Jotaro didn't do awkward.
Awkward was for people who wanted to talk and had no idea what to say, but Jotaro never needed to talk. It wasn't like Gramps needed his help planning the trip, and even when he was hanging out with Kakyoin or Polnareff, they were the ones who pushed things along. And he'd liked it that way–Jotaro didn't like talking, so if he could get by listening in and saying stuff whenever he felt like it, he wasn't gonna complain.
Now he was standing in line next to Ruby, waiting for the cashier to ring up the bag of crackers on the countertop, wishing for once in his life he was as confident as everyone else thought he was because maybe then, things wouldn't be this bad.
"That will be 10.95 riyals," the cashier said, a straight-faced man who couldn't be any less than fifteen years older than him.
Jotaro fished through one of the wallets he'd swiped off the thugs they'd taken out, counted out 20 riyals, and passed them over. As the man thumbed through the register for their change, he glanced between the two of them, and, sensing the tension between them, he turned to Jotaro and asked, "Is she giving you trouble?"
Jotaro chose not to answer that. If the man was smart, he would take the sign for what it was and piss off, but instead he shook his head and continued.
"If you want my advice, you cannot give in to her. You are the head of the family here, not her–you do not owe her anything."
Ruby shrank back. Jotaro wasn't blind–he noticed. His glare turned to the clerk, his hands clenched inside his pockets. Of course. This was the last thing he needed to hear right now. He could've bashed his face, hell, he wanted to... but what if that just made things much worse?
"It is just advice," the man replied with a shrug. "You foreigners have strange attitudes when it comes to women."
"Thank. You," he grit out, swiping the change from the man's greasy hands and the crackers from the countertop before he stormed out the door, Ruby scurrying behind him.
As soon as they'd left, Jotaro realized he probably could've just said that he didn't agree. That would've made Ruby feel better about herself, at least, but it was too late for that now, and an awkward silence settled between the two of them as they headed down the sidewalk.
I could say something now, he thought. Like, "what an asshole." Or "don't worry."
But really, those were just pointless details. Nothing was gonna change. Not until they actually talked about the problem. The real problem.
"You–"
"I–"
Both Ruby and Jotaro cut off, and they exchanged a look. Jotaro's brows turned down.
"You can–"
"I should–"
Ruby turned bright red and looked away. Jotaro's frown deepened. This wasn't getting anywhere.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Nothing. It's... nothing," Ruby replied. "You can go first."
"It doesn't matter."
"It doesn't sound like it doesn't matter."
"That's not what–" Jotaro ran a hand down his face. "I want to listen to what you have to say."
"You don't have to."
"You're the one who brought it up. You should be the one to tell me."
Ruby winced. "Oh. It's..." Then, she ducked her head. "I'm sorry. For... um... getting mad. Please, just forget about it."
And now she was apologizing for it? Jotaro scowled. Why the hell was she doing this? Why the hell did she do any of this? He was the idiot here. She shouldn't be the one apologizing!
But when Jotaro opened his mouth to say that, nothing came to mind. How the hell were you supposed to solve a fuck-up like this? He'd never had to do this before. It wasn't like he'd ever fucked up this badly before.
So, instead, he said, "It's fine."
It wasn't.
"We'll pretend like it never happened."
They couldn't.
Pulling his hat over his head, Jotaro groaned internally, doing his best not to bash his head against the wall.
Jotaro didn't do awkward. Not because he was too cool for that, no. It was because when it came down to it, he really had no fucking idea what he was doing, did he?
Ruby watched, eyes wide as she watched the man in front of her snap like a twig, his femur split perfectly in half as he collapsed onto the dusty floor. Another man screamed something in a language she couldn't understand, swinging his gun wildly into the air. He barely had time to squeeze the trigger before the gun folded in on itself with an awful metal creaking sound. The barrel flattened against the stock, the top of the magazine tore away from the bottom. Shards of metal scattered everywhere, and that was before the bullet went off, turning the metal mess in his hands into a searing hot one and filling the run-down restaurant with a thick cloud of smoke. He opened his mouth to scream. His head jerked back before he could, and he crumpled into a sack on the floor.
One by one, the men fell to the ground, marred with horrible wounds and muffled cries of pain. When the dust settled, Jotaro was all that remained, towering over the bodies with his cold, unflinching glare.
It was a glare that said nothing was going to get in his way.
The same glare he'd given her the first time they had met.
Ruby had almost forgotten that he could be like this. The Jotaro she had gotten used to, he was jerk through and through. He never really talked unless he was really mad, and even when he wasn't, he talked to her in a way that made her feel stupid. But... there were times when he wasn't so bad–little moments of weakness where she thought maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as mean as he looked.
This was not that Jotaro. It was no wonder she'd thought he was a bad guy. The way he looked, his eyes narrowed, his jaw fixed in a position of barely contained fury–he looked like he was just one word away from breaking someone's spine in half.
Slowly, his glare turned to her, that killer glare, and Ruby flinched. She hadn't really noticed, or maybe she'd just started ignoring it because she'd gotten so used to him, but oh wow he was so much taller than her, wasn't he? What would happen if he snapped at her? Could she really beat him again?
"Hey," he said.
Ruby swallowed. "Hi."
Jotaro's blue eyes traveled down. Ruby followed, and she paled when she noticed her hand drifting to Crescent Rose.
"I wasn't gonna... I wasn't gonna use it... or anything," she stammered out.
"Okay." Something flashed across Jotaro's face. Ruby thought maybe she'd know by now what that meant. Even though his face was set in stone, his eyes sometimes gave important stuff away, like if he was feeling mad or sad or happy or mad, but... this one was new. It was gone before Ruby could get a good look, not that she would've been able to read it at all, and maybe she was just seeing things, but did he look... hurt?
Ruby shook her head. No no no. This is Jotaro we're talking about! Nothing could hurt him!
Of course, she thought he wouldn't hurt her, either. She'd been wrong then. Surely she wasn't wrong now, though?
"Day's almost over," Jotaro mumbled in front of her. "We're going to need to eat something before we hit the road again."
"What do you have in mind?" Ruby asked.
An hour later, they'd somehow wound up sitting side-by-side beneath a towering statue of a book, a bag of crackers in her lap. It... wasn't really what Ruby had in mind when Jotaro said getting something to eat, but as Jotaro opened the bag and began wordlessly chewing on a handful of crackers, what else could she do but follow his example.
As she did, the last hour began to replay in her mind. What she'd done, what she'd said...
Hand to her face, Ruby groaned. Why did she say all that? Why did she even care? Jotaro was a jerk. She'd always known that. Maybe she'd forgotten it because she was sad about losing the only home she'd ever known, but now that she'd gotten over it, she could see things clearly now. This was just how he was. She was the dumb one for expecting anything different.
"Someone's trying to kill us," Jotaro said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah..." Ruby said, eyes on the floor. "I mean, with all the bad guys coming after us..."
"Not just that." Crossing his arms, Jotaro popped another cracker into his mouth and said, "Why the hell would a bunch of thugs spend so much just to kill us?"
"I dunno. Maybe we made them really mad?"
"Travel's not cheap. To send over this many people just to kill the two of us... this has gotta be one of DIO's Stand users." Then, Jotaro turned to her. "The guy who attacked you. What did he say?"
"You think he's the Stand user?"
"No. But I think he's got a stronger connection to the Stand user than any of the other thugs. He's been following us all the way from Fujairah, so he's gotta know something."
"Well... he didn't."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure. He just tried to kill me. That's it."
Jotaro frowned. "That can't be right. He had to have said something. Stand users like to talk all the time. If he was attacking you directly, he would've made sure you knew who it was."
"Well, maybe this one is different."
"Not likely. All of the Stand users I've met were the same. Loud, arrogant, selfish–"
"Sorta like you?"
That shut him up real quick. Ruby winced. "Sorry," she said, but the damage was already done. Again, that look flashed across Jotaro's face. Normal people were happy when you helped them and got angry when you didn't, but Jotaro wasn't normal. He wasn't angry now. He wasn't angry when she'd lost her cool.
What was she doing wrong?
After a moment, he slumped back on the bench and asked, "Why do you think I hate you?"
"I thought you said you were gonna forget about that!" Ruby whined.
"Well, I'm not."
"Why?"
"Because we're... friends... of a sort. Aren't we?"
Jotaro... thought they were friends? Sure, they'd fought off two Stand users before, and they'd spent the last few days together, but that didn't mean they were friends or anything. Did it?
"If we're really friends," Ruby said, slowly, "why are you always yelling at me?"
"I'm not..." Jotaro frowned. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Then what did you mean by it?"
"I... I don't know. I don't... I don't hate you. I promise."
Ruby clenched her hands and tried to look a lot stronger than she felt. She was gonna have to if she wanted to wring out anything from Jotaro. She turned, looked him in the eye, and said, "Then prove it."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Tell me... tell me why we're going on this trip. Why we're really going on this trip. Because if it's not to stop DIO..."
Jotaro sighed. "It's stupid."
"If it's stupid, then why are you so stubborn in not telling me what it is!" Ruby said, ruffling her hair in frustration. "I don't know how you could be this stupid! We're not friends, Jotaro."
"We're... not?"
"No! Friends don't keep secrets. That's what you're doing right now!"
"Friends don't need to share everything with each other. Even I know that."
"No... but you shouldn't want to keep secrets because... because friends are supposed to trust each other. You don't trust me."
Jotaro snorted. "What are you talking about? I trust you enough to save my ass."
Ruby stamped a foot into the floor. "That's not the same!"
Jotaro looked away. Ruby grabbed the lapel of his coat, trying to drag him back to her, before she realized what she was doing and inched back. "I just... I guess I just want to know that you don't think I'm useless. Which... I kind of feel like all the time, because you never tell me anything."
Jotaro looked back at her, then at the trees in front of him. Even Ruby could tell he looked uncomfortable, with the way he shuffled his feet on the floor, the way he fiddled with the cuffs on his coat. She recognized it because she felt like she would've done the same, if there was something she didn't want to talk about, and maybe she had pushed it too far, but she'd said too much to back out and Jotaro wasn't gonna let it go either so really, it was all his fault.
"I can't tell you," Jotaro said after a moment, "because if you knew... then you'd want to help."
"And that's... and that's a bad thing?"
"It's... not. Not for anyone else, but..." Jotaro narrowed his eyes. "I can do this by myself."
"No, you can't."
"What was that?"
"I said you can't!" Ruby said, raising her voice. "Jotaro. I... I don't know you very well, but even I can see that you're mad all the time and you look so miserable. You can't do this by yourself!"
"I have to!" Jotaro roared. Ruby jerked back, shocked by his sudden outburst. This was the loudest he'd been since Karachi. She hadn't been expecting that.
It looked like Jotaro hadn't expected it either, because the second he saw her face, he got real quiet. "I have to," he said again. "I need to do this. Everyone's counting on me. My mom..."
"Your mom..."
Jotaro sighed for what had to be the millionth time that day. He pulled his hat over his head and leaned back. Ruby had seen him pull that pose many times before. She'd always thought that meant he didn't care. Right now, it just looked like he didn't want to look her in the eye.
"That's what you wanted to hear, right?" he said. "Why we're going to stop DIO? It's not cause he's evil or trying to take over the world or some stupid shit like that. It's cause he cursed my mom and the only way to cure her is killing DIO. That's it." Then, after a moment, he added, "Sorry."
Ruby blinked. "Why?"
"I dunno. Seems like you always wanted to save the world. It's nothing like that. My mom's just sick."
"Oh."
Was he making this up? It didn't look like it, but it just sounded like something so... so unlike him that Ruby had no idea what to say. Should she try to cheer him up? He didn't look in the mood for it. And they were still on their way to save her, but Jotaro said he didn't want her to worry about it so maybe she shouldn't? He'd said that, but he said a lot of dumb things, but they were arguing right now so maybe she would just make it worse?
"This is stupid."
Ruby hadn't meant to say that out loud. Jotaro didn't look like he cared, though, so Ruby continued, "I just wanna help! Is that so bad?"
"No," Jotaro mumbled. "But it's not like you're gonna stick around forever, is it? You've got your own huntress shit to do."
"Maybe I'd be happy to put it on hold!"
"For me? Don't be stupid."
"You're the stupid one here!"
Wow, way to go, Ruby, she thought, but Ruby already felt angry enough that she just brushed it aside and said, "If you really thought we were friends, why didn't you think I'd try my best to help? Am I really just... just a kid to you?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"And what if I did?"
"I don't think you do. It's not like you ever told me what was bothering you."
Ruby's face flushed, and her eyes snapped to Jotaro, stunned. "You–you noticed?"
Jotaro frowned. "Of course I did. Just never brought it up cause I thought you wanted to handle it by yourself."
"I mean... yeah..."
It wasn't that! It was just... would he even believe her? It was so weird and so scary and Ruby was gonna tell him someday but now she wasn't so sure because what if he just ignored it?
Some of that must've shown on her face, because one look at her, and that same look flashed across Jotaro's face. She hadn't been wrong. He did look hurt. Hurt about what? That she didn't trust him? But he didn't trust her either, so it was only fair. Right? "Yeah. I figured," he said, and looked away. "I don't think this is gonna work. We're too different."
Ruby's heart sank. Swinging her legs out beneath the bench, she muttered, "I guess... so what now?"
"I'm gonna have the Speedwagon Foundation send you home, first chance I get."
If only he could. It was too late to say sorry now. If he didn't hate her before, he definitely hated her now. Was this all because she didn't want him to think she was weird? It really felt like it. She was gonna tell him too, but she'd chickened out at the last second and now she really was gonna be all by herself and it was all her fault!
Jotaro cleared his throat before Ruby could think about it any more. "Here," he said, shoving her cloak into her hands. "I should've given you this back before."
"Oh." Ruby opened her mouth to say thanks, but she stopped with the word halfway out of her lips. It was the polite thing to do, wasn't it? But she was tired, she was alone, she was hurting... it just didn't feel like the kind of mood to say anything, so she just slipped her cloak back on without a word.
"So you don't have anything?"
Ruby blinked. "Huh? Anything... about what?" she said, looking over to Jotaro. He still wasn't looking at her, and... maybe it was just the light, or maybe she was tired, but... did he look just a little smaller than before?
"The Stand user?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, I... I mean, the guy didn't speak to me himself, but... I think there was a Stand talking to me before he showed up."
"Talking to you?"
"Yeah. I mean... they didn't talk-talk to me. It was like they were in my head. I think?"
Jotaro hummed. "A Stand that gets in your head? Can't be literally in your head. The Lovers could only manipulate nerves. Gotta be some kinda telepathy, then."
"Telepathy? Like... reading thoughts?"
That explained the dreams, and that explained why she could've sworn she sometimes saw things that weren't there. This was a Stand that could enter her thoughts, enter her head, could make her see scary things that weren't there.
But then... how did that explain the cut on her face?
"Yeah, like that," Jotaro said. "Explains why they've been using other people to attack us. Telepathy's weak, though. Means the Stand's a long ranged one, which limits our options." Then, he paused. "What'd he say, exactly?"
Lots of stuff that Ruby didn't want Jotaro to know, least of all because they made her sound like a big baby. Pulling her arms, Ruby asked, "Why do you ask?"
"I need to know."
"And I don't?"
"You don't–" Maybe Jotaro could read the disappointment off her face, because he suddenly cut himself off and looked away. "Most of 'em like to keep a low profile. Let's 'em get away with whatever they want. But they're used to people not being able to fight back. Makes 'em cocky. And cocky people like to brag."
But he hadn't–he'd just said stuff about her and stuff about him. They'd both nearly died a few minutes ago, so she couldn't lie, but did she really have to tell him?
Before she could decide, Jotaro huffed. The bench creaked under his weight, the now empty bag of crackers crumpled in his hand. "Fine. You don't have to say anything. I can still work with this."
Ruby blinked. "You... you can? Work with what?"
Jotaro shrugged. "We know his powers. We know his range. All we gotta do now is draw him out."
"And how are we gonna do that?"
The bus station was a lot less crowded than it had been in the early afternoon. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing...
On one hand, that meant less assholes to get them in trouble. On the other hand... it meant that all Jotaro had to do while he waited for the bus to arrive was talk to Ruby, and they both knew that wasn't gonna happen anytime soon.
The plan was simple. Take the bus out of the city, then double back once they were a good distance from the city and track down the enemy Stand user. The weakest Stand he'd fought so far, Steely Dan's Lovers, had a range of a few hundred kilometers, and given that telepathy was a fair bit stronger than what the Lovers could do, he assumed the range would be a bit shorter. That would mean that, when they left the city, the enemy Stand user would have to give chase, exposing themselves to the harsh desert conditions and leaving them completely bereft of cover.
Assuming everything went well, this would be over before the next day.
Of course, nothing ever went well, but he couldn't plan for everything, could he?
At the front, their bus driver announced that the bus was now ready to be boarded. Jotaro lifted himself off his seat with a groan. Already, he couldn't wait to get this done with. Ruby looked like she felt the same, maybe even moreso. It wasn't like she'd been all smiles and rainbows, not since their fight with the Sun, but as she lurched off the bench and staggered toward the bus, he didn't miss how she walked in a way that left as much room as possible between each other as she could.
Internally, Jotaro groaned. Why did it have to be now?
It wasn't like he could leave her here. The enemy Stand user's thugs were after her too, from the looks of it, so they both needed to get out of here to lure them out, but after such a big fight... he really was not looking forward to the long bus ride ahead.
And it was going to be long. Jotaro let his eyes roam to the sky, to the deep orange rays cast from the setting sun across the desert sand. Pretty soon, it was gonna be night, and sleep was the last thing on his mind right now. His mom, the upcoming hunt. Ruby.
Ugh. Ruby.
"Don't let me fall asleep," she mumbled as soon as she'd nestled herself into her seat. Jotaro grunted, not really sure why, but it was the least he could do, wasn't it?
After everything they'd been through, all the shooting, all the chasing, all the arguing, she looked like absolute hell. God knew she needed the rest. So why was she so adamant about staying awake now?
He shouldn't have gotten her mixed up in all this. It wasn't supposed to be any of her business, and he'd dragged her along because he couldn't be bothered to figure out this Aura stuff on his own, and now she felt like she actually had to help him out here. She had her own shit going on, and here he was, dragging her through his own. He should've known this would be a bad idea.
With a sigh, Jotaro pressed his forehead against the back of the seat in front of him. Out of all the shitty days he'd had before, this one had to be one of the worst.
I told Ruby she wasn't cut out for this shit, he thought, watching people pass through the aisle beside him. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I'm the one who isn't cut out for it. Mom's sick, Gramps and everyone else decided to leave me behind. I haven't been able to win a single fight on my own since Steely Dan. Dark Blue Moon, Strength, Yellow Temperance, were those all really just lucky encounters? Am I really so bad at this that I need someone else to help me do anything?
Jotaro shook his head. No, he couldn't afford to think like that. He was gonna kill DIO. There could be no argument made against it. He would not even think about it.
A hand reached down and ruffled through his hair. Jotaro scowled, taking off his hat to fix his hair as he leaned back against his seat to see who had decided to ruin his already shitty day.
He wasn't surprised to see Star Platinum leaning over the chair in front of him, his hands hanging over the back of the seat and his face set into a frown.
The hell do you want? Jotaro thought with a scowl. I don't need this right now. I'm busy.
Star Platinum gave him a sideways look. With what? he seemed to say.
Thinking important things, Jotaro replied. Like how the hell I'm supposed to get Ruby back home.
At that, Star Platinum's frown deepened. He reached over and poked Ruby on the cheek. Ruby grumbled for Jotaro to stop, even though Jotaro had nothing to do with it.
Stop that. It's annoying.
Again, Star Platinum reached for Ruby's face. Jotaro mentally tugged his arm away with a scowl. What's so interesting about her, anyway?
Star Platinum shrugged. He pointed at Ruby, then back at Jotaro, then at Ruby again. It took a moment for Jotaro to catch what he was trying to say, and then a moment after that for it to really stick, because even if Star Platinum was his Stand, he still couldn't believe it.
Me? Like her? Impossible.
Star Platinum fiddled with his thumbs and nodded from side to side. Jotaro could hardly find it in himself to appreciate that.
We're not! he snorted. She's an idiot. I'm not. She's loud. I'm not. She's got a bleeding heart, and I don't. Simple as that.
Tilting his head, Star Platinum offered him an inquisitive look, his dark black locks spilling over his shoulder as he did. Why are you so insistent? Do you hate her that much?
I don't! Why does everyone keep saying that?
Star Platinum raised an eyebrow skeptically, and it wasn't like Jotaro really needed to prove anything to his Stand of all people, but he huffed anyway. I mean, she kicks ass, and she's tough as shit. Anyone would think that's cool as hell.
Star Platinum shook his head. Something about the way he did pissed Jotaro off, so he turned away and said, Well, she should've known I wanted her to let me be. It's not my fault she thinks–
Star Platinum reached out and knocked the hat off Jotaro's head. Swearing, Jotaro bent down to pick it up, only for Star Platinum to tug on his coat lapel and cause it to fall off his shoulder.
Oi. What the hell do you think you're–
Just when Jotaro had managed to wriggle his hat out from underneath the chair before him, Star Platinum started poking him in the cheek. Jotaro waved off his hands with his hat, but Star Platinum was a hell of a lot faster than he was, and it didn't take long for his Stand to slip through his guard and jab him in the nose.
Oi. Hey. What the–oi! Stop! Where the hell are you–hey, hey! Oi! "Stop it!"
Finally, Star Platinum let up, giving Jotaro the time he needed to fix his hat on his head. He could see his outburst had caught some unwanted attention. They could go to hell for all he cared. Fixing his glare back on Star Platinum, Jotaro huffed and thought, The hell was that all about?
Star Platinum nudged Jotaro's shoulder. Jotaro hissed, a hand flying up to it. He'd just gotten shot there.
Okay, he groaned. Okay, fine. That's not fair. She's an idiot, but she's an idiot who helps people. I should've known better than to get pissed off. But I'm trying to help her here!
Star Platinum raised both eyebrows this time. If he really was a reflection of Jotaro's soul, did that mean even he thought that was bullshit?
It's not! She's got her own shit to deal with. If she can't handle it, then she shouldn't be trying to muscle in on my problems too.
Again, Star Platinum gave him that look that said he thought he was bullshitting. He jabbed a thumb Ruby's way, her outburst replaying itself in his head. Clearly, she didn't think that.
And what the hell am I supposed to do about that?
Pain lanced up Jotaro's side. He hissed and pushed Star Platinum's elbow away. Say sorry? Why should I? Not like we're friends.
Again, Star Platinum jabbed an elbow into his side. If Star Platinum could pout, Jotaro had the strangest sensation that he would be doing it right now.
Yeah, I know what I said! Jotaro hissed, least of all to forget how embarrassed that particular exchange had gone. Don't matter if I thought we were friends. She clearly didn't think the same.
Except, did she? Strangers didn't go shopping in cities for a whole day, did they? Strangers didn't open up about all the weird things that they liked about their weapons, especially one so carefully built and maintained like Ruby's Crescent Rose.
Maybe she'd seen him as a friend at some point. Maybe... she'd even trusted him. If this were before, maybe she'd have told him what was wrong, given enough time.
But of course, he had to fuck everything up. He wasn't a mind reader. Not like he could've figured out what she wanted. But maybe he should've paid more attention to her instead of moping about his own problems.
Fine, he hissed. I'll say sorry. Not like it's going to do anything. What's done is done, and I'm still sending her back once this is over. God, hanging out with Kakyoin was never this complicated.
Star Platinum shook his head. She isn't Kakyoin, his look seemed to imply.
Well, how was I supposed to know? Not like I'm experienced with this whole "friends" thing. Jotaro's brows drew down. Why the hell am I talking to you, anyway? You're me, aren't you?
Star Platinum shrugged. Great, so even his Stand didn't know. Apparently being a Stand didn't give you insight into Stand power, but he'd already knew that. Jotaro pressed his head back up against the seat in front of him.
Who knew having friends was this much of a pain?
As the sun continued to slip below the horizon, and the shadows continued to stretch across his face, Jotaro glanced at Ruby again. Her face practically glowed in the dim evening light, in a way that he wasn't quite sure how to feel.
Because, and he hated how long it took him to notice, she was actually glowing. Her Aura lit up her skin, pulsing and beating as it took hits he couldn't see. Ruby hissed and whimpered in her sleep, thrashing against the seatbelt she'd strapped across her chest.
Oh yeah. He'd completely forgotten about that.
"Oi," Jotaro said, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders. "Wake up!"
But she didn't stir. Jotaro tried shaking her, but she continued to thrash against his grip. For a moment, he considered hitting her–maybe the pain would be enough to startle her awake. But she already hated him. Did he want to make that worse?
"Driver!" Jotaro called out, getting out of his seat. "Hey. We need to get off. My friend is–"
And then the bus flipped over with them still inside.
Spiders.
Oh gods, why did it have to be spiders?
Ruby tries to open her mouth–to take a breath, to scream, she can't remember. It doesn't matter. The spiders crawl inside all the same, their hairy legs over her teeth, her tongue, crawling down her throat.
They're not real, they're not real, they're not real, she tries to tell herself. She knows this. Jotaro confirmed it.
But that doesn't mean I'm going to let them crawl all over me!
Bringing all of her Aura down into her feet, Ruby stomps. Hard. She feels the crunch of the spiders beneath her, just before more spiders rush in to fill the gaps.
She stomps harder. The bodies of the spiders splatter on her boots. She feels them squish. She can feel their exoskeletons push up against her feet before the sea closes around her again.
It is like treading water, pushing the spiders down while more rush in to fill the gaps. It is a never-ending, desperate struggle for survival, barely clawing her way to the surface, trying not to rest, trying not to drown.
But this isn't water.
Ruby raises her foot and slams it down as hard as she can. Dozens of spiders liquify beneath her boots, forming a layer of crushed exoskeletons for her to push off. It only lasts for a moment, before the squirming, wriggling bodies of the other spiders come flooding in. But Ruby is fast. Fast enough to make that moment count.
Her toes touch the layer of crushed spiders. She pushes off.
And she is out.
"No, you're not!" the enemy Stand screams.
This time, Ruby is ready, Crescent Rose out the moment she sees sunlight. Ruby hefts her over her shoulder and fires, slicing through the air. If she is lucky, she can keep the Stand away.
Crescent Rose carves through the air effortlessly.
Maybe she won't be able to tell if she's hit him? No, in her fight with Jotaro, he had to block everything he threw her way. She could tell when she landed hits on his Stand, even before she knew what she was fighting.
She'd missed.
A hand grasps at her neck and hurls her back. The sea of spiders reach out to swallow her again.
No!
Her fall is fast. Ruby is faster. She shoots below her, shifting her direction over the writhing, hairy bodies below and sending her soaring over.
Ruby looks over her shoulder. She sees some of the spiders twitch. The enemy Stand is coming after her.
She needs to fight back, but...
How can she fight against an enemy she can't see?
I have to guess! she thinks. But what if I miss? I can't miss. I can't keep running forever. I have to land a hit! Is he above me? Is he to my right? Argh, I hate this! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!
She didn't have to guess when fighting real people and real Grimm. In a real fight, she could fly through the air, dodge through blows, zip in and out. She could do that. She could fight better than anyone else!
This isn't a fight. This is a guessing game!
Except... did it have to be?
Play the idiot. Not the cards, Jotaro had said. Those weren't the exact words, but it wasn't like they were wrong.
Surely this enemy Stand had stuff he liked to do. Just like Jotaro pulled his hat over his eyes whenever he didn't want to talk to her, if she could figure out what he wanted to do, she could narrow her options, couldn't she?
Ruby looks down. Obviously, he is trying to push her in. The last time he'd shoved her back, it had been by the throat. By the back of her throat.
He had slammed her down from above. Which meant–
In one swift movement, Ruby unclasps her cloak, spins in the air, and hurls it above her. The enemy Stand squawks. For a moment, she can see his hand pushing through the fabric.
Ruby shoots below her. Crescent Rose bucks up from the recoil and toward the enemy Stand. She sees a shaft swing up to block it.
Ruby pulls down and hooks Crescent Rose on the shaft. The enemy Stand swings to the right to dislodge her. Ruby lets him. Crescent Rose holds tight, and the momentum swings her around for a kick to the head.
She'd done it. She'd finally done it!
For the first time since Karachi, she was actually fighting a Stand!
This Stand had a weapon. It had arms, so it had to have a body. It wasn't a weird shape or size the Sun or the Lovers. This was a Stand she could actually fight. This was a Stand she could beat!
Her cloak flies back, and the Stand screeches, "Where do you think you're going?!"
Her cloak hurls off to the left. Her opponent is holding his weapon in his right. Firing Crescent Rose the other way, Ruby dodges a wild swing and jams the haft of her weapon into the Stand's... face? It has to have a face, right?
"Stop it!"
Crescent Rose fires down, splitting the sea of spiders with a high-powered blast of dust. Her blade swings up, then down. She meets no resistance. Maybe the Stand backed off? Ruby lets her blade drag her down. Past the spiders, boots on the sand. Ruby bends her knees, Crescent Rose on her shoulder, and leaps. She swings.
A giant strip of black tears away. Ruby blinks. Did... did she hit something?
"I said stop it!" the Stand screams, and the world takes a spin. Suddenly, up is down, left is right, and Ruby loses track of where she is.
Too late, she realizes that she cannot track the enemy Stand. Was it behind her? To her left? To her right? She throws Crescent Rose out to her right, hoping that she hits something.
A grinning mask glares at her from under her arms. She has missed.
Pain blossoms from her chest. The air rushes past her as she sails back. Her Aura shatters.
When Jotaro finally managed to pull himself out from the wreckage of the bus, the first thing he saw was Ruby, laid out on her side, blood running down the side of her face. Cursing, he reached out with Star Platinum dragging off the seat pinning her down.
"Oi," he said.
Groaning, Ruby peeled herself off the floor and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Huh? What–Oh. Hi."
As she pushed herself to her knees, Jotaro finally noticed the gash down her chest. "You're hurt," he said.
Ruby followed his gaze. "Oh, this? It's fine." Her chest flickered red, then her Aura dissipated. She blinked once, twice, then mumbled, "I'm out."
"Of Aura? When?" Jotaro narrowed his eyes. "Something happens to you when you fall asleep."
"Yeah. It's–" Ruby yawned. "–something with my dreams? I think?"
"Your dreams?" Out of the corner of his eye, a pair of men walked out of the car. One of them hefted a metal bat over his shoulder. Jotaro cursed. "They're doing this shit now? Whatever. We've gotta get out of here."
He held out a hand to help Ruby up. He didn't miss the way Ruby brushed it off and staggered past him. Star Platinum tore a hole out of the back of the bus, so no one would notice them leave. Outside, people had gathered to watch what had happened. In the distance, Jotaro could hear the emergency personnel make their way over. Stepping into a nearby alley, Jotaro watched as the people who had struck their bus look through the windows, exchange a nervous look, then vanish into the crowd.
"They've got balls," Jotaro muttered. "Not like criminals to attack so out in the open."
"You think... maybe whoever's paying them is getting mad?" Ruby asked. "You know. Like in the movies."
"Could be. If we were anyone else, we would've died several times over. Either way, doesn't look like we're gonna get out of here before we deal with this Stand." Then, Jotaro turned to Ruby. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"About... what?"
"The dreams." Hand on his face, Jotaro groaned. "We could've figured out this shit a lot earlier if you'd said something."
"I didn't think it was that bad..."
"You must've figured it out eventually. You're not an idiot."
"Well, maybe I wanted to do it myself, too!"
"That's stupid."
"You're stupid!"
Jotaro scowled. "This is pointless. You should've said something. I would've helped."
"Don't need it," Ruby huffed, turning away.
"What the hell do you mean, you don't need it? You've lost your Aura."
"Why do you care? Not like it's gonna hurt you."
"Still makes me worried. Can't you tell I care?"
"No."
Jotaro ground his teeth together. He opened his mouth to tell her off. Then stopped. "You... you can't?"
"Was I supposed to? You just get mad at me all the time for no reason!"
"It's not no reason."
"Well it looks like that to me."
"...Does it?"
Was this... was this why mom had never said anything back home? Was it because she really thought he didn't care?
No. No, she knew. She had to. Not like she would've needled him incessantly if she didn't.
Would she?
"I'm sorry," Jotaro blurted out.
Ruby looked caught off guard. Caught him off guard too. It wasn't like him to say stuff so randomly, but since it was already out, Jotaro closed his eyes and pressed on, before he could stop and think about what he was saying, because then he might stop and right now, that was the last thing he needed.
"I'm sorry for treating you like shit."
"Oh. Um..." Suddenly, all the bravery, all the bold anger on her face vanished. Ruby looked away and rubbed her arm. "I mean, it's not your fault. I probably would've acted like that if my mom was sick."
"No you wouldn't. I got... too caught up in my own shit. And I took it out on you. That's not fair."
"Yeah... but... I mean..." Biting her lip, Ruby asked, "Why are you saying this now?"
"Because it's not like you knew. About my shit, I mean. And I thought you did, which was why I got so pissed off, but... that's stupid. So I'm telling you now."
"I mean... I should've told you first."
"But you thought I'd call it stupid." Jotaro leaned up against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. "You couldn't know. It's not fair for you, especially when I didn't say shit."
"I guess."
"And... for the record..." Jotaro pulled his coat over himself, and drew his hat over his eyes. God, this was gonna be embarrassing to admit, but... if he was gonna get it all off his chest... "For the record, I think you're pretty cool."
"You... you think I'm cool?"
"Yeah. The stuff you do with your gun. All those fancy tricks. It's like stuff from an anime."
Ruby giggled. It was a stilted, awkward thing, but at this point, anything was good. "You think I look like an anime character?"
"Yeah." Jotaro frowned. "I mean that in a cool way. I don't know if you even like anime–"
"Oh no no no. Anime is cool. I... I like anime."
"Anime is cool," Jotaro said, nodding along. "And... I know I act annoyed whenever you talk a lot... but I don't hate it as much as I say I do."
"It really doesn't feel like it."
"I'm serious. The stuff you say is... it's interesting. I don't really like guns and shit. But you do, and I think that's cool. It's not boring. I guess... I guess that's why I assumed we were friends. Because being with you... it's a lot of stuff. But it's not boring."
"Oh." Ruby kicked the floor, adjusted her belt, then said, "But we're not..."
"But we're not..." Jotaro sighed. "I'm sorry about that. Not like we're actually gonna save the world or anything. And it's not like I'm gonna ask you to keep teaching me Aura stuff, so... you can go. After we're done with this, I mean."
"You mean... after we beat this Stand?"
"Yeah. That. I'm... I'm gonna need your help for this one, so..." Slowly, Jotaro extended his hand out to Ruby. "You in this, one last time?"
Ruby bit her lip. She glanced at his hand, then back at the road behind them. Was she really gonna reject him? After all the shit he'd said? Not like he'd blame her. But then she might get hurt, and it'd be his fault, and...
Jotaro shook his head. No. It's her choice. Whatever she chooses...
He grit his teeth. Please don't choose the other option.
Then, carefully, she reached out. Her fingers brushed his, almost like she was trying to think of something, one last reason to refuse, before she took his hand, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"One last fight," she said. "Then... we go our separate ways."
"That's it." Jotaro raised his shoulders, hoping that the collar of his jacket would hide the red creeping up his cheeks. With any luck, Ruby would be too awkward about this to notice.
Which, as his luck would have it, it took her a second too long to realize that she needed to let go. Brushing her hand against her skirt, Ruby coughed, glanced around, then turned to him and asked the question on his mind.
"So... now what?"
Honestly not super proud of this one–for the one where all the drama is supposed to be resolved, it feels like, had I properly planned this out, I could've resolved everything and pulled it all together in a much more satisfying way, but given how I've sort of backed myself into a corner, the compromises I've had to make work just fine.
I do feel like me taking so long to get these out does affect how I structure these chapters, which in turn affects how the pacing turns out–every time I return, I have to reorient myself with what the characters are doing, which means that I need to waste time nudging the story back to the plot before either cutting off the conflict to bleed into the next chapter, or resolving it there. It's something that I noticed, going back and rereading the story from start to finish, and one that, funny enough, does not seem to be as much of a problem when writing action sequences, probably because I usually begin those with a much more charted out sequences of back and forths. Definitely will try shaking it up a bit once Death 13 is over and done with, especially since that could make writing a bit more fun again, because oh boy I really feel like I need something to keep me from going insane at the end of the semester.
Also, sentient Star Platinum! Not everyone likes that particular headcanon, I know, but I'm going somewhere with this.
As always, thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a review/comment, helps motivate me to keep going! Until next time, take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!