JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Thin Air

Chapter Three: A Boy and a Stranger (Part I)

Around noon, March 10

Shizuka and Monica walked west through the fields, 50 acres of well-manicured grass surrounding the buildings which made up the Lennon Institute.

"One of the most elite schools in the world with a 150 year history, with 2,000 students from just about everywhere, and you'd think they'd actually have a decent cafeteria, huh, Chiju- no, sorry, I meant Jizu-

"I mean... I've been eating from there for four years now. If it's food, it's food," she replied as she continued to walk, away from the the actual pathway to the buildings which had been under renovation for some time. "I just need to worry about functioning properly, not how an item tastes. Also, I told you to call me Jojo since you have such a hard time saying my name."

"Right, right... Jojo. I suppose you're not wrong, but," Monica said, then fixing her attention to the box in her hands. "Cavolo, oh, cavolo!" Man, oh, man! she said, electrified. "I had no idea there was an authentic Sicilian pizza shop so close by. It sure does remind me of home!"

"It was a twenty minute walk away," Shizuka said wearily. "Excluding the distance between the Girls' Residence and the first road out of here."

A brief moment later, Monica noticed two figures traveling in the opposite direction as she and Shizuka, 30 or 40 metres ahead of them, gradually approaching them faster. No one else should have been in the fields, as the two girls had actually sneaked out of their respective classes to buy lunch.

"Hey Jojo, who's that guy over there? Even from here, I can tell he's really tall and buff."

"That guy?" Shizuka said as she squinted her eyes to get a better look. The man wore brown corduroy pants and white sneakers. He wore a rugby jersey with the school's coat of arms on its left breast under a green bomber jacket. His medium-length, auburn, unruly hair whipped around in the wind.

 "That's gotta be Keith Clapton. He's on the school rugby team. They've won national championships for four years in a row. If there's one good thing at this school, it's their rugby team."

"Ah, alright. You know him?"

"Barely. We're in the same year and have had a few classes together, but I've never bothered talking to most of my classmates. All I know about him is that he's English and that he's a couple months older than me."

"Interesting. What about that guy beside him?"

Shizuka's eyes darted to the other man. He was probably a foot shorter than Clapton, who stood at a lofty height of six feet and seven inches. The man looked middle aged yet retained all his black hair, although his hairline had receded quite a bit.  It was long and fell down to his shoulders and had  a thin, pencil mustache. He wore a red sleeveless shirt, despite the cool spring temperatures; and wore cargo shorts. He wore sandals with grey socks. 

"Never seen him before. Probably Clapton's coach, or maybe a relative."

Unnoticed by the two girls due to them discussing Shizuka's observations while walking at a steady pace, the two men caught up to them, with the older one being mere inches away from.

"What the hell?" cried Monica, as she noticed something touch her bare stomach. She looked down fast enough to see the older man's hand quickly draw back, while he and Clapton changed course and headed for the woodland immediately north of the Lennon Institutes' fields, this time sprinting.

"Come back here, creep!" she yelled, shoving the pizza box into Shizuka's arms before turning to run after Clapton and the other man. It took Shizuka a moment to realize what had happened, before deciding to chase after Monica.