(Y/n) = Your name
(S/n) = Surname / last name
(E/c) = Eye colour
(S/c) = Skin colour / skin tone
(H/c) = Hair colour
(H/l) = Hair length

~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~

"You're never home anymore! I don't know what you're up to these days, so excuse me for wanting to spend time with my daughter!" My mother slammed her fist down onto the kitchen table quite heavily.

I'd returned home after a day out on the beach with Kakyoin. Nothing unusual. But apparently she's been worried about the fact that I've been spending more time out of the house now that I have a job and a social life.

"You got me that job! You used to berate me for never leaving the house in the first place! Is this not what you wanted?" I argued back, quite annoyed by her audacity to call me out over something she initiated to begin with. "I didn't mean for you to spend every second of the day away from home, only to return here to sleep!"

I grit my teeth together angrily, both of our tempers beginning to rise uncontrollably. "Would you prefer if I didn't come back here at all? I'm busy living my life. And not once did you mention that you wanted to spend time with me, before or after I scored that job!" I gripped tighter onto the house key that rest in my palm, heavily considering just walking out the front door and staying out in the fresh air for a while longer.

"How can I tell you when you're not here!" That was it. "Fine." My tone suddenly altered, becoming calm and collected as I spoke. This seemed to make her angered expression falter, now noticing my numbed demeanour.

"I'm going out for a bit. I need some fresh air." I turned on my heels, opening the door while she was too shocked to utter anything, just watching as I left. "I'll take the day off tomorrow. We'll talk then." And with that, I was gone..

~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~

Fighting wasn't a usual occurrence in my household, seeing as my mother used to mutter remarks under her breath rather than calling me out like this. She regularly tells me of her boss's daughter, who currently has a summer job while she's a whole two years younger than I am, who is well kept and enjoys hobbies that are 'worthwhile'. Small comments that would clearly get under my skin..

But now she seemed to be annoyed by something else, taking it out on me. I took it with a pinch of salt, acknowledging that she works in a highly stressful environment at work with nobody to vent to while I'm out of the house. And teenagers fighting with their parents is far from unheard of.

I found myself by the beach, an instinctual move since I was so caught up in my mind that my legs seemed to carry me there on their own.

The sand appeared dark, somewhat similar to light charcoal particles dusted across the once bright and sunny beach. A dreary sight, and yet it almost seemed more mysteriously beautiful. The moon shone down over the ocean, creating a whole different kind of breathtaking compared to the scenery I was used to. A myriad of greys, blacks, whites. A sky full of stars, scattered across the sky like little specks of shining silver. And a moon so bright that it stole the show.

"What are you doing out so late?"

The surprisingly gentle but deep voice sounded from behind me, startling me considerably. "J-Jotaro! Don't scare me like that!" I automatically grasped at my shirt, just layers above where my heart was racing rapidly in my chest. "I could ask you the same question!"

"Yare yare daze.." He muttered lowly over the sounds of the gentle waves in the distance. As he began to approach me, I realised that my cheeks were still stained by my tears, which he clearly hadn't noticed yet. I tried to subtly wipe them away before he could notice, but he was far too observant.

"Who did this to you?"

I was taken aback by his question, my heart suddenly swelling at his words. "Just a small argument with my mom is all.. Why are you here?" I continued to wipe away the tears unashamedly now that he was aware of them.

He paused, averting his gaze from me as he hesitated to answer. "...no reason." I tilted my head to the side curiously, peering over to see his face that was now turned away from me. "No reason? None at all?"

I noticed his usual unamused expression was still crossing his features, but his lips curved downwards to create more of a frown than usual. As soon as I took note of this, I spotted a small amount of liquid that had managed to trickle down from the corner of his lip, where a relatively small nick had been cut. "You're bleeding..!"

He unconsciously reached his hand up to his face, only now noticing the blood that partially stained his face. He let out a quiet grunt, fishing into his cloak pocket to retrieve a small white handkerchief, which he then used to wipe it away.

"Were you in another fight?" His brows raised ever so slightly at the mention of this, since he had never spoken to me about it. "Kakyoin told me a little about your tendency to get into fights.." I admitted a little bashfully, now wishing I hadn't said anything at all since his frown only deepened.

"You're not wrong.." He began to walk closer to the beach's shore. I could only guess that he was done talking to me, seeing as I brought up something so personal that we had never even spoken about before. That was, until he turned around to glance at me expectantly, unsure of why I hadn't followed him. I perked up a little at this, walking ahead to join him for a small stroll around the deserted beach.

"I like to come here to clear my head sometimes." I began, picking up a new topic to talk about in order to stray away from our earlier conversation. "The ocean helps to calm my nerves. Especially on nights like these." I mused softly, glancing out towards the ocean.

Jotaro's gaze involuntarily landed on me, his eyes softening ever so slightly at the sight of me silently admiring the water. He'd never met another person who naturally shared the same appreciation for the ocean before in his life. If he mentioned this to any other person, the fangirls would suddenly show interest in it, regardless of whether or not they actually cared for it to begin with. But this girl was different.

"Do you ever stroll around the beach during the night?" I questioned, now turning my attention back to him, only to notice him look away quite abruptly. "No. We just met here by chance.." I hummed as a short acknowledgement, which was unusual for me as Jotaro is normally the one to respond so bluntly.

His eyes fell on me once again, this time out of concern, seeing as I was acting so downcast. He desperately wanted to say something helpful, anything that could lift my spirits or even just cause a change in mood. So he blurted out something I didn't quite expect from him..

"Could you.. teach me how to surf?"

My eyes widened.. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You.. want to surf?" I smiled softly at the idea of passing on my surfing knowledge to somebody else. I've already taught Kakyoin everything I know, so this thought interested me.

"...yeah." He hesitated, but answered truthfully. Jotaro wouldn't dare say it aloud, but he envied the way Kakyoin and I could surf so effortlessly, watching silently from the shore as he continued to work on his studies.

"And what do I get out of this?" I wagered, a small smirk finding its way onto my lips. He smiled unnoticeably at this, glad to see that he had successfully ignited a small spark of playfulness in me. "What do you want?" He shook his head disapprovingly, but played along with it nonetheless.

"We have to swap clothes for a day!" I announced the first idea that came to mind, followed by a small laugh. I just wanted to see his reaction, seeing as a wager like this shouldn't be wasted on something as small as swapping outfits.

"You wish." He let out a soft chuckle at the thought. His short-lived laugh was enough to catch me completely off-guard. Jotaro laughing? That's never happened before, and I didn't know he was actually capable of it.

"Why not?" I continued to question teasingly. "Why do you think?" He gestured to his insanely muscular build as if it were obvious. I suppose he would most definitely end up ripping whatever clothes I had to offer. And I would probably end up slipping out of his immediately after hauling them over my body..

"Fine, fine." I giggled quietly, thinking to myself for a moment. What could I possibly want him to do for me..?

"You.. have to.." I stumbled through the endless possibilities, but couldn't pick any one in particular. "Yare yare.. Just pick something." Jotaro urged, clearly ready to give up on our little deal. "Alright.. Let's just say you owe me a favour in the future." He paused, mulling it over for a while, before finally deciding that this was reasonable. "Fine, then it's settled."

I couldn't help but smile softly to myself as we continued our walk along the beach. Our conversations could be so bleak yet so pleasant, an unpredictable combination that left me both enthralled and on edge at the same time.

But I enjoyed having him around more than I realised.

~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~

"Feeling any better?" We were nearing the end of the beach, where our walk first began, when Jotaro piped up with this question out of the blue. "Yes, thank you.. Just a little worried about facing my mom tomorrow is all.." I nodded, smiling gently to express my gratitude.

He then placed his colossal hand down onto the top of my head, letting it rest there for a moment in an endearing gesture that was intended to help calm my nerves.

My breath got caught up in my throat, hitching inaudibly, going completely unnoticed by him. My cheeks were now painted with red, but thankfully it was too dark for my flustered face to show up very brightly in the night.

"It'll work itself out.." He murmured, now lifting the weight of his hand from my head to continue walking me home.

"Is your lip sore?" I blurted out, my heart beating so wildly in my chest from his earlier actions that my brain wasn't fully registering what I was saying. He lifted a hand to his face to touch the small wound that he had obtained from his earlier fight, seeming to have forgotten all about it. "No." He assured me quite confidently.

"I have a first aid kit in the house, you know." I pointed out as an offer to help clean up the wound. "No need. It's just a scratch." He dismissed the idea almost instantly.

"I'll be the judge of that." I took the opportunity to examine his lip, checking to see how badly cut it actually was. And to my surprise, he wasn't lying. "You must be pretty quick at dodging. It really is just a small cut.."

"Were you doubting me?" Now that our faces were quite close due to my examination of his face, the playful glint shone much brighter in his eyes than before, even if it was only a momentary flare. "Of course not. I just thought you were trying to act tough." I smirked softly, backing up from his face to give him a little more space.

"Why would I need to act tough?" He pressed further. "To keep up your reputation, of course. Wouldn't want those fangirls to overhear that you actually have feelings." I rolled my eyes, laughing a little harshly at the mention of it, instantly thinking back to a certain coworker of mine. "I guess you're right." He played along, tilting his cap to cover his eyes that the moonlight once graced, dimming the enhanced glow of their naturally captivating colour.

"This is my stop." I gulped softly, suddenly feeling a little anxious about stepping inside the house incase my mother was still awake. Judging by the fact that the lights were off inside, she more than likely went to bed. But I couldn't help but feel dread pooling in the pit of my stomach.

I barely noticed that I was standing idly next to Jotaro, just staring at the doorway nervously. "Yare yare daze.. You'll be fine." His voice seemed to snap me out of my trance. I blinked a couple times, now looking up at his figure as it was beginning to walk away. "...thanks. Goodnight, Jotaro." I mustered up what little courage I had left at that moment to walk to the door.

"...goodnight, (Y/n).." And just like that, he was gone..

~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~✧~