Chapter Text
Jotaro Kujo liked the rooftop. He savored the quietness that came with it because nobody was allowed up on the roof. He stared at and admired the cherry blossom trees, watching as their petals elegantly floated in the air. Whenever he had the chance, he'd go up there.
Today was like any other day. He was going to spend his lunch on the roof alone, which was how he liked it. Except, when he opened the door leading to it, he saw someone sitting against the railing, reading a book.
It was most likely a guy, from what Jotaro could see. He had vibrant red hair, along with what Jotaro had to say was the strangest curl of hair he'd ever seen. He was pretty muscular, Jotaro could see even with his green uniform covering him up, yet he wasn't bulging with them like Jotaro (which sounds conceited now that he's thinking about it).
He surely would've stood out in a crowd with his height, only being a few inches shorter than Jotaro, who overlooked everyone in his school, even the adults. It was odd that Jotaro had never seen this guy before.
Too odd. What did he want from Jotaro? There'd be no other reason for him to come up on the roof other than to see him. His first guess was some punk who wanted to pick a fight with him, the usual, but he looked like a goody-two-shoes, someone who wouldn't be looking for a fight.
His second guess was someone from the student council. He fit the bill, plus they'd been harassing him nonstop about him fighting people as if he didn't hear the same thing from the teachers and principal.
Jotaro pulled at the bill of his hat, already dreading having to confront someone. He just wanted to eat in peace, was it too much to ask for? As Jotaro walked towards the student council member, he noticed him holding a bento. That's weird, wouldn't he just leave it in his classroom?
"Hey, I thought I told your dumbass president to leave me alone."
He gave Jotaro a look as if he asked the stupidest question he'd ever heard before looking back down at his book, dismissing him. This irked Jotaro even further. He didn't want to force him to leave, but he supposed he'd have to mess him up a little bit, just to scare him away.
"Not only do I not know what you're talking about, but I also do not care. Kindly leave me be." his voice, although sounding polite, had an edge to it, almost daring Jotaro to disrupt him again. And, well, predictably, Jotaro dared.
Even though this guy wasn't a part of the student council, he was still pissing him off. "Get the hell out of here, then," Jotaro growled, looking down at the stranger. He snapped his book shut, getting up to his feet to meet Jotaro's face.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but students aren't allowed to be up at the rooftop without special permission, which I have. So it really should be you getting out." he snidely remarked. Jotaro didn't break eye contact, shoving his clenched fists in his pockets.
... Who the hell has lavender colored eyes? It may be inappropriate to think about his eyes, but those eyes were all he could see. Cold, closed-off, egotistic eyes staring back at him. He wasn't used to anyone looking at him like that so boldly.
And it got on his nerves.
"I'm only gonna tell you this once, but I despise arrogant assholes like you the most," Jotaro stated, taking one of his fists out of his pockets and raising it at the other. He cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Jotaro's fists, visibly unimpressed.
"Are you going to punch me?" he asked, his taunting tone dripping from his mouth like honey. Now that Jotaro looks at him even more, he's got a wide mouth, almost like a frog. An annoying, self-important frog that didn't know when to shut the fuck up.
And to nobody's surprise, Jotaro punched someone who's name he didn't even know.
"I just can't believe you got into a fight, Nori. What were you thinking?" the school nurse scolded the two of them, giving the red-head an ice pack. He rested it on his left eye, he and Jotaro seated only a few feet away from each other.
Jotaro had to give it to this 'Nori' guy, he fully expected him to either pass out when he punched him. Even Jotaro had to admit that he went a little overboard with how hard his punch was. But he didn't assume he'd fight back. He was strong, stronger than Jotaro had anticipated
The nurse went to Jotaro, a clean rag in hand. He took it, tossing the bloodied rag in his hand and brought it up to his nose. 'Nori' had landed a couple of good punches on him, and their fight would've escalated even more if a teacher hadn't accidentally stumbled upon them.
"I can't be surprised that you got into a fight, JoJo. But why with Nori? What was the reason, hm?" the nurse started intensely questioning him. Jotaro didn't answer, preferably choosing to stare at the squeaky clean white tiled floor. The nurse sighed at this, shaking her head.
"Rest up, okay? After school, you're both going to the principals' office."
Good grief, all Jotaro wanted to do was eat lunch, but now he was probably going to get suspended, which didn't sound half as bad. Jotaro lied down on the cot, pulling the covers up and wrapping it around his body. He snuck a glance at frog-guy, who was sitting on the cot, reading a book.
What a weirdo, were Jotaro's last thoughts before he turned away, drifting to sleep.
All of a sudden, Jotaro felt a heavy object slam down on his stomach, ripping him from his dreamless slumber. He quickly jolted up, nearly bumping heads with... whatever his name was. He knew Nori was a nickname for him, but there'd be no way Jotaro would call him that. He'll just settle for frog-guy.
"School's over. Get up." he curtly told him, the ice pack now wrapped with gauze around his eye. Jotaro glanced down at his abdomen to see a book pushed against it. Dickhead. He's lucky Jotaro just wanted to go home.
Once Jotaro got up from the cot, they walked down the eerily quiet halls. Everyone had either gone home or were at their clubs, leaving Jotaro and frog-guy together. He outright refused to look at Jotaro as they walked, distracting himself by reading his book again.
Jotaro hoped he would trip and fall, but he didn't.
When they reached the principals' office, frog-guy knocked on the door, the noise echoing across the hallway.
"Come in." a voice called out. He slid open the door, and they sat down on the two chairs positioned in front of the principals' desk, where he was waiting. Jotaro, still not looking at frog-guy, looked at the golden nameplate on the desk.
'Ryuunosuke Tanaka'
Tacky.
"Jotaro, Noriaki. What brings you to my office?" he asked. Jotaro suppressed the urge to scoff. He knew full well why they were here, it didn't take a genius to guess what happened. He expected frog-guy, Noriaki, to explain and blame Jotaro like the suck-up he was, but...
He stayed silent, staring blankly at Principal Tanaka. Was Jotaro going to have to do it?
The ticking of the clock on the wall answered his question. Frog-guy wasn't talking, and Principal Tanaka wasn't going to let them go unless one of them spoke, Jotaro knew from past experiences.
"A fight..." Jotaro mumbled. Principal Tanaka hummed, shuffling around a few papers on his desk. Jotaro caught one with frog-guy's name.
'Noriaki Kakyoin'
Huh, his last name's Kakyoin. It was better than frog-guy.
"I'm surprised you would attack an honor student like Noriaki." Principal Tanaka squinted at Jotaro. He crossed his arms, not denying anything.
"Are you gonna suspend me?" he impatiently asked. It's all he cared about if he's fully honest. Being suspended was like having an extra vacation day to him. Principal Tanaka shook his head.
"The fact that this isn't the first time you've fought someone should be enough expel you, Jotaro. But I'm not going to do that. Two months of afterschool cleaning. If you skip even one day, it'll be an extra month, and it'll affect your testing grades at the end of the year."
Wait, two months?! Can he even do that? What the hell? And he'd have to come to school? That's sort of overkill. And he just finished his final exams... His vacation's in two weeks! He can't do this, right?
"Principal Tanaka." Kakyoin suddenly spoke up. Jotaro saw Kakyoin quickly look at him in the corner of his eye.
"I was the one who caused the fight. He was defending himself, so I should be getting the punishment."
Jotaro's eyes widened as he whipped his head towards Kakyoin. He kept a calm look, keeping his eyes straight ahead, his voice steady and clear. Principal Tanaka blinked, a tense silence looming over them.
"Noriaki, it just doesn't seem like you to do something like this." Principal Tanaka nervously choked out. Kakyoin shook his head.
"Are you suggesting that I'm lying about this, sir? I sure hope not. So either give me the punishment or drop it."
Jotaro couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could he have someone so easily wrapped around his fingers? And more importantly, why would he defend Jotaro? Why would he lie to the principal like that?
... Noriaki Kakyoin, huh? He's a surprising guy. Jotaro might've judged him too quickly.
In the end, Principal Tanaka couldn't agree to give Kakyoin the two months of cleaning up classrooms, and Kakyoin was too stubborn to not leave without receiving the proper repercussions, so they both agreed on him and Jotaro receiving two weeks.
Jotaro, to say the least, was fascinated. Intrigued. His heart was beating a mile per minute as he was watching Kakyoin negotiate with the principal. It was like watching a talented lawyer in a courtroom, he captivated Jotaro, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from Kakyoin, even after they finished up their meeting and stepped out into the hall.
"Hey..." Jotaro was speechless, not knowing how to thank Kakyoin. It was painfully simple, just two words needed. Kakyoin could've left scot-free, leaving Jotaro high and dry to deal with the cleaning by himself.
"I didn't do it for you to thank me." Kakyoin stopped him from any further discussion. Jotaro pulled down his hat, covering the ever-growing red on his cheeks. He felt like a bumbling idiot compared to Kakyoin. An unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling for Jotaro.
Kakyoin exhaled, his square and straight shoulders finally relaxing. His hair curl gracefully flowed with his movement. Jotaro could only watch.
"See you tomorrow." was all Kakyoin said to him before walking down the hall and out the door. Jotaro considered following and saying something, anything to show his appreciation.
But all Jotaro did was nod, his feet deeply rooted on the ground.
While Jotaro normally finished his homework rather quickly, today he took longer than usual. What made it worse was the majority of his homework was biology, one of his best subjects. His mother, Holly, noticed instantly that something was off when he didn't come over when it was dinner, which resulted in her quietly tip-toeing into Jotaro's room, a plate in hand.
Jotaro hadn't noticed her entrance. He hadn't even heard her call his name. It was pathetic for him to dwell on Kakyoin's actions, but he struggled to understand why Kakyoin lied for him, why Kakyoin sacrificed weeks of his time to just be in a bunch of classrooms with Jotaro, a guy he met only a few hours ago. They fought each other, his nose still ached, and he was almost a hundred percent sure Kakyoin had a black eye.
Kakyoin was irritating, stuck-up, aloof, snarky, and had an unapproachable aura to him. Yet... Jotaro wanted to know more about him. Nobody did something like this just for the fun of it.
"Jotaro, do you wanna take a break now?" Holly gleefully questioned. Jotaro flinched in his chair, his desk wobbling at the sudden movement.
"Don't you know how to knock, you bitch?" he shouted at her. Holly smiled, setting down a plate of Jotaro's desk.
"Be sure to eat, okay? I don't want my little angel to go hungry!" she gave Jotaro a quick peck on the cheek before leaving his room. Jotaro leaned back in his chair, picking up the plate of food.
He mentally thanked his mother for delivering it to her. Anything she cooked was always delicious, even compared to restaurants. He ate the entire plate in a few minutes. It was a good distraction for him, but now he should start focusing on his homework.
Yeah.
His homework...
Jotaro got to class earlier than he's ever been. His teacher commented on this, commending him. It didn't matter, he was on a mission: find out information about Kakyoin!
He approached the first person he saw, which was a girl sitting on her desk.
"Hey. Do you know Noriaki Kakyoin?"
The girl blushed, not expecting Jotaro to talk to her. Jotaro felt a dozen stares behind his back, and he tried his best to roll it off. He just needs to ask a few people
"Kakyoin? Yeah, he's the smartest guy in this school! He always gets the top scores in tests, plus he's good at everything."
"He's okay, I guess. He's kinda scary, you know?"
"Kakyoin's nice. I kinda feel like he looks down on everyone, though."
"He always hangs by himself. The loner type, I guess."
"Nori's cute! And not to mention he's a genius. But he's kind of a loser, ya feel? He just looks annoyed most of the time."
"Who?"
Jotaro wanted to ask more people, but then the bell rang. Everyone started filing to their desks, and he had to sit back down in his chair.
It was weird to come to class so early. Jotaro was used to coming at least half an hour late, and he had to say, this was the most boring thing he's ever had to sit through. He fell asleep when the teacher started explaining calculus concepts, only waking up to do his worksheets before going back to sleep again. He liked it better when he could do his work at home. The work was easy for him, and if he didn't understand (which was rarely) he could just ask his mom for help.
And finally, it was break time. He only had twenty minutes to himself, so he decided to go outside to smoke. Going to the rooftop was the first thing he thought about doing, but he decided against it. Wouldn't it be awkward if he saw Kakyoin up there? There'd be nothing for him to say.
Jotaro pulled out a carton of cigarettes and a lighter before quickly putting them away. The nurse told him he shouldn't smoke, due to his broken nose. God, school was starting to feel like a drag. Easy topics, easy worksheets, and annoying teachers and students. He wanted to ditch school so badly, but Kakyoin probably wouldn't enjoy being left to clean by himself. Plus, he looked like the type of student who went to cram school along with fifty other after school activities.
... Speaking of Kakyoin, Jotaro hasn't even seen him in the halls at all today. Not that he was looking for him specifically, but he expected to see him in the morning. Maybe he should ask what classroom he's in.
He'll see Kakyoin up on the rooftop, right?
Lunch. Finally. He had to sit through two entire class periods, one of them being art. Art sucks, it's the harsh truth. His hands couldn't properly grip the paintbrushes, and he never understood the meaning being the paintings the teacher would show. He saw it as just paint on a canvas, nothing special.
Jotaro opened the roof door, seeing a familiar figure leaning on the railing, just like yesterday. He made his way over to Kakyoin, sitting next to him on the floor.
Kakyoin closed his book when Jotaro sat down, giving him a simple nod of acknowledgment.
"What's with the shades?" Jotaro asked, now that he could see Kakyoin's face. He slid his sunglasses down, showing a fairly large bruise on his left eye. Jotaro winced, looking away in guilt. He was right about him giving Kakyoin a black eye.
"Sorry."
"At least I can cover mine up." Kakyoin slid back up and gestured to Jotaro's bandaged up nose. It was rare for Jotaro to get injured during a one-on-one fight, most of them coming from group fights from the typical punks that would hang around, looking for someone to pick on.
"Yeah. Thanks for... uh, yesterday." Jotaro stumbled over his words like a dense child. Kakyoin shrugged, opening up his bento and taking out his chopsticks.
"As I said before, I didn't do it for you to thank me," he told Jotaro.
"But you're welcome." Kakyoin quietly added, a sly smile growing on his lips. Jotaro smiled back, albeit his being smaller and lasting for only a few seconds. Kakyoin took a bite of his sushi before looking up at Jotaro.
"I don't think we've ever met. Your name is Jotaro... Kunio?"
"Kujo." Jotaro corrected him. Kakyoin nodded.
"My apologies. I'm Nori-"
"Noriaki Kakyoin. I know."
Kakyoin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before giving him another smile. "I didn't think you knew my name."
"Don't be so surprised." Jotaro simply said, watching Kakyoin eat another bite of sushi and reopened his book.
"What's that book about?" he asked, feeling unnecessarily chatty. Kakyoin scooted closer to Jotaro, showing the book cover.
"Common Sense, it's by Thomas Paine. We're required to read this for my world history class."
Okay, he and Kakyoin had completely different classes, then. Jotaro took Japanese history, and judging by how try-hard Kakyoin was, he would be in mostly advanced classes. That still didn't explain why Jotaro wouldn't see him around school.
"It's a short book, only forty-nine pages. It's very interesting, though. American history interests me."
"Really? Tell me about it."
Jotaro really couldn't give two shits about American history, that's why he didn't take it as a class. He wouldn't care if anyone else were talking about some stupid British dudes to him, but Kakyoin somehow made him want to listen. Maybe it was his voice, or maybe it was the way he articulated himself. Whenever Kakyoin spoke like this, it didn't sound condescending or overbearing.
... Why is he getting so into the way Kakyoin spoke? He never thought about it for other people before.
"And that's when Thomas Paine wrote this book." Kakyoin finished up his mini-lesson with Jotaro. At that time the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over.
"Huh."
"Say, what class do you have last?" Kakyoin asked as they were putting away their bento boxes.
"Biology. Why do you wanna know?"
"With Ms. Yamamoto?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. I'll drop by your class after school, and then we can get started with cleaning. See you, Jotaro." Kakyoin bid him goodbye when they reached the bottom of the stairs. His next class would be P.E, while Kakyoin had music. He went in the opposite direction, while Jotaro went down a different staircase going to the gym, which was in a separate building.
He's mentioned this before, but biology really is his favorite subject. Sure, subjects like math, chemistry, and physics were simple and he liked them, there was something about biology that he loved.
But he'd like for this class to speed up. He just wanted to hurry up and see Kak-- CLEAN! He wanted to hurry up and clean. And go home. Yeah. Nothing else.
He peaked at the clock. Ten minutes left. And what they're learning is easy. He learned this last year! (Macromolecules, if you were wondering.) Sleeping was a possibility, but he had already slept this morning, and P.E got him too worked out to sleep. He could just get up and ditch, but what would the point of leaving class be if you're just going to come back once it ended?
Jotaro looked out the window next to him. Sitting in the back of the class had its perks, especially the view he got of the front of the school.
"Looks like you have five minutes left of class." Jotaro heard the teacher say. "That should be just enough time for you all to take a pop quiz."
Everyone in class groaned. Jotaro remained disinterested, still staring out the window. A pop quiz was the last thing he wanted, even if he knew the topic well enough.
"Hey, hey. You guys shouldn't be complaining! It's only a couple of questions, and if you paid attention during class, it'll be an easy A."
This made the class calm down a little, and the teacher selected a student to pass around the papers.
Good grief. There were ten questions, and Jotaro finished them right when the bell rang. Half of the class went over to the teacher's desk, turning in their papers to her desk. Jotaro stayed in his seat, opting to wait for Kakyoin first and turn in his paper while he was leaving.
Jotaro then heard the door slide open. Speak of the devil, it was him. The remaining people in the class looked at Kakyoin before looking back down at their papers. Jotaro got up from his seat, putting his sheet on the desk and making his way to Kakyoin.
"Hello, Jotaro." Kakyoin greeted him. Jotaro grunted.
"I was given a list of places we're going to have to clean, along with a few other chores." Kakyoin pulled out a neatly folded sheet of paper from his pocket. Jotaro peered over Kakyoin's shoulders, reading over the chicken scratches on the paper. Who the hell wrote this, and how can Kakyoin even read it?
"Whatever." he shrugged, pretending that he didn't care, and not that he was having a mental breakdown.
"We can go to the science lab. I believe the chemistry class from the last period had an experiment. We can clean up the test tubes there."
"Good grief, let's go then."