Sorry I scared some of you guys with the last chapter. I wouldn't end the series like that. (Or WoUlD i??) ((No, I wouldn't.))
The rest of your week was rather normal, but you also took great care to stay out the way the best you could. Also, it helped that Jotaro hadn't been there almost all week. Well, it sort of helped. It helped keep people off your back but it didn't help the growing anxiety about you seeing him again, knowing that he would probably very much like an explanation as to what was going on, and why you were acting the way you were.
Apparently, The-powers-that-be allied themselves with team tell-him-what-the-hell-was-going-on as on Thursday afternoon, while you and (B/f) were heading to lunch, you passed Noriaki in the hallway, his face lighting up as he saw the two of you. "Hey, (Y/n), (B/f), do you have a sec?" You raised a brow, the three of you positioning yourselves by the wall of the hallway as to not block the flow of students.
"What's up?" You asked, noticing a thick folder in his hand.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favor, (Y/n)." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. You cocked your head curiously. Did he need tutoring or something? "If not, its ok, I understand."
"Of course, what do you need?" You said, giving him a reassuring smile. It was mildly cute how he always got so bashful when he needed help. He held the folder out, "I need to give these class notes and missed assignments to Jotaro, but I have to make-up a math test after school today." His face turned a shade of crimson, likely embarrassed at his failing a test, "If it's not too big of a burden, could you possibly do it for me? Jotaro had mentioned that you didn't live too far away. He's been sick all week, some sort of fever or something." You blinked, taking several things in at once: Jotaro could apparently read his best friend's hieroglyphic-esque handwriting. Jotaro apparently did his homework; you always just assumed he threatened the teachers to forgive his missed assignments. The last and most concerning thing was Jotaro was apparently sick. Normally, you'd likely think it was due to the weather or something, but your mind instantly went back to when you were his pretend nurse, using unsanitized pliers on his arm, and probably giving him some sort of terrible infection. The hole in his arm probably having gone septic because he called your dumbass instead of a real doctor, holed up in his room as his arm rots off, too stubborn to tell his mom that he's dying of gangrene.
An elbow to the ribs from (B/f) broke you from your thoughts, "Oh, um," Noriaki stood there with the folder extended, "Sure, no problem." You said, grabbing the folder from him. Noriaki thanked you, saying a quick goodbye to the two of you as he headed of to whatever class he had next.
"What was that about?" (B/f) asked as the two of you entered the cafeteria. "What do you mean?" You asked, confused. "You had a moment back there." She leaned towards you, a teasing smirk on her face, "Is this about seeing Jotaro?" Your eyes quickly shot around the vicinity, trying to decide who was or wasn't in earshot.
"Yes, this is about Jo-... John. My friend, John." You quickly amended as a few students sat at the end of your table. The probability of them hearing or caring about your conversation was low, as they were invested in their own, not to mention they weren't part of anyone's fan club, but you weren't about to risk it. You nervously drummed your fingers against the table top, hoping your friend caught on and didn't blow you cover. You could see it now, (B/f) loudly announcing, 'John? Who is John? I thought you were going to Jotaro's house!' for the entirety of the cafeteria to hear; girls all around producing torches and pitchforks from their backpacks.
"John?" (B/f) deadpanned, thankfully not recreating the over-the-top reaction you'd imagined, "This is what we're going with?" She said, her tone flat, but her lips were still pulled into an amused smirk. "Right, well, I'm sure that you'll be fine visiting your good pal John."
"Don't patronize me, asshat." You interrupted, flicking at her arm from across the table. "Anyway," (B/f) continued, "Just explain what's been going on, surely he'll understand." You pushed your food around, hoping that she was right and that Jotaro wouldn't be upset; too upset, rather, as you knew he likely wasn't too thrilled with you at the moment. Just getting it over with was probably the most rational answer, rather than trying to dodge him in the halls for forever, or at least until you graduate.
"If he's mad, then screw him. He's an ass anyway." (B/f) said dismissively. "(B/f)!" You chided, half jokingly. "Hey, I'm just saying! Not like you've never said it yourself." She defended, hands up in surrender. "Guess you're right. Nobody ever said Jot- John... was a nice guy."
Monday had been mildly chilly. Today was downright cold. It was apparently supposed to get colder still, you and (B/f) planning to hide in her house all weekend and watch movies. As you opened the door to leave school, you instantly regretted agreeing to give Jotaro his homework, simply for the reason of you'd be walking in the cold for a few blocks more than usual; that and the anxious butterflies in your stomach over seeing him. You thought about going back to your house, and changing into something more fitting for fighting the cold than your skirt, but decided against it in the end. You had your own homework to get to and by the time you got home, changed, and went to drop off the homework, it would probably be dark by then, which meant colder and less time for your own homework. You sucked it up and walked alongside your best friend, hands buried in your pockets as you felt the note you'd placed in there earlier. (B/f), who was equally bitter if not more so donned a pair of gloves along with her thick fluff lined jacket, compensating for the inability to wear much on her lower half aside from some leggings that ended at her knee as to not break the damn dress code.
"Come on, think about it, (Y/n)." You best friend said as she trailed you out the door, eager to get home and out of the cold.
"The other day you tried to convince me to start selling information about my ex-science partner." You half-jokingly reminded her, clearly not on the same page. Now it was her turn to roll her eyes, "Alright, maybe that wasn't the best plan, but this is a good one!"
You gave her a deadpan look before loudly announcing, "Anyway," ready for a new topic of discussion, "Speaking of plans, what's our plan of action for this weekend? Humorous horror, classic cartoons, riveting romance?"
"Oh, look at you," (B/f) sauntered by, walking backwards so she could face you, "using fancy alliterations; someone was paying attention in class for once." She earned a mock glare from you, "I'm always down for a good horror movie, and by that I mean a terrible B-horror movie." Odd as it was, while you were afraid of nearly everything, probably even your own shadow once or twice, horror movies didn't bother you too much; you didn't attempt to watch them alone, though. Occasionally, a jumpscare would get you, but most of the time you and (B/f) would just mock the characters and call out the supposed "plot twists" which were blatantly obvious usually.
"Sounds good to me, anything that doesn't include the outdoors sounds good right about now." You complained as the wind tousled your hair, (B/f) nodding enthusiastically in agreeance, even though she looked like she was ready to go hunt the abominable snowman, skirt and loafer shoes aside.
You took a deep breath as Jotaro's sprawling house came into view, a plethora of a various scenarios running through your mind. You walked, trying to rehearse what you'd say in each situation, but knowing that likely none of those scenarios would even come to light, or if they actually did, you'd likely forget the lines you so elegantly rehearsed in your mind. Maybe you could just put the folder in the mailbox and put it off for another day?
You stood just outside the gates, turning to your best friend, "I'll text you." She nodded, not wanting to hang around in the cold for longer than necessary, "Sounds good, good luck, and remember..." She said, winking at you as she gave you the "finger guns" before turning and heading down the sidewalk. You watched her for a moment, rolling your eyes at her dumbass "plan", putting off the inevitable for a few more seconds before finally sucking it up and crossing the gates onto the property. You chewed your lip as your eyes remained focused on the front door, heart rate increasing along with your nerves? You mentally chanted 'calm down' over and over in your mind as you rang the doorbell, waiting for what seemed like ages but was likely only a few seconds before the door opened.
"Oh, (Y/n), hello!" Ms. Holly greeted you, cheerful as ever. Your brain had made up a million scenarios, but for some reason you didn't expect his mom to answer door; you didn't mentally rehearse anything for this moment. In hindsight, it seemed like the most logical things, as Jotaro was likely in his room, sick and possibly dying of some terrible infection.
"Hello, I'm just dropp-"
"Here, come inside," You were cut off by Jotaro's mother grabbing your arm, much like she did the last time you were there, leading you inside, "it's freezing out there." She said, closing the door behind you.
"Thank you," You said, awkwardly sliding our shoes off and placing your bag down as she ushered you further into the house, "I'm just here to drop off Jotaro's homework."
Her eyes lit up, "Oh, (Y/n), aren't you just the sweetest! Would you like something to drink? You're welcome to stay for dinner if you like." You took note of the apron she was wearing, having likely caught her as she was making dinner; which smelled amazing, but you had an agenda to stick to.
"It was actually Kakyoin who got it all together, I'm just the deliverer." You didn't want to take credit from Noriaki's diligence. You were led into what you assumed was the living room, a large common area with a large television with two display shelves on either side, showing various photos as well as small knick-knacks. You eyed the large kotatsu in the middle of the room, wanting nothing more than to curl up under it and nap for the rest of Winter.
"That was so sweet of him, thinking about Jotaro, and you too, for dropping it off." Her warm green eyes drifted over to one of the photos in the display, yours following along with hers, a photo of her and a young Jotaro, both smiling for the camera. Judging by the uniform and Jotaro's shaggy hair it looked to be taken in his early high school years; only a few years difference ,but the boy in the photo and the boy you knew today were radically different. "He's so stubborn when he's sick." She said wistfully, eyes softening as she seemed to get lost in thought for a moment. You awkwardly shifted your weight, unsure of what to do for a moment before a beep from somewhere in the house broke up the moment.
"Oh, that's the oven! I'll be right back." She said before she scurried off, abandoning you in a section of the house you'd never been in before. You drummed your fingers against the folder in your hands before deciding to set it down on the tabletop of the kotatsu, wandering over to the display case out of both curiosity and boredom. A small smile tugging at your face as you looked over all the photos, vague memories of seeing Jotaro at the different stages of life shown in the photos. Sitting on the opposite side of the class coloring, playing on the playgrounds, unpacking his lunch while others looked on with envy at the cute and uplifting notes his mom would leave for him in his lunchbox. You cocked your head to the side slightly as you saw two wedding portraits side by side. One was a lot older than the other, depicting a tall, handsome dark haired man standing beside a beautiful fair haired woman, both dressed in late 1800's or possibly very early 1900's style wedding attire. The other was more recent, colored and possibly in the 30's or 40's based on the woman's dress. A brown haired man gave the camera a lopsided cocky grin as held a fair haired lady bridal style, both of them sporting cowlicks in their bangs. Both of the men bore a striking resemblance to Jotaro, facial feature and body type wise.
"What are you doing?" You nearly jumped out of your skin, whirling around to face Jotaro, feeling like you just got caught looking at something too personal. You weren't sure if he meant what are you doing in his house in general, what are you doing in that moment, or 'what are you doing, where's Kakyoin?' as you assumed that Noriaki had pre-planned dropping off the homework with Jotaro. You blinked, thankful that he at least had both arms intact and didn't look to being anywhere close to his deathbed; that being said, he didn't look up to par still, face flush, voice slightly gritty from whatever illness he had, and aqua blue eyes looking tired; likely a simple cold, thankfully.
"I, um, brought you your schoolwork. Noriaki asked me to drop it off for him." You explained, nervously gesturing to the folder on the table top, eyes darting away from his. Sick or not, his gaze was intense.
"Why have you been ignoring me?" He asked bluntly, taking a step towards you. He never was one to be subtle about things you supposed. You'd spent nearly the entire walk coming up with what to say, multiple answers to this very question already thought up, and yet here in the moment, your mind was blank.
"I haven't been..." The rest of your speech died on your tongue as your shoulders sagged. No use in lying about it at this point. "I'm sorry." You said quietly, for some reason feeling choked with emotions. Why did you suddenly feel like crying? If this was a movie, you'd collapse into his arms and be consoled by him, but in this moment, he just stood there, eyes narrowing at you, awaiting an answer.
You crossed your arms over your stomach as a blended cocktail of shame and embarrassment rose up within you. Embarrassed at your own inability to stand up for yourself against your peers as well as the shame that it took you this long to come clean about it; instead you'd spent nearly a week running away from the issue.
"(Y/n), what happened?" He asked, voice and gaze softening a fraction, as if he somehow knew that this wasn't of your own doing, and some outside source caused this. Unlike you, nervously shifting your weight, moving one hand to rub your upper arm, Jotaro's stance was relaxed, hands casually in his pajama pockets. Your jaw clenched, determined not to start crying for some reason, "Sorry, I-"
"Sorry, (Y/n), I- Oh, Jotaro, sweetie, you should be resting." His mom came back in, moving towards Jotaro.
"I'm fine." He said, surprising you with how stern he sounded. Ms. Holly gave him a look, one you were familiar with as you'd seen it on your own mother's face a million times; the I-know-you're-lying-to-me-I'm-your-mother face. "Sweetie," She reached out for his arm, only to have him jerk it away from her. "Don't touch me, damn it! I said I'm fine." You visibly shrank away, frightened by his sudden outburst.
"Alright, dinner is almost ready. (Y/n), will you be joining us?" You blinked, bewildered that her demeanor was as happy as ever. If you had reacted that way to your mom, you'd been grounded; no friends, no phone, no food, no water, no sunlight. Then again, the Kujo household dynamic was certainly a different one, one you didn't quite understand yet.
"Oh, um," Your brain registered that she'd asked you a question, "Let me, um, check with my mom."
"We're having stew," She announced, saying as through she was trying to entice you, "I made plenty." You inwardly panicked as she left the room, leaving you with a grumpy Jotaro, which didn't help your situation as you had your own stuff to work out. He watched his mom leave the room before his eyes moved back to you. You opened your mouth to speak, only for him to cut you off,
"Stop apologizing. It's annoying." Well, glad to know he was the same as always.
"Here." You said, producing the folded up note from your pocket. He eyed it skeptically, "One of the girls in my class wrote me this on Friday." You clarified, realizing that it probably looked like you were trying to give him a 'Dear John' letter or something. Upon you reaffirming that this wasn't some sort of termination letter, though there wasn't any real relationship to terminate you supposed, he grabbed it and read it over. You silently watched his eyes move across the page, aqua color intense with inward emotions as his eyes narrowed at the girl's words. "Things seem to have calmed down at least... Nobody's actually approached me, just kind of glared at me, which I guess isn't unusual." You said, trying to diffuse whatever bomb you may have accidentally ignited as he crumpled the paper in his fist, his body tense. "I didn't mean to upset you by ignoring you, I was scared and wasn't sure how to handle being under surveillance by nearly half the school population." You looked away, eyes roaming not really focusing on anything in particular, "Guess it's kind of dumb, huh? I'm more scared of them than I am you." You turned back to see his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "N-not that I'm scared of you." You quickly backpedaled, holding a hand up in surrender. You weren't exactly scared of him, just cautious at times you supposed. He opened his mouth to say, something, but was interrupted,
"Dinner's ready!" Holly's voice rang through the household. You remembered that you were supposed to text your mom, panicking mentally as you hoped that she wouldn't be too mad at your being late; you'd already let her know that you were dropping off some work for a friend, but you didn't tell her you'd be awkwardly making conversation with said friend as well as eating dinner with them.
"I should probab-" Before you could even finish Jotaro grabbed your hand and began walking towards the dining area, not giving you a chance to protest. You hoped your mom would understand.
Dinner wasn't very eventful. Ms. Holly asked several times if Jotaro was feeling well, to which he insisted each time he felt fine; each time getting a little more hostile about it. You made a mental note to ask him privately about his arm and well-being, seeing as he seemed to respond more positively to you than his mom; though she didn't seem to be put off or bothered by his demeanor. With a little coaxing you managed to get him to join in the conversation a bit, not much, but it was a start. You weren't on a useless crusade to rehabilitate Jotaro, but if you could get him to be a fraction more civil towards his mother, then you would consider that a win. This time Holly insisted that she clean up, Jotaro not arguing as she told him that he should be sure to get some rest if he wanted to be able to school tomorrow. You raised a skeptical brow at him, as if silently asking if he was going to bother going to school since he already missed the whole week. He ignored your unspoken question and led you towards the entry way, which for some reason made you silently panic. He usually tried to drag out his time with you. Was he still upset?
"So, um, are you actually planning on being at school tomorrow?" You asked, this time it was you who was trying to drag out your time with him. He hummed in response, which you took as a yes. You pursed your lips together for a moment before speaking again, "Jojo," That seemed to get his attention, "I know you hate me saying it, but I really am sorry." You took a chance and grabbed his hand, looking up at his aqua blue eyes, "I hope you're not mad at me." This was your do-or-die moment. You leaned in, intent on kissing him, only for him to move back. A new emotion constricted your heart as your eyes widened a bit, fear and confusion etched in them. You messed up, you hurt him and now he doesn't like you anymore.
He seemed to sense your inner turmoil, turning red a bit as his eyebrows lowered in frustration, eyes shifting away from you out of embarrassment. "I don't want you to get sick." He said, voice strained as if this was truly a hard thing for him to hold back on, hand moving to lace with your own. The fear that had coiled around your heart loosened a bit, "You won't get me sick." You said, praying that that wasn't just an excuse to get you to go away. If he didn't like you anymore then surely he would let you know, he wasn't exactly one to worry about other's feelings; so you told yourself, trying to convince yourself that everything was fine. He tugged his hat down, hiding his face, "I'm not going to risk it."
"Its just a cold. Besides, who cares if I get sick?"
"I do!" He argued, brows furrowed in annoyance. A few weeks ago, you would never even fathom wanting Jotaro's lips anywhere near yours, and now here you were, wanting nothing more than that.
"You said yourself, you feel fine." You said, using his own words against him.
He stared you down for a moment before sighing, drawing you in, his chin resting atop your head, "You're dense." His insult had no effect on you as you wrapped your arms around his middle, content with just being in physical contact with him. When did you get to be so needy? It seemed like you weren't the only one though, as Jotaro pulled you closer, grip on you tightening with emotions pent up over the past week. An unspoken "all is forgiven" passed between the two of you as you stood holding one another. The two of you leaned back, just enough to make eye contact, a gentle smile on Jotaro's lips. "I won't let you get hurt." He said face turning serious as he spoke. "I trust you." You said quietly, burying your face in his shirt once more for a moment before lifting up on your tiptoes and stealing a kiss at the corner of his mouth before he could pull away.
"Yare Yare Daze," He sighed down at you, face red, "If you get sick..."
"I won't." You insisted with an eye roll. Even if you did, you didn't care at this point. "I'll text you when I get home." You said, turning to retrieve your bag, only to be turned back around, Jotaro planting a real kiss on your lips, melting your fears away. "What if I get sick?" You mocked his words. He snorted through his nose, "You won't." He replied coolly, using a trick out of your book and using your words against you.
Tomorrow would definitely be interesting.
Sometimes I get too in my head about things and have to sit back and remind myself to calm down, that I'm writing a fictional story about a fictional teenager with (basically) super powers lol.
I DON'T MEAN TO MAKE OUR CHERRY BB BOI DUMB, IT'S JUST FOR MY OWN PLOT CONVENIENCE!! YOU'RE A SMART PRECIOUS BOI, KAKYOIN! ONE DAY I'LL WRITE YOU YOUR OWN XREADER TO MAKE UP FOR HOW MEAN I AM TO YOU IN THIS ONE. :')
I like the idea of Jotaro being a big pouty boy when sick, hiding in his room and not letting his mom or (Y/n) come near him bc he's secretly terrified of her getting sick. >_>
This chapter sucks, but it's necessary, (Y/n) kissed and made up with Jotaro, yay! I'm so ready to move onto more fun stuff. >:3