MAGO - Stardust Crusaders X OC

Chapter Twenty: Monday, December 19 - Sunday, December 25

But, luckily for the group, they had about a week of normal travelling to do, by boat, like they were much more used to. Sana had been looking forward to it, and when the boat had arrived, she'd gone straight to bed. The sea always made her sleepy, and she got up the next day, full of energy once more.

Sana, like usual, made to head to the deck, but Jotaro caught her on the way up, and told her that there was a storm and none of them were allowed up there as per Mr Joestar's request. So Sana found herself relegated to the half-empty living space, with only her, Jotaro, and Noriaki.

It was fine, actually, she didn't mind it at all, sitting on a chair, casually reading, occasionally stealing glances at Noriaki, and sometimes even meeting his eyes, which she kind of regretted doing, hastily turning back to her book and pretending it had never happened.

"Hey, Sana," Jotaro said. Sana glanced up.

"Hm?"

"Can I look at those pictures you took?" he asked.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess so," Sana said. "Let me just go and get those."

And she did, unsure of why Jotaro had even asked. It wasn't like he really cared about pictures, right? He didn't seem the type. Sana supposed it was just because some were of him, and he was curious to know what Sana had been taking.

So Sana brought the photos through, and Jotaro spread them on the little table in the middle of the seating area. Whenever Jotaro asked, Sana answered, and even Noriaki put his book down to look at them.

"When was this?" he asked, picking up that one of him and Jotaro talking.

"Oh- off the coast, somewhere," Sana said. "I thought you two looked sweet."

Noriaki regarded the photo for a moment, and then gently placed it back down. "I see. You really do have an eye for photography."

Before Sana could thank him, Jotaro spoke. "Hey, what's this from?" Jotaro asked, pulling out the photo that the woman had taken of them back in SIngapore Botanic Garden.

"Singapore," Noriaki answered, before Sana even could muster up the words. His eyes flickered up to her, and she didn't say anything, so he kept talking. "While you were busy, we went to a few places."

Jotaro laughed. Sana narrowed her eyes. There wasn't anything to laugh about. It was just a picture... but maybe she was being a little defensive-

"Now I can see why that bastard thought you were a couple," Jotaro said.

"Who?" Noriaki frowned.

"Dan," Sana answered evenly. She tried to lessen the pinkness of her cheeks, but it was fruitless. She was so stupid.

And Jotaro looked at her, and grinned, because he knew, and put the photo back down. "Good grief. I'm leaving." And he did, without another word.

Suddenly, Sana didn't really want to show the rest of the photos any more. She was at such a loss of what to do, and she didn't want to look at Noriaki but she could feel his eyes on her as she picked up the photos and carefully placed them back into the bag. She knew that if she looked, she'd flush even worse, or say something stupid, something that would make it more bluntly obvious than it already was, and she stood up to take the photos away-

"He thought we were dating?" Noriaki stood with her, intently looking at her purse, where the photos had been safely tucked away. Sana didn't meet his eyes. Her heart was racing, and she could feel that same tension in the air that had been there in the hotel.

"Yeah. Him, and everyone else," Sana tried to make light of it, but it wasn't working, not at all. She just tried not to look at Noriaki. If she did- she didn't know what would happen.