The Ludicrous Escapade Pt.2

After the Rain

"What are you doing here?" You asked the British Shorthair cat lying on your welcome mat. It started to walk through your partially open door but you scooped it up instead. It let out a low purr, snuggling into your hold. "Hey Santana, what do you think of taking in a cat?" Scratching under its neck you noticed a quarter sized hole there. Was it shot by an arrow?

The Pillar Man was laying in the grass of your front yard. The shade created by the apple tree sapling was barely enough to cover his eyes. Not like it mattered much, dark clouds were quickly approaching. "No. We don't need a new pet. Why would you want to replace Iggy anyway?" He said while petting the sleeping dog, "How about you ask the lady across the street if she wants it. She already has one cat, doesn't she?"

"Santana, you know I didn't mean it like that, but okay. I'll go see if she want this random cat." As you crossed the street Hayato was once again leaving for school. He looked like he wanted to talk to you about something, but didn't. The cat decided to crawl its way onto your head, looking down on the world.

Shinobu opened the door, "Hi, (Y/N)." Her husband was right behind her, putting his shoes on before he went to work. "Please don't tell me that you're canceling for today."

You pointed to the feline on your head, "I'm just here to ask if you wanted another cat. You like them, right? I'm sure it might be fine with continuing its life in the wild, but are you interested?"

"It is rather adorable." She reaches out to grab it only for the cat to start hissing and to try and swipe its claws at her. She frowned, "I don't think it likes me, or maybe it just likes you better." You figured it might have also been a bad idea to give her a possible animal Stand user.

You took the cat off your head and it pleaded with its yellow eyes for you to let it stay with you. When it realized you weren't, it leaped back onto the ground and strutted away. It was dissatisfied with your lack of worship. But while it was in the middle of the street, you noticed a car approaching at way over the designated speed limit. Not wanting the cat to die you started run towards it, only to be yanked back from harm's way.

There was a sickening crunch as the back half of the cat was crushed beneath a wheel. Its innards were splayed out along the asphalt. The driver didn't even slow down afterwards, not caring.

"You should be more careful. The car might have hit you." Kosaku Kawajiri had been the one to pull you back. Even if you were still shocked about the scene in front of you, you were somewhat surprised that he of all people had stopped you from going after the cat. Seeing that his wife was tearing up and looked ready to faint from what she had just witnessed, he let go of you to be at her side. For him, it was quite begrudgingly, not that you could know that, "Don't worry, I'll bury the cat." But first he helped Shinobu calm down a bit.

Then, crouched next to the dead cat in the middle of the road, was Santana. He looked sad. "I should have let you keep the cat..."

"Hey, it's not your fault the cat jumped into the street." You gave him a pat on the head as you tried to drag him out of the road. You started to feel the first few droplets of water hitting your skin falling from the grey sky. Perhaps it was time to go inside.

From the living room window you watched at Kosaku dug a hole in his front yard. He put the cat's corpse in later, staying true to his word. He left for work right after he was done.

You and Kars tried to cheer Santana by playing some games for a few hours, but the gloomy weather didn't seem to help. "Hey, do you want to babysit Hayato with me?"

"No. I don't even know the small human that well. He'd probably just be scared of me." The cards in his hand scattered across the floor as he looked outside again. He pressed his face up against the glass, smudging it a bit. The sky had started to clear up, "I-Is that a rainbow?!"

"Oh wow. Yeah it is a rainbow. The rain sure cleared up faster than I thought."

While Santana was preoccupied, Kars led you over to your room. He picked up Wamuu's lip ring from the top of your dresser. "Perhaps now is a good time to switch over to him for a bit. He always had a better connection with Santana than with me. I know you hate to admit it as much as author-chan and I do, but he's not quite as useful as I am. But when we're away from battle, there's no reason he can't show up."

"Yeah, that's... true. And sure, that's a great idea Kars. So I guess... um... goodbye for now." You hugged the ultimate being, honestly surprising him. While your face was temporarily buried in his chest, he made quick work of patching up the fourth wall.

It was almost strange to see the blonde Pillar Man again, a full ten years since he had been temporarily killed again by Dio. He didn't waste any time though, and swept you off your feet.

"It's wonderful to see you again, (Y/N)!" He was positively beaming, "I heard that Santana can be in the sunlight now, that's good for him."

"Wamuu, I've heard this alluded to in the past, but can you really speak to Kars and Dio?"

His smile started to fade, "Yes. When you don't have your Stand out, the three of us are stuck in this almost pitch black room that seems to stretch on forever. It's pretty empty, except for a few chairs."

"Oh?"

"From what I've seen, most of the chairs are blank, only three of them have names. Dio, Kars, and I each have our own. When Kars' hat was ripped up, his chair split apart, too. But we can all talk to each other as long as we're in the room of void and emptiness. We disappear from the room when brought out as your Stand. As long as you're not stopping us, the person whose item is in your Stand just needs to sit in their chair to leave."

"I see." You mouth curved into a frown, "I was hoping your... living conditions... would be better than that. And honestly that sounds rather terrible. Why haven't told me about this sooner?"

"Lord Kars said it would make you feel bad about something you can't control, so he made me promise not to say anything. Being alone in space was far worse for him, so he seems fine with it. I don't mind much either, and I suppose I've broken that promise. I didn't really have to stay there when it was just me, so I never thought much of it then. The vampire absolutely hated it, especially when Kars and he had fairly terrible fights." He kissed your forehead before setting Kars' hat aside, "But please, do not worry about it."

"I'll try." Your arms hung loosely around his neck as he took a look around your house for the first time since the journey through Egypt.

Santana was still admiring the rainbow as you made your way back into the living room. Wamuu placed a hand on the younger Pillar Man's head, "You're doing well, I see."

He was shocked at first when he barely turned his head to see the wind master himself. "Th-Thank you... Did you switch places with Kars?"

"Indeed I did." Wamuu started to look out the window too, "But the light truly is beautiful, is it not?"

Santana smiled fondly, "Yeah. It is."

When you met up with Hayato to babysit him, he seemed almost relieved. He took a seat at the dining room table, still looking like he had something he wanted to say.

You opened Shinobu's fridge, "For dinner, is there something I'm supposed to warm up?"

Hayato shook his head as he did his homework, "No. My... Dad..." He said it as though something was wrong with the word, "he makes dinner now when he comes home from work."

You closed the fridge, "Oh." The lead of his pencil snapped and he let out frustrated sigh. You walked back over to him, concerned, "Are you okay?"

"(Y/N)..." He paused, looking up at you, "Was I born to parents that actually love each other?"

You took a seat next to him, feeling a tad uncomfortable, "What brought up this question?"

"It's just... my parents always seemed to avoid each other like the plague. But now... my mom seems happier. I know I should be glad that's the case, but I can't help but feel like it's wrong somehow."

If it was just a normal kid, you might have just brushed it aside. But Hayato was a smart an observant child. And you started to think that maybe, just maybe your neighbor had been replaced with Yoshikage.