Morioh, Japan. June 10th, 1999.
It was very early when (Y/N) arrived at her destination. The first rays of the sun were piercing the sky with difficulty. And yet, her driver was on time to pick her up at the station, as planned. And what a welcome! Out of a big black luxury car came a man in a suit who came to open the back door and help an old man out. And despite the aging, (Y/N) recognized this old man immediately and it was like an explosion of joy in her chest.
"Joseph Joestar. It's crazy how old you look now", she joked.
"Haha, I see that you haven't lost your insolence, my little (Y/N)."
She didn't wait a single second to hug him, and he laughed, hugging her as best he could. Clearly, she didn't blame him at all for leaving her without news all this time, she was far too happy to see him again. The driver took (Y/N)'s luggage to put in the car while she was chatting with the old man.
"You didn't need to come here, Joseph. I would have found the way myself.
- Maybe, but you're my special guest. I had to escort you.
- Oh I see. I'm VIP, it's true."
The driver opened the door for her and she got into the car, Joseph following her. She noticed without much astonishment that he was listening to Elvis Presley inside, and she sighed, remembering a few memories. Over his small glasses, the old man was examining her, a smile on his lips, while the car started again.
"You know (Y/N), I can't see clearly anymore. But if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that you've changed a lot.
- I already have wrinkles, right?" she joked.
"Ha, no, of course not. But you seem to be... tougher.
- Cold, you can say it.
- I would say more... Withdrawn.
- I know. It's my job that requires that. And then after all, I'm not 16 anymore.
- It's true. You are a lovely young lady now.
- Ha, charmer. You're not bad either, Joseph."
She couldn't stop joking, she was so happy to see him again. She already felt a bit at home. After a few minutes of travel, the car stopped in front of a large hotel. Surely where she would have to sleep. Outside, a group of people seemed to be waiting for their arrival. The driver opened the door and Joseph got out first. And (Y/N) was also about to come out. Except that she heard a voice she knew only too well, which immediately stopped her.
"Took you a long time, Grandpa."
Her heart started pounding in her chest, like a schoolgirl. She wasn't sure she wanted to go out anymore.
"Ha, sorry Jotaro. We talked a lot at the station, that must be why.
- Is it a man or a woman?" the voice of a boy that (Y/N) didn't remember knowing asked.
"Be a little patient Okuyasu!" another boy exclaimed.
No, she couldn't back down. Clearly, she was eagerly awaited. So with a quick glance in the rearview mirror, she checked that her appearance was perfect, before putting on her sunglasses. She took a deep breath. And she stepped out of the car. Immediately, she felt all eyes on her, but she kept her expression closed. She was used to being the center of attention after all, from living among men. But there was an icy stare that she was feeling more than the others. And this one in particular, she ignored it to proudly keep her head held high. One of the boys let out a "woooow" and was elbowed in the ribs by his friend. She approached the group, the sound of her heels echoing on the cobblestones, and removed her glasses gracefully when she reached their level. She immediately sought Joseph's gaze to cheer herself up, and she noticed with amusement that he was wearing a very proud smile.
"Gentlemen, I present to you (Y/N) Zeppeli. She will assist us in this investigation.
- So you're the famous Stand User Mr. Joestar told us about!" a young boy with gray hair exclaimed. "My name is Koichi! Hirose Koichi!
- Nice to meet you, Koichi. I see you've oversold me a little Joseph?
- Not at all, not at all. I just told them that one of my Stand User friends was going to join the investigation.
- And that your power was unmatched", a young man with dark green hair sighed, examining her from top to bottom. "Well, that remains to be proven.
- I hope not to disappoint any expectation, sir...?
- Rohan. Rohan Kishibe. What do you mean, you don't know my name where you're from?
- I should?
- My God. What a lack of culture.
- Don't listen to him!" one of the teenagers exclaimed. "He's a killjoy.
- Nobody asked you, Josuke Higashikata", Rohan hissed between clenched teeth.
"He's always like that", Josuke sighed.
"I'm Okuyasu!!!" the teenager who hadn't been able to contain his admiration a few minutes earlier exclaimed.
"Well, it's nice to meet you."
She'd just arrived yet she was getting a lot of attention, which amused her a lot. And since her arrival, she had perfectly succeeded in ignoring the presence of the only man who hadn't dared to speak, the one who was trying somehow to manage his inner panic, a little too pale to pretend to feel good.
"Well?" Josuke said. "Why don't you introduce yourself, Jotaro?
- Oh, no need", (Y/N) said in a suddenly colder voice. "We already know each other."
Only then, she decided to meet Jotaro's ocean gaze. He immediately looked away and cleared his throat before glaring at Joseph.
"... grandpa, I'll have a couple words to tell you.
- Oh, later Jotaro, later. First I have to go and book (Y/N)'s hotel room."
And with these words, Joseph disappeared inside the hotel. The three teenagers apologized for having to leave so early to go to class. (Y/N) greeted them, she would see them soon enough anyway. For his part, after examining her from top to bottom, Rohan turned on his heels and walked away without another word. He looked hateful, and yet at that moment she would have preferred him to stay rather than leave her alone with Jotaro. She looked up at him reluctantly and he cleared his throat before pulling his white cap over his eyes. Obviously, there were old habits that were harder to die than others.
"... what are you doing here?" he finally asked.
"... what do you mean, what am I doing here? It's obvious.
- ... are you here for the investigation?
- Why are you asking this? You need me, right?
- ... no, no more than anyone else, I-
- Wait, wait, wait... I came because your grandfather told me that you wanted help with this investigation.
- But I never said that.
- ... eh?
- Wait, he's the one who-
- Oh merda..."
She understood immediately how much Joseph had made fun of her to be sure to lure her to Morioh. Jotaro clenched his jaw and growled in Japanese between his teeth. And without consulting each other, they tumbled at the same time to the hotel reception where Joseph had a little difficulty reserving a room, as if to save time away from his grandchildren. But seeing them enter, clearly annoyed, he preferred to play the card of the fragile and innocent old grandpa.
"Oh, there you are! Here, (Y/N), your room key-
- Joseph, why did you tell me that Jotaro needed me for this investigation?
- ... I said that?
- Grandpa, you better have a good explanation.
- Oh but... I'm old, you know, I don't really know what I'm saying anymore..."
The two young people squinted at the same time and Joseph had to refrain from smiling as they looked so alike.
"But whatever, now that you're here, you're going to help us, aren't you (Y/N)?
- ... I am here for this. For you .
- Perfect, perfect... Thank you very much."
He handed her the keys to her room before pretending to have an urge to pee that made the young woman's eyes roll. There followed another awkward moment where Jotaro and (Y/N) gave each other furtive little sideways glances to examine each other. After a long moment of silence, Jotaro finally muttered:
"... it's not that I didn't want to see you, huh...it's just that-
- It's okay. I get it. Come, I think I need a cigarette, this day is already seriously starting to exhaust me. And it's not even 8 a.m.
- ... a cigarette?"
Jotaro frowned slightly.
"... I thought the smell of cigarettes disgusted you?"
(Y/N) frowned in turn. She gulped and shrugged. No desire to admit that the only reason she started smoking was because it was the only thing that brought her closer to him.
"... I no longer smoke, count me out."
Was he really serious?! Nevermind, she was taking back everything she could have thought. She couldn't help but roll her eyes, groaning between clenched teeth:
"... a coffee then."
She didn't even wait for him to agree to follow her to head for the hotel coffee machine, her jaw clenched. She pressed a few buttons without a word, clearly frustrated with this situation. And when she turned around, she noticed that Jotaro had followed her without flinching. She handed him a coffee and he thanked her with a nod, his face stone-cold. He might have been ten years older, but he hadn't changed at all. He still had those same facial expressions: cold and self-effacing. She looked at the large hand that had just grabbed the little plastic cup, but quickly looked away when she noticed the wedding ring on his finger. Her throat tightened and she took a sip of coffee to hide her frustration. It was a failure. Her bitterness had just been awakened. And she was determined to make him understand.
"Oh wow, that wasn't actually a joke. You really are married."
She feigned surprise, but her words left a bad taste in her mouth. Jotaro looked down at his wedding ring and clenched his jaw. She continued.
"It's funny, I didn't get an invitation card."
She took another sip of coffee to hide the forced, sarcastic smile that curved her lips. Jotaro tensed slightly, clenching his fist on his plastic cup which was starting to crease dangerously. Then he put his ocean eyes on the dark ring that adorned the young woman's finger.
"... have you been for long?
- What?
- ... married?"
She nearly choked on her coffee. He had just offered her the chance to return the favor. Lying, of course, but that was far too tempting.
"We're just engaged. We're getting married in August."
Jotaro couldn't clench his jaw anymore, he might break his teeth any second. The small vein on his forehead was sticking out, and (Y/N) smirked. It was absolutely evil, but she had received the reaction she expected.
"... congratulations," he finally mumbled.
"Thank you, Jojo."
Oh how she loved pronouncing that nickname again with so much bitterness in her voice. Jotaro almost shivered. He even poured himself another coffee, probably to calm his nerves. He really didn't like being there. Besides, why did Joseph have to spend so much time in the bathroom?
"Well, I'm not going to beat around the bush any longer, it's starting to tense me up", the young woman groaned, throwing her cup in the trash.
He laid his eyes on her after a moment of hesitation, and soon regretted it when he met her cold, withering gaze.
"Why did you never answer my calls? What about my emails?"
With his free hand, Jotaro lowered his cap over his eyes, which only annoyed the young woman a little more. Why did he have to be so uncommunicative? She sighed, a shaky sigh of frustration, before trying to calm down.
"... you know, I really needed to talk to you after what happened in Egypt. It was really hard having to get through this on my own, and then you-
- I'd rather not dwell on the past", he muttered.
(Y/N) couldn't believe her ears. She felt a pang in her heart.
"Jotaro, I was 16 fucking years old. You were the only one I had left, and you-
- Stop it. That was 10 years ago, it doesn't matter anymore."
He finished his cup in one go before throwing it a little too violently into the trash. (Y/N) felt boiling. She clenched her fists, her fingernails almost digging into the palms of her hands.
"... what happened between us too doesn't matter anymore?
- ... exactly."
Oh how she wanted to hit him! But she just stood there, unable to answer anything. She hadn't dreamed, he had said what she had heard. It was as if he had just taken what was left of her heart and smashed it to pieces. So, between her teeth, she couldn't help hissing at him,
"You really are an asshole, Jotaro."
And those were the only words Joseph heard when he finally decided to get out of the toilet. As the young woman turned on her heels to bring her luggage to her hotel room, the old man rolled his eyes at his grandson, as if to push him to explain himself. But Jotaro didn't say a word. He simply lowered his cap over his eyes, looking grim.