The Stars That Guide Us ~ A Jotakak x OC fanfiction

♥ Chapter 31 ♥

I blinked a couple of times, trying to understand what I had just heard. "What do you mean?" I asked the red-haired Stand.

Scarlet Phantom turned back round to face me. "I was already your Stand. The Stand Arrow is what sped up the process of my manifestation. Not only that though, but it also made me stronger than what I was supposed to be."

I heard shuffling behind me, and Nori came to stand beside me. "Wait, so when Hiroko said she believed me about Hierophant Green when we were kids, she actually saw him?" He asked.

"That's right." Scarlet Phantom nodded.

"But I swear I imagined him! There's no way that can be true!" I protested.

"Nori, what's wrong? Why are you sitting out here on your own?" I asked as I walked towards my best friend that was hunched over on the porch to his house. The small red-haired boy looked up at me. His purple eyes were red raw, and his cheeks were stained with tears. "Nori?" I sat down beside him on the porch and brought my knees up to my chest.

"No one understands me, Hiroko. I try to make friends, but all the other kids say that they don't want to play with me because I'm weird." The young boy sobbed.

I scooted closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I understand you, Nori. You're my best friend and always will be," I reassured him.

Nori sniffled as he tried to stop crying. "N-no you don't. You're not like me at all." He dug his head into his arms, his sobs getting louder again.

"What do you mean I'm not like you?" I asked. "We have grown up together, we're both the same age, except you're only a few months older than me," I added.

The red-haired boy lifted his head up from his arms and looked at me. "But you can't see my green friend..." He dully pointed out.

"Yeah I can. He's right there." I pointed over the boy's shoulder to a green humanoid child standing behind him.

Nori's eyes widened and shone with hope. "You can actually see him?"

I hummed in agreement with a nod.

"Did you hear that, Hierophant? She can actually see you!" The red-haired boy cheered, and the green humanoid child clapped happily in response.

"Hey, Nori. I also have a friend too, but she's red," I announced.

Nori looked back at me with wide eyes. "You do?"

"Yup!" I nodded and added, "Her name's Scarlet Phantom, but I call her Scarlet, or Scar for short. Why don't you say hi?" I turned to face Scarlet Phantom who was standing behind me with the hood of her red cloak pulled over her head. I looked back at Nori who raised a confused brow as he looked around.

"I can't see her," he pointed out.

"Oh... Maybe she's only letting me see her. I guess she's just a bit shy." I frowned and glanced back at Scarlet Phantom that she had now disappeared.

How could I see Nori's friend, but he couldn't see mine? I guess I only imagined that I saw his green friend.

"But if I could see you and Hierophant Green, how come Nori couldn't see you?" I asked her.

"Like I said, I hadn't fully manifested, and you so happened to have an imaginary friend that looked like me and was called Scarlet Phantom. I guess that's how I got my appearance." Scarlet Phantom shrugged.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "Okay, but what about the Stand Arrow part? You said it sped up the process of your manifestation, so were you going to fully manifest without the power of this Stand Arrow?" I asked as I looked back at her.