Chapter Text
Jotaro awoke feeling surprisingly rested for once, stretching lazily and taking a moment to wake up fully. He didn't remember the beds in this hotel being so nice but he wasn't complaining. Part of him kinda wished he could sleep in for once, but he knew that DIO wouldn't wait for them.
Wait a minute.
This wasn't his hotel room. He shot out of bed, instinctively calling his Stand. He turned to look at Star Platinum and was shocked to see an altogether different Stand behind him. This Stand was large, muscular, and...pink? He'd never seen a pink Stand before. Was this an enemy? What had this Stand done with Star?
A loud knocking at the door distracted him.
"Josuke! Get up, you're gonna be late! Okuyasu is already downstairs!"
Josuke? Who the hell is Josuke? He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror then. A young, soft faced teen with long black hair stared back at him. Jotaro slowly raised a hand to his face in disbelief. No, not his face. This had to be the work of an enemy Stand. Jotaro's mind was trapped in the body of some kid he'd never seen before.
A young Japanese woman opened the door, looking annoyed. "Josuke come on, it's time for school."
School? Like hell was he going to school. He had to get to the bottom of this. "I'm not going."
The woman looked at him like he'd spoken a different language. "Oh yes you are, mister. Come on, stop being stupid before Okuyasu leaves without you."
Jotaro was starting to get pissed off. This Josuke kid must be a real fucking loser if he let people order him around like this. "Are you deaf, bitch? I said I'm not going to school. I've got more important things to do," and he shut the door in her face.
The woman pounded on the door again. "Josuke Higashikata you unlock this door right this instant or I swear to God I'll make you wish you'd never been born!"
Jotaro looked around in the bedroom. Shit, this kid really was a loser. All of his clothes were so bright and revealing and attention grabbing. Just looking at the wardrobe made Jotaro want to kick Josuke's ass. Why did this shirt have zippers over the nipples? What was the point? He managed to find a single dark blue tank top that actually covered both his chest and stomach, and grabbed Josuke's long black jacket. At least they were both into gold embellishments, although he could've done without the hearts. He left it unbuttoned, sighing at the somewhat underwhelming silhouette. He tore apart the boy's room, but the guy didn't seem to own a single hat.
The bitch had eventually gotten tired of screaming at him, saying something about not wanting to be late for work before promising to ground him indefinitely. He went downstairs and was met with a buff, cool looking guy with scars across his face. He called Star- or whatever Josuke's Stand was, praying that this pink thing had a cool ability.
"Hey, bro! What happened with your mom? When she was leaving, she looked like she could've ripped a car in half."
So not an enemy, then. Weird, what was a tough dude like this doing with a pussy like Josuke? Jotaro shrugged. "That bitch tried to make me go to school when I told her I wasn't."
The boy's face seemed to go through the five stages of grief as he processed the information. When he understood, his face broke into a huge grin. "You mean we're skippin' class?"
"Hmph. I'm skipping. You do whatever you want. What kind of pushover only does shit when someone else is doing it?"
He faltered a bit, but recovered quickly. "Well I'm skippin' too! You wanna go to the arcade or somethimg?"
"Go by yourself, I've got something important I have to deal with."
The guy's face went serious. "What is it, bro? Is it an enemy Stand user?"
Huh. So this kid had a Stand, too. Jotaro didn't want to tell him too much, he still wasn't sure if the Crusaders and this Josuke kid were on the same side.
"Uh, yeah. It's a Stand."
The other boy nodded solemnly. He was a pretty good looking guy, if Jotaro was being honest. Very cool.
"Should we go to Jotaro about it, do you think?"
Jotaro's brain short circuited for a second. Josuke and his friend knew him? He was certain he'd never seen either of these kids or the woman in his entire life.
"Jotaro.....Kujo?"
Josuke's friend laughed. "Uh, yeah dude. You know any others?"
"I just....don't feel like myself today, I'm having trouble remembering things about myself." It was true, more or less.
The boy looked immediately concerned as they left for the other Jotaro's place. "You mean like, amnesia? Is the Stand makin' you forget shit?"
Sure. That'll work. "Yeah, I remember Stands, of course. That they exist, and that I have one-"
"Yeah, the best one! Your Stand is sooooo cool, bro! It's like, the coolest Stand ever. 'Cept for Star Platinum, maybe."
He smiled a bit. It made him feel good to hear this obviously badass guy call his Stand 'the coolest'. "Yeah, Star Platinum is really cool."
"Hell yeah!" Josuke's friend started to punch the air in front of himself, making impressions of Star's signature 'ora's. Okay, maybe this kid wasn't so cool after all. "And when he does 'The World'? Like, are you kidding me?"
Jotaro froze. The World? What was that? "What do you mean, 'The World'?"
"Ya know, when Jotaro like, stops time for a couple seconds! God that's so rad. I wish I could stop time."
When Jotaro fucking what?! He'd done a lot of things with Star, but he was sure as shit that Star couldn't stop time. At least, not yet.....
He hadn't even considered that possibility. "Hey uh," Shit what was his name? Eh, whatever, he'd just fake it. "Hey bro? What year is it?"
Josuke's friend looked shocked for a moment, then laughed a little. "Damn dude, that Stand's makin' you almost as dumb as I am! It's 1999, remember?"
Jotaro took a moment to process that information. 1999. So he was in the future? Then this other Jotaro was about.....twenty eight. And he could stop time now, apparently.
A sudden wave of relief washed over him. "Jotaro defeated DIO." He'd always put on a brave face for the others, but this confirmation that he would indeed face DIO and live to tell the tale made him feel like he was releasing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Josuke's friend got excited again. He was more enthusiastic than Polnareff, which Jotaro hadn't thought was possible. "Fuck yeah he did! That story rules, has Mr. Joestar told it to you all the way through? It's way better when he tells it, Jotaro leaves out all the best stuff! Like Jotaro always skips the part with the baby, and the magnets, and-"
"Mr. Joestar? Mr. Joseph Joestar?" That old bastard is still alive?
"Oh good, so you remember your dad, then."
Josuke's what. That couldn't be right, that woman definitely wasn't Grandma Suzie and-
That slippery bastard. So this dumb kid was Jotaro's uncle? He sighed. "Good grief."
"Haha! Bro, you sounded just like Jotaro when you said that just now."