Work Text:
Watanabe Akiko had been working at the marine station for several years, gaining research experience while she was working on her research-focused master’s degree. It had been her dream to work in marine biology ever since her grandmother to the aquarium for her sixth birthday. She had spent all day staring wondrously at the brightly colored fish, ocean floor crustaceans with their spindly little legs, and the magical glow of bioluminescence in the deep sea creatures. She remembers feeling small - or smaller than a six-year-old normally feels - standing below the monstrous shark tanks with their glass tunnels so that people could stand beneath one million kilograms worth of water as the ever-swimming predators circled around them.
Even now, long after her grandmother had passed away, Akiko visited the aquarium in her hometown every year for her birthday. Except now she is able to interrogate her fellow marine biologists who work there about all of the things she had yet to learn about the fascinating creatures of the sea. Despite the exhausting all-nighters and all of the days in her Bachelor’s where she wanted to quit her studies, Akiko never lost her love for the sea and she never lost her love for learning.
That was where Dr. Kujo came in to the picture.
Kujo Jotaro was an incredibly intelligent man. Anyone who has read his papers on marine biology could tell you that. Kujo Jotaro was also a very stoic man, his face set into a slight but unwavering frown. His guest lectures were renowned in the biology community for both their informational importance and their distinct lack of emotion.
Honestly, Akiko and the rest of her coworkers at Akkeshi Marine Station knew next to nothing about him. He was born in Kugyo, he has a PhD in marine biology and oceanography, he had been a field researcher for nearly 5 years (starting while working on his master’s), but honestly? Besides that, they basically didn’t know anything. Fortunately, that wasn’t exactly relevant when examining the sensory biology of the smoothskin octopus, so they didn’t push it. The other reason they didn’t push it was because Dr. Kujo’s glares were hella scary and it just wasn’t worth it to force him. Not like any of them could, what with the way he towered at least a head over everyone in the lab.
Despite this, they still invited him to all of their after-work drinking parties and he usually went to them. He was almost always quiet about any subject that wasn’t work-related, though, so who was to say whether he went with them because he liked them or simply to fit in with the intricacies of Japanese work culture. Either way, they kept inviting him because they were probably the closest things he had to friends and it would be horrible of them to just disregard that.
Jotaro was scheduled to give a presentation in Churaumi Aquarium and he was far more excited than he let on. Not only for the topic he was going to talk about - the Solasteridae Viguier - but also to go and enjoy just looking at marine life.
The aquarium had just recently become the first aquarium to raise whale sharks in captivity, providing a massive opportunity to consistently observe the growth and development of the species without having to remove wild sharks from their natural habitat. Jotaro was hoping to talk to an aquarium manager about the possibility of studying the sharks on a regular basis.
Jean Pierre Polnareff sat at a table for one in a lovely little cafe overlooking the river Seine. He had been enjoying a nice espresso until something on his laptop caught his eye. He stared at the article that he had found on the news site he always checked.
“Renowned Marine Biologist Jotaro Kujo Giving Presentation on 21 July at the Largest Aquarium in Japan”
It had a picture of the scientist below it to prove that this Jotaro was definitely Jotaro “yare yare daze” Kujo.
“Well,” Polnareff muttered to himself, taking another sip of the bitter coffee, “what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t go to this presentation?” He grinned as he opened up a new browser tab and typed up a new search.
'Plane tickets to Japan'
Akiko and her closest work friends, Hokama Daichi and Ikeda Uta were waiting near the stage where Dr. Kujo would be giving his presentation. They had already seen some big name researchers and professors around the aquarium and Akiko, for one, was looking forward to introducing herself. If she could make a good impression, she might gain some good contacts for when she applied for a PhD program.
Don’t get her wrong, Dr. Kujo was an intelligent person and not a bad mentor, but he’s not exactly. . . emotionally supportive. She just wanted to keep her options open, you know? It’s not easy to read the guy. Akiko had worked under him for almost 3 years at this point and she still couldn’t actually tell whether or not he liked her. Hopefully he liked her enough to write her a decent recommendation letter. The last thing she needed was to get a shitty reference letter from THE Dr. Kujo because then she might as well kiss her PhD chances goodbye.
She was shaken out of those thoughts when she received a nudge to the shoulder from Hokama. She looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
“Look at that guy’s hair,” he said with a little nod toward the left side of the crowd.
She turned her head toward the direction he had gestured and was just about to give him a little scolding for judging someone based on their appearance when -
“Oh my god.”
The man she found herself staring at was . . . interesting to say the least. He was clearly European, but that wasn’t what made him stand out, oh no, it was the silver hair that was styled into a flat top that had to be at least 15 centimeters tall complete with a mullet that trailed down his neck . And the fact he was wearing a single-strapped tube top wasn’t helping his already eccentric appearance. Akiko was trying so hard not to judge the man, but the visual dichotomy between him and all the smartly-dressed professors and researchers who came to meet Dr. Kujo was just too much. Sure the event was open to the public but damn.
“That has got to be some of the most majestic hair I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Ikeda laughed, only being half sarcastic, “Can you imagine how much money he spends on hairspray?”
Akiko entertained the idea of this man in all of his flat top glory strolling through a convenience store with a cart filled to the brim with enough hairspray to single-handedly destroy the ozone layer. It was a comical picture and she couldn’t imagine what an eccentric man like that was doing at a marine biology conference.
“Probably more than my salary,” agreed Ikeda. “I only hope that Dr. Kujo doesn’t see him; that would certainly be enough to throw someone off their presentation mindset.”
“Maybe for us normal folk,” said Akiko, “but I’d be impressed if anything broke through the doctor’s iron control on his facial expressions.”
“Facial control of steel, that one,” nodded Hokama. “Wish I had that sort of constitution. I’m still haunted by the time one of my friends made me laugh mid-drink while in the middle of a presentation for a final in high school. The water sprayed out of my nose when I laughed and just my luck that my crush was sitting in the front row. She refused to sit on the same side of the room as me for a month after that and the memory still haunts my dreams.”
Akiko laughed while Ikeda winced sympathetically despite the smile on his own face. “I would have gone to the grave with that story if I were you.”
“Then just be glad you’re not me.”
Akiko wanted to say something witty back but Dr. Kujo was taking the stage and a hush fell about the crowd. She made peace with her lost chance and settle in to listed to the presentation.
As the applause for Jotaro’s presentation slowly died away, he couldn’t help but be relieved that the whole thing was over. Yes, he enjoyed presenting about his work and at the Churaumi Aquarium no less, but it took a lot of energy out of him to spend so much time around such a crowd. He sighed through his nose, careful to not let the microphone pick up the sound. Glancing over at the foot of the stage, Jotaro noticed a group of his graduate students clapping for him. He gave them an appreciative nod and tried not to feel too pleased when Watanabe’s smile noticeably widened. He’s been doing his best to be a suitable mentor for them but it’s difficult to tell with how skittish some of them tend to be around him.
With the applause finished, he politely bowed to the audience as their attentions turned back to each other and conversations swelled. Jotaro took the stairs down from the stage to stand in front of his students.
“Brilliant presentation, Dr. Kujo,” complemented Ikeda. It was his first conference as a PhD candidate and he was clearly eager as seen by the small notebook he had just finished taking notes in. “Could we set up a meeting sometime this week to discuss some of the topics you went over in your talk? I may have found a topic that we could pull a quick paper on, but I want to discuss it with you before I get too deep into any background research.”
Jotaro hummed at that. “Send me an email with your availability and I’ll get back to you.” The other man nodded and Jotaro began to turn his attention to the growing group of researchers from other organizations who were preparing for the chance to ask their individual questions. The graduate students had just broken their little circle to let in the researchers when—
“OI, JOJO!”
Jotaro frowned and his heart leapt in his chest. No one he would expect to be here would call him JoJo; practically no one called him that at all anymore and he could count on one hand how many people still might. It couldn’t be. Egypt. His grandfather. The stars glistening over the desert night sky. His friends. There was no way. But sure enough, when he turned to the sound of the voice he could see a beacon of silver hair as a figure pushed his way through the crowd roughly toward him. It must truly be the end of the world if Jotaro was joyed to see Jean Pierre Polnareff and yet here they were.
Ikeda was practically vibrating in his place next to Akiko at the prospect of getting more publications on his CV this early on in his PhD. She was glad he was so excited. Akiko didn’t get the chance to have her own conversation with the doctor - she could already see his attention turning to the researchers she could feel hovering behind them - so she simply smoothed her skirt and shifted over in a silent invitation to the individuals that they may join the conversation.
“OI, JOJO!”
Akiko startled at the abrasive voice and she saw Dr. Kujo frown, his eyes shadowed. Oh fuck. She heard Hokama let out a stressed puff of air. Did someone just call THE Dr. Jotaro Kujo ‘JoJo’? And on top of that, calling for his attention so obnoxiously in such a professional setting? She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. The disrespect was unreal.
Everyone in the newly expanded group turned their heads to peer for the sound. Hokama leaned over her shoulder to whisper, “Oh my god, it’s the guy with the hair.” And sure enough it was. “Oh my god, Dr. Kujo is going to kill him. He called him JoJo. Shit.”
Ikeda had shuffled his way over to them in an attempt to avoid the crossfire of whatever confrontation was about to go down. Akiko couldn’t blame him. Dr. Kujo was massive and muscular; he could crush her like a bug if he wanted to and the other guy, despite his eccentricities, was just as obviously muscular and nearly matched the doctor’s height. With one final shoulder check to some poor intellectual, the man stood before Dr. Kujo in all his tube top-clad glory. He was even more absurd looking up close and it was a wonder he went unnoticed at all.
The man flashed a massive blinding grin and spread his arm out as if for a hug. Akiko personally thought it was far more likely that Dr. Kujo would rip those arms off than willingly participate in a hug. “Have you missed me, Jotaro?”
And then, as if to spite Akiko’s line of thinking, Dr. Kujo smiled back. What. Granted it wasn’t a large smile but it was certainly more than anything Akiko had seen in her three years at the station. She could feel Hokama frozen at her back, clearly just as surprised as she was.
“Polnareff, you bastard.” The doctor hugged the strange man. Willingly. Akiko had to blink a couple of times just to make sure her eyeballs were still functioning as they should be.
“—the fuck?” whispered Ikeda and Akiko couldn’t agree with the sentiment more. The man - Polnareff she had to assume - lifted Dr. Kujo off the floor during the embrace, leaving the doctor’s shoes just brushing the floor.
“Ha! You’re still ripped as ever, I see! Marine biology must take a lot more muscle than I realized. You bench-pressing sharks in the lab or something?”
Dr. Kujo let out a barely audible chuckle at that and yet it was still more than anything his coworkers had ever gotten from him. This had to be a weird dream or something. One too many instant cup noodles before bed. Sleep deprivation induced hallucinations. Before she could further hypothesize the reasons for the scenario she found herself in, Dr. Kujo turned back to the confused group before him.
“This is Jean Pierre Polnareff, one of my closest friends for over a decade now.”
Polnareff threw an arm over his shoulder with an air of glee. “Aw man, Jotaro! You’re telling me I’m not your closest friend?” Okay, so apparently the whole station’s assumption that he had no friends was just completely wrong and Dr. Kujo was hiding a whole group of long-time friends up his large white sleeves somewhere.
“No, even Iggy would outrank you in that regard.” And with the comment, a slight tinge of sadness seemed to glimmer in their eyes despite their continued smirks, as if Dr. Kujo had pressed a little too firmly upon a healing bruise.
“Well that’s not accounting for your taste in personality,” chuckled Polnareff. “I’ll take the defeat.” He reached up with the clear intention of mussing the slicked back strands of his friend’s hair.
“That would be a first,” Dr. Kujo rolled his eyes and deflected the hand away.
Polnareff only laughed again - he was far more upbeat than Akiko had ever expected his friends to be. “Ah well, great presentation, JoJo. I didn’t understand a word of it. We’ll meet up after you’re done with your nerd session here, yeah?”
Ikeda bristled beside her at that last comment, and although Akiko still had a bit of awareness to be a little insulted at the comment, their boss seemed to take it in good stride. He pulled a business card from his pocket and scribbled something on it before handing it to the other man. Polnareff only spared it a quick glance before turning heel and saluting a farewell back at the group with a flick of the card.
Hokama murmured, “What a piece of work,” as the strangest man Akiko had seen in a long time waded back through the crowed and turned a corner, his silvery flat top visible the whole way. Dr. Kujo had returned to speaking to the other researchers and was once again communicating in his signature emotionless, clipped sentences. It was as though Polnareff had taken this newly uncovered personality with him and it was no longer anywhere to be found.
Akiko couldn’t help but wonder, if Kujo Jotaro the marine biologist was hiding friends so odd as this, what other strange things could she and her coworkers at Akkeshi Marine Station be blissfully unaware of?