Chapter Text
“It’s go time, Jean-Pierre.”
Avdol was knocking so loudly on that door it should’ve been illegal, and still, there came no answer. He looked up to find Jotaro leaning against the wall, a cigarette already pursed between his lips and his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“You know you can’t smoke that in here,” Avdol said. “It’ll set the sprinklers off.”
Jotaro knew that already. He just didn’t care. “Serves him right for taking so long.”
“Jojo is going to set off the sprinklers if you’re not careful,” Avdol said, talking to Polnareff once more.
A wail came from behind the door, followed by a ridiculously long hiss of hairspray. How Polnareff was still able to breathe in that room of his was a mystery. “Alright, alright! I’m coming!”
“I don’t know why we even bother with this anymore,” Jotaro grunted. “Our classes are all on opposite sides of campus.”
“It’s our ritual.”
“It’s a stupid ritual.”
“It makes him happy.”
“I don’t come here to make him happy.”
“Leave, then, by all means,” Avdol said, chastising. “You know you’ll never hear the end of it.”
Jotaro grunted. He had a point there.
“Come on, Jean-Pierre!” Avdol yelled.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist!” Polnareff said, and then broke off into a stream of French, none of which sounded at all complimentary. There were sounds of crashing and banging behind the door. Jotaro rolled his eyes. He was already a good ten minutes late because of this nonsense.
“Polnareff,” he said, voice solid and low. “Get your ass out here, or I’m busting the door down.”
“Wait! Don’t do that! Wait!” Polnareff shrieked, and then the door swung open. “Mon Dieu. I’m here. Happy now?”
“Took you long enough,” Jotaro grunted.
“Excuse me,” Polnareff said. “You cannot rush perfection.”
He ran his hands over his silver mullet to demonstrate. Jotaro watched on, unimpressed.
“You look the same as you always do,” he said.
“I do not!” Polnareff squeaked. He gasped so hard his pink earrings shook. “Tell him, Avdol!”
“Tell him what?” Avdol asked. “What am I supposed to know?”
“You can’t tell?” Polnareff said. He looked genuinely wounded.
Avdol blinked at him. It was a rare misstep in their usual telepathic communication.
“Hello? New t-shirt talking?” Polnareff said. He gestured down to his chest, which was covered by a black crop top, just like the thirty other black crop tops he owned. “Honestly. It’s like you don’t have eyes.”
(Jotaro had noticed, honestly. He had very precise vision and a brain that focused on the most mundane, unhelpful things. He just refused to admit it to Polnareff out of principle.)
“Wow,” Avdol said, laughing lightly. “That certainly is- something.”
“Yeah,” Jotaro said, because he couldn’t resist a pile on. “Something I don’t give a fuck about.”
“The two of you, honestly,” Polnareff said, shaking his head. “The way you treat your dearest, bestest friend is deplorable.”
“I’m sorry, is that supposed to be you?” Jotaro asked.
Polnareff turned to Avdol with his mouth agape. “Do you see this? Do you see how he treats me?”
“Don’t worry. You’re still my best friend, Jean-Pierre,” Avdol said. He linked their arms together and used it to steer Polnareff down the corridor.
“Aww,” Polnareff cooed, placated for now. Jotaro shut his dorm room for him and together they walked down the hallway. “I know I’ll always have you, Avdol. Link arms with us, Jotaro.”
“No,” Jotaro said.
“Come on, it’ll be cute,” Polnareff said.
Jotaro refused. It was hard enough making it down the stairwell considering how tall and wide they all were- let alone with the three of them linking arms. What if someone else wanted to walk up the stairs the opposite way? Polnareff never got that far when he thought of things. All of his ideas were short lived, born out of impulse and straight from fantasy land.
“Don’t you wanna be cute, Jotaro?” Polnareff asked.
“Don’t push your luck,” Avdol said.
Polnareff had extended a hand towards Jotaro, presumably to steal his hat. It was just as well he pulled his hand back, because Jotaro wasn’t looking forward to breaking someone’s fingers so early into the school year.
“It’s a new school year, everyone,” Avdol said, as they stepped out of Polnareff’s dormitory block and onto campus. “What are we all excited about?”
“Lunchtime,” Polnareff moaned.
“What about you, Jotaro?”
Jotaro was already thinking about his mom coming down to visit. His stomach gurgled at the thought of eating familiar food.
“Dunno,” he said. “I’m monitoring a freshwater community this year, so that’s something.”
“Wow, so interesting,” Polnareff said. “My name is Jotaro, and I like watching the fishes. Oh yeah. Marine Biology. So sexy. What a time to be alive.”
Jotaro had an Astronomy minor, too, but he didn’t like talking about that as much. The last time he’d mentioned it, Polnareff had asked him to describe every star he could see in vivid detail. What a pain.
“Would you rather talk about yours?” Jotaro asked.
Polnareff’s face fell further.
“Let’s not mention that today,” Avdol said. “It’ll only give us all a headache.”
“You’re telling me,” Polnareff whined. “Can’t we just skip class today and go out? I can take you to that taco place I keep telling you about, Jotaro. You’ll love it.”
Tacos did honestly sound quite good. But Jotaro was making a dedicated effort not to be as much of an asshole this year, especially to himself, so he was forcing himself to attend as much as he could. Not everything, obviously. He didn’t care that much. Contrary to popular opinion, he did actually enjoy his studies. It was everything else he couldn’t stand.
“No,” he said, in summary of all the above. Polnareff’s face fell further.
“We can always go later,” Avdol said. He was fluent in Jotaro and Polnareff speak by now. It was the only thing holding their fragile friendship group together.
“Later, as in, after lunch, or later, as in, after class?” Polnareff piped up.
“Later,” Jotaro growled.
“As in later,” Avdol offered, helpfully.
“You’re so boring,” Polnareff yawned. “I don’t know why I keep insisting on being friends with you fools. It really is tiring.”
“If it’s tiring for you, I bet you can’t imagine what it’s like for us,” Avdol said.
Jotaro snorted. Polnareff smacked Avdol on the arm, face reddening.
“Oy, take that back! I’m perfectly loveable!” Polnareff said. “I’m squishy in all of the right places!”
Jotaro didn’t even want to know what that meant. He would never say it out loud, but he had actually missed his friends over the summer. So much so that he let Polnareff link arms with him for a second before they parted ways. Just a second, though. He wouldn’t want to give them any wrong ideas.
“This is my stop,” he said, detaching himself outside of the astronomy building.
“Okay, darling!” Polnareff said. “Have fun! Don’t make too many friends without us!”
“Fuck off,” Jotaro snarled.
Avdol dragged Polnareff away just as he was starting to blow manic kisses at Jotaro. “We’ll see you later, Jojo. Have a good day.”
Jotaro nodded at Avdol, and watched with mild disgust as Polnareff kept on waving and wailing, despite the looks they were catching. A part of him thought Polnareff got off on that type of shit. The more ridiculous he was being, the happier he felt.
“Don’t make that face at me, Kujo!” Polnareff yelled. “You’re no fun! I know you love me really!”
“Don’t let him drive you crazy,” Jotaro said, to Avdol.
“You say that like I have a choice in the matter,” Avdol said, wryly.
-
Astronomy. Jotaro usually enjoyed the subject, but he knew from the moment he walked into the lecture hall it was going to be a pain. Last year he had managed to get away with barely contributing and making some vague comment about cosmology every time Pucci called on him, but he doubted this year was going to be as simple. He’d passed his first year with flying colors, and now there was a target on his back, for sure. If that wasn’t bad enough, Pucci had resigned from his post over the summer to pursue a life in the clergy. His replacement, a tall, blonde man with evil clothing and green lipstick, gave Jotaro what could only be called a death glare as he walked in the room. Granted, Jotaro was about fifteen minutes late to his first class of the year. But still. It was only the start of the year. You’d think the professors would be in a good mood.
“And who might you be?” The man crooned, hands on his hips.
“Kujo,” Jotaro said. He refused to let himself be intimidated. He kept his hands in the pockets of his long black jacket, and glared back from beneath the brim of his hat. “Jotaro.”
“Kujo, was it?” The man said. “Hm. Top of your class last year. I expected…more.”
Jotaro stared at him blankly.
“The name’s Dio. I’ll be your professor this year,” Dio said, waving a hand. “Take a seat. I think you’ve wasted enough of our time this morning, Kujo.”
Jotaro rolled his eyes and started walking towards the back of the lecture hall, but was stopped by a loud tutting from the front row. Dio was leaning across his desk, waving a finger at him.
“Not so fast, Kujo,” Dio said. “This year will work a little differently than what you’re used to. You’re sitting alphabetically this time around, and working in pairs. That puts you next to Kakyoin. Noriaki…wasn’t it?”
A red-headed man sat up in the middle row. He was wearing sunglasses inside, for some reason. “Yes, sir.”
“There we go,” Dio crooned. “Chop chop, now, Jotaro. Don’t keep your partner waiting.”
Good fucking grief. Partner work. Jotaro might as well fail already. He eyed Dio up and down a minute, wondering if he could take him in a fight. It probably wasn’t the best idea. He looked strangely muscular, and it had been a long time since fighting his teachers actually got him out of anything.
Besides, Jotaro promised his mom he wouldn’t start drama anymore. After his grandfather’s secret lovechild was revealed to the Kujo-Joestar family over the summer, and Jotaro’s father finally filed for divorce, Jotaro wasn’t sure how much more turmoil Holly could take. The last thing she needed was Jotaro adding to the mix by getting expelled.
So he would rein it in…for now.
Jotaro clenched his fist and silently walked to the middle row. Everyone was seated already, so he had to do the awkward thing of shuffling past people’s legs, and not everyone wanted to move for him. That was fine. He didn’t mind stepping on a few toes. He’d already resisted breaking several bones that morning, so a little bit of aggression was surely warranted.
His partner looked entirely impassive as Jotaro took the seat beside him. Jotaro used the next few seconds to take his measure. He was shorter than Jotaro, but not by much. Lanky, slightly muscular, with a thin waist and long legs. He was pale, with slender hands and a sharp face. His most distinguishing feature was his hair, which was a dark cherry red, and cascaded in long waves onto his shoulders. One side was longer than the other. He was wearing a dark green turtleneck with a white scarf, which he had wound around his elbows and across the desk. There were three journals sitting in front of him, a pencil case with chewing gum inside, and a stress ball to the far left.
Everything about him said honor student. Straight laced, probably recently transferred from somewhere, given his abundance of nerves. But maybe that was just because of Jotaro. Kakyoin did not look his way once during Dio’s speech, which was something about the theoretical and observational principles of modern astronomy. It just made Jotaro all the more suspicious. In his defense, he was like that with everyone. It had taken him two entire weeks to trust Avdol enough to stop glaring at him during their first year. He was still glaring at Polnareff, but that was less because of Jotaro and more just the effect Polnareff had on people.
“Right,” Dio said, clapping for no reason at all. “You’ll be relying on your partner to check your work throughout the school year. Think of them as your soundboard, if you will. It’s important that you trust each other, so I’ll grant you the next ten minutes to get acquainted. Non-coincidentally, I am going for a drink.”
Just like that, he waltzed out of the room. Jotaro and Kakyoin sat stiffly in their chairs, stubbornly refusing to speak. The other pairs around them started slowly breaking out into conversation. It was like a stand-off of sorts. Jotaro kept glaring at Kakyoin in the corner of his eye, daring him to break first.
Eventually, he did. Kakyoin let out a short sigh and said- “I’m Kakyoin.”
“I know,” Jotaro said. He did not realize Kakyoin had spoken in Japanese until he answered in kind. He frowned at himself, feeling as though he had revealed something he wasn’t supposed to.
“I thought you were Japanese,” Kakyoin said, and it sounded accusing.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Jotaro asked.
“It means we can talk secretly about things,” Kakyoin said. “Doesn’t that excite you?”
“No?” Jotaro said.
Kakyoin slumped his shoulders a little. “You haven’t thought about it, not even a little?”
“No,” Jotaro said, firmly.
Kakyoin sighed. “Well, you’re a lot of fun.”
“You know, you’re the second person to tell me that today,” Jotaro said.
“I wonder why,” Kakyoin mused. “It can’t be because that scowl is etched in stone, can it?”
Jotaro stared at him. “Why is your hair lopsided?”
“Stylistic choice,” Kakyoin snarled. He picked up his pen and tapped it against the side of his table, like Jotaro was boring him. “What is a guy like you doing here?”
Jotaro glared. “What is this, twenty questions?”
“The professor told us to get to know one another,” Kakyoin said, innocently enough, but there was a sharp edge to it.
“You didn’t even ask a proper question,” Jotaro protested. “Did you mean here, as in Florida, or here, as in, college?”
“Whichever of those you feel most comfortable answering,” Kakyoin said. He still hadn’t turned to face Jotaro.
“I moved here for college.” Jotaro said, because it was the shortest answer.
Kakyoin’s nose wrinkled in displeasure.
“What about you?” Jotaro asked. “I haven’t seen you here before.”
“It’s the first day,” Kakyoin said. “I would certainly hope not.”
“Don’t be a smartass,” Jotaro snapped. “Did you move here, or what?”
“That has nothing to do with you.”
“So you transferred,” Jotaro said, because he was an excellent detective. “You seem like the type of guy to always get straight As, so it can’t be because of performance.”
Kakyoin’s mouth twitched in displeasure. “What makes you say that?”
“Your pencil case,” Jotaro said, and didn’t elaborate.
“Of course,” Kakyoin scoffed. “Because you’re so clever.”
“I am,” Jotaro said.
“Yes,” Kakyoin said. “Believe me. It hasn’t passed my notice that you were top of the class last year. Rest assured it won’t happen again.”
“Whatever you say,” Jotaro said.
Wow. The honor student was actually trying to threaten him. It would be annoying if Jotaro didn’t find it kind of cute. What was Kakyoin going to do, batter him with a book? Bamboozle him with useless facts?
Kakyoin turned to face him then. He looked sort of murderous, but it was kind of hard to tell from beneath the glasses.
“You think you’re so cool, don’t you?” Kakyoin asked. It was more of a statement than anything else.
“You tell me,” Jotaro said. “Are there actually any benefits to wearing those shades indoors, or do you just think they make you look badass?”
Kakyoin’s lips pursed in anger. “You’re the one dressed like a punk band reject.”
Jotaro’s face fell. He actually sort of had him there.
Dio waltzed back in with a red mouth and an empty wine glass. Jotaro was starting to doubt he was an actual professor at all. The more Jotaro saw of this class, the more it seemed like the drama teacher had just gotten lost or something.
“Right,” Dio said. “That’s enough talking amongst yourselves. It’s time for learning now. Star learning. Who here can tell me what you did last year?”
Good grief. Jotaro was getting the feeling he would rather talk to Kakyoin for another hour than put up with a full class of this nonsense. At least he would actually learn something.