"We're almost at the Indo-Pakistan border," Kakyoin said, glancing up from the map in his hands.
Just five minutes after Anne had made herself comfortable, Joseph had turned around asking if anyone else would read the map and instantly, Kakyoin volunteered. The second the car had stopped, he opened the door and practically ran out, away from the younger girl who was hell-bent on telling him stories about some boys she had met. Now that Joseph was sat in his place, she was much quieter, choosing to stare out to the road instead.
The only difference was, now that Joseph was squeezed into the backseat too, there was nearly no room to breathe. Y/n was awfully aware of both the people beside her, especially Jotaro, who's jacket seemed to emit only hot air. Even the smallest movement he made, she could feel and, she assumed the opposite was true too, so she made minimal movement, not wanting to make him even more aware of how close they were sitting.
Abruptly, the car made a sharp turn, Polnareff shouting both curses and apologies whilst Kakyoin went flying against the door. Unsurprisingly, nobody in the backseat moved, there being no space to go anywhere.
"Sorry about that!" Polnareff exclaimed, glaring into the rear-view mirror. "That damn car behind us won't get off my ass!"
"Oi, be careful," Joseph grumbled, "I'm still wanted in Varanasi 'cause of that Stand, I want to make it over the border without hassle."
"Of cou- Oh fucking fine, just go!" Polnareff conceded, swerving the vehicle aside to let the car behind pass. Without any acknowledgement, the driver raced by and got into lane in front, and then slowed right down.
Whilst Jotaro sat up slightly and narrowed his eyes at the car ahead, Kakyoin shook his head, "What's he doing now?"
"Just leave it!" Joseph called from the back as he folded his arms behind his head.
"We're going at a snail's-"
"I said, leave it!"
And Polnareff did, albeit reluctantly and they continued behind the car at a sluggish pace. Beside Y/n, Jotaro was still as stiff as a board, his eyes remaining narrowed ahead.
"What?" Y/n asked quietly and watched as his eyes flicked down to her momentarily. Without responding to her question, Jotaro pulled his hat down slightly and muttered something under his breath before looking at the back of Polnareff's head.
"Did you see the driver's face?"
"No, the car gave me the creeps though."
"Good grief."
Jotaro sank back into the seat, trapping Y/n's arm between himself and the leather. Not seeing the point in arguing, she yanked her shoulder away and rested her elbows on her knees, glaring out at the vehicle before them.
Some short minutes later, the car ahead flicked its hazard lights on and a hand poked out the front window, gesturing for them to overtake.
"Ha, now look who's tell me to pass," Polnareff sneered. With a swift push on the pedal, Polnareff steered around and in front, making extra sure to cause dust to fly up as he passed. . "Looks like he remembered how shit hi-"
"Oh my God!"
As soon as their own car overtook the other, a lorry came into view, taking them all by surprise. There was no time for either to veer out of the way, both vehicles hurtling towards each other at high speed. Y/n instinctively curled into herself, her eyes closing as they prepared for impact.
An impact that never came.
Just as the car's front made contact with the lorry, Star Platinum materialised. With savage strength, it punched the truck with a loud "ORA" and from there, everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
The intensity of the hit caused the car to go flying backwards and into the air. A pair of arms wrapped firmly around Y/n as they hurtled downwards, and just before the car landed on solid ground, pulled her sideways and into a solid human cage.
Peeling her eyes open, the first thing Y/n noticed was the wreck of the lorry, the front of the massive vehicle entirely dented inwards. The second thing she noticed was the fact that she was in Jotaro's hold. She watched as his stare shifted from the lorry to something else, his arm slowly releasing her from being sandwiched between it and his torso as he did. Finally, his eyes landed on her, looking her up and down before skimming over the rest of the passengers too, checking for any potential injuries.
"We would've been crushed!" Polnareff screeched as he rapidly dusted himself off.
"That poor truck's been crushed."
"Who cares!"
"Where's that car?" Joseph demanded, turning and twisting in his seat to look around.
"Looks like it took off," Jotaro answered, an irritated frown falling onto his face. "Do you think its drivers is one of the Stand users after us?"
Y/n slowly shook her head, "They haven't done anything that's like a Stand attack yet though."
"Or the driver might just be an asshole," Kakyoin grumbled from the front.
"What about the lorry?" Anne breathed, her eyes wide as she tried to process what had just happened and how they had managed to be saved.
"Forget it. Pretend like you never saw it."
Y/n could practically see Anne's eyes turn into large hearts at Jotaro's words, the younger girl staring up at him in awe. Sighing in exasperation, she turned and tapped on Polnareff's shoulder, pointing to get back onto the road. He nodded and wearily started the car again, heading back for the road.
The next minutes were spent in silence, Polnareff concentrating on the road whilst the rest watched out of the windows for any other possible attacks.
"Stop, over there," Joseph said, breaking the quiet as he pointed to a small diner up the road. Once the car came to a halt, everyone made their way out, the two girls climbing out and stretching their limbs whilst the males walked straight ahead to the counter. There were only a handful of other people at the place, each eating their meals in solitude.
Y/n perched on the edge of a table whilst the rest went ahead to order some snacks and drinks. She watched idly as Joseph asked for sugarcane juice, the owner handing him a glass which he held up before his face. A few moments after examining it, Joseph gasped and whirled around, staring outside the café.
Turning around, they saw the same red car that had been the cause of their accident just moments prior, and at the sight, Polnareff, Joseph and Jotaro looked murderous.
"Are you kidding me? Why didn't we see that before?"
"The driver has to be here somewhere," Kakyoin said with a frown, inspecting each face.
Joseph scoffed, "They're not going to come clean that easy. We have another way of getting them to own up, right, Jotaro?"
"We're gonna have to beat them all down," Jotaro replied as he rolled his sleeves up. With that, the three immediately dove into action, each grabbing a random person beside them before beginning to beat them to an utter pulp. Y/n's mouth fell open as Kakyoin jumped in to intervene, pulling Anne out of the way as a random man went flying across to land on a table with a dull thud.
Just as Anne lunged under a table for shelter, the sound of a vehicle roaring to life caught their attention. The three stopped their violent actions to turn and look at the red car, noting that, somehow during the chaos, the driver had slipped past them.
"Now he's getting away!"
Instantly, the innocent bystanders were abandoned and they were all racing back to the car, sitting in their respective seats before taking off after the other vehicle.
"Damn it!" Polnareff shouted. "It moves fast for being a piece of shit!"
Abruptly, the car took a sharp right turn and disappeared from sight, nothing but dust and debris left in its wake. Polnareff almost growled in frustration, not wanting to be bested by the other driver again. Narrowing his eyes, he pressed harder on the accelerator and followed him down the lane, taking the same turn as he did.
"NO! IT'S A DEAD END!" Kakyoin yelled out, his eyes wide in fear as he took in the road - or lack of - before them.
Slamming down on the breaks as quickly as he could, Polnareff brought the car to a screeching halt, the front wheels just inches away from the edge of the cliff.
"Impossible!" Joseph cried, looking at the deserted cliff edge. "He can't have disappeared into thin air!"
"He has to be a Sta-"
Before Y/n could get the rest of her sentence out, something rammed into their car from behind, the impact almost sending them off the drop.
In the driver's seat, Polnareff was sweating bullets, exerting as much power on the breaks to keep them on the ground, "What is that thing? A tank?" The car continued to slam into them with immense horsepower, and the collisions were having a recognisable effect on Polnareff. "It's no use, everyone get out!" he exclaimed, rapidly removing his seat belt – and his footing on the breaks.
"P- P- Polnareff! What're you doing!" Y/n spluttered, grabbing onto the seat.
"What kind of driver gets out before the passengers?" Kakyoin demanded.
The look that crossed over the Frenchman's face was one of pure horror when one final shove from behind toppled the car over the edge.
"S- SORRY!"
For the second time within hours, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The car plummeted down the rock face and Y/n almost felt like she was watching a dream sequence, each detail of the stone catching her eye as they hurtled past.
And then all of a sudden, her trance was broken.
"Hierophant Green!"
Appearing instantly, the green humanoid Stand swooped up and lunged for the red vehicle that was still atop the ridge. Kakyoin smirked slightly when he was hit with a flurry of concerns from Joseph about how Hierophant was not strong enough to take the entire weight of the car.
Shooting the man another casual smile, he waved his questions away, "Don't worry Mr Joestar, I'm well aware of the abilities of my Stand." At the same time, a dull clank sounded in the distance and within an instant, the car came to a stop, the vehicle now hanging vertically along the face of the cliff.
Leaning forward, Jotaro flashed Kakyoin a smile, "Nice, Kakyoin. By the way, do you like sumo?" Y/n almost got whiplash from how quickly to turned to gawk at the male. Sumo! Why right now, of all times! Meeting Y/n's eyes, he sent her a quick smirk before extending his arm out and pulling back. "Especially dead-locks at the end of the ring. They're exciting, aren't they?"
The second he finished his sentence, the car jolted back into motion, only this time, going upwards. The force of the movement sent everyone flying forward and Y/n grabbed onto Jotaro's arm to keep herself from hurtling through the windscreen. He himself was somehow still perfectly balanced, still sat perfectly on the seat.
In moments, the top of the cliff came back into sight. Star Platinum materialised right beside the attacking car and, with a swift, powerful punch, the Stand knocked it off the edge, clearing space for the crusaders' own car, which landed unceremoniously in its place.
Laughing, Kakyoin turned to Jotaro, "Yeah, I do like sumo. But punching the opponent is against the rules though."
"What the fuck just happened?" Y/n mumbled, her arms still latched onto Jotaro's. Joseph turned his weary gaze her way before holding his head in his hands.
"I've had more than a lifetime's worth of action."
"And there's a lot more to come," Polnareff grumbled softly, his hands locked onto the steering wheel for dear life. Joseph sighed in what seemed like misery.
"Apparently so."
A/N:
So a reader recently reached out to me and we discussed why Jotaro is the way he is, the conclusions we came up with being that he either doesn't feel the need to display emotions and/or he's had past trauma, and I'd like to know what you guys think, or even if you have any conclusions of your own! Why is Joot the way he is, and for my own benefit, have I done his character justice in my story? If not, how can it be improved?
Sorry for the long note! And if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider giving it a vote!
:) - Angel