent being busy and you barely had any time to sleep, let alone relax. So it wasn't a surprise that you were now sat in English class, dozing off on your desk with your head buried in your arms.

Something suddenly hit your head and you shot up with a start before reaching your hand to the back of your head, trying to feel what hit you. Blinking rapidly to wake up, you looked to your right to see Jotaro standing there. He had the tiniest of smirks playing on his lips as he looked at you. With a smack, he dropped a small file on your desk before walking past and taking a seat behind you.

The rest of the class had looked at the small interaction, a bit stunned. Jotaro clearly didn't care for the stares and you were too busy realizing he had just smacked you awake with the file that was now sitting on your desk to notice, debating whether or not you should feel offended but deciding against it given that it was Kujo who did it.

Still confused, you took hold of the document and opened it while the class returned to normal.

Scanning through the several pages, you saw he had done exactly as you asked him to. Research and facts about dolphins native to Japan and even a sub section about the hunting of the several species.

You were so surprised and engrossed with what you had in your hands that you almost missed what he said to you.

"So, are you going to show me what you did, bitch?"

"Eh?" You looked up from the papers to see him roll his eyes at you and motion to the notebook on your desk. "Oh! Yeah of course." You were almost in a shocked daze as you handed him the notebook with all your research. You had went to the local library and – of course – your work, trying to gather the best and most accurate information you could on the topic.

You were both just silently reading each other's work when you ran into a bit of trouble. While you had written your notes in English – finding it easier to do so – Kujo had done his in Japanese Kanji. And, while his handwriting wasn't bad per se, you had ran into the little problem of being unable to understand what he had written.

"Um-" You started, turning around and facing your project partner behind you. He looked up, seemingly waiting for you to say something. "Sorry, but I just can't read what you wrote here..." You placed the note down onto his desk and turned it so that he could read it and hopefully explain.

He glanced at it for a second. "-Are the experimentations performed on the species." He read aloud what he wrote in a harsh tone and you turned the page back so you could look at it, now understanding what it said.

"Ooohh... That makes sense, yeah." You chuckled slightly, a little awkward and feeling embarrassed you couldn't read it while it was so obvious now.

Silence fell over the both of you again as you continued to read.

"What's this." You suddenly heard his voice speak out again and you looked up to see him pointing at a word.

"Oh, that's the word for the teeth like bristles that a whale has to filter its food." You translated and Jotaro hummed slightly, sounding dismissive.

This went on for the rest of the class. The both of you reading in silence and only speaking up every now and then if one of you didn't understand what it said. You ended up sitting backwards on your chair with the notes spread out on Jotaro's desk, practically making you two share the workspace. You didn't really notice but while Jotaro did – he didn't say anything of it.

Peeking over the edge of the notebook he was reading, Jotaro examined your form. Up until now, he never really saw you. He knew you were the quiet girl who sat in front of him in class and appreciated that you didn't obnoxiously flirt with him like so many others – giving him at least a tiny bit of peace and quiet in class – but after that you had always disappeared into the background. Hell, up until a week ago, he had never even seen you outside of class.

As the days passed however, he noticed you more and more. Somehow, you were always alone. Sitting on your own during lunch breaks and rarely interacting with others. It wasn't his problem though, and he sure as shit wouldn't make a problem of it. You could deal with it yourself.

He did notice it though.

17-03-2021