You all leave the area, figuring out how to withdraw your stand. It makes a nice 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 sound, like a crystal being sharpened by a knife. Jotaro strays from the group, leaving just you and Josuke alone together once again.
Walking back into town side-by-side, your classmate turns his head to look at one of the buildings that sit to the left of you. It's almost too bright out for you to be able to read, but you can eventually make out what it says by squinting your eyes a bit.
"Ice cream..?" You tilt your head to the side before returning your focus to Josuke, who has a huge smile on his face.
"Come on! We're already right here anyways, this can be likee.." his sentence trails off, hesitating, but quickly decides that he's just gonna flat out say it. "..a little date? I-I mean- a real one this time?" Josuke seems extremely nervous, his happy demeanor quickly fading.
"𝘋𝘪𝘥- 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?" You think to yourself, immediately being able to feel your heart continuously SLAM against your chest, enough to be able to hear it in your own head. You don't think you've ever been this flustered in your life, all over one simple question.
You don't know how to respond. You WANT to say yes, but no words are able to come out of your mouth at first. Your face feels hotter than it's ever been.. your vision gets a little blurry, but you're able to blink hard and long a few times, shaking your head, to kind of.. 'get with it' again. "Y-YES!SURE!OKAY!" .... That is NOT how you wanted your response to sound.
Josuke laughs a bit, that grin returning, secretly admiring how cute you're actually being right now. He grabs your wrist and begins running towards the door, almost causing you to trip over your own feet a few times. Luckily, you both make it inside perfectly fine, despite you almost faceplanting onto the asphalt that is the road you were previously standing on. The door has a bell on the top of it, ringing once it was opened as a welcoming jingle. The walls have pink and white striped walls, and the indoor tables are metal, painted green, along with the chairs.
That was a bit sudden-
While trying to catch your breath a bit, Jojo releases his grip to walk up to the counter and order, getting two basic vanilla cones. One for each of you. The man working the register seemed nice enough, wearing a plain grey t-shirt with a green apron over it, and normal, everyday jeans. He glances over at you from where you're now sitting down on one of the tables before darting his eyes away.
Was he hoping you wouldn't notice?
Oh well.
Josuke turns around and hands you your ice cream before sitting down in the chair in front of you, not really saying anything. Your mind is still set on the guy running the shop, but decide to push it aside. You can barely focus on eating when he's right there, looking as adorable as ever.. and just when you thought your heartrate was returning to normal, it speeds up again-
He perks up a bit, still smiling "It's nice to relax for once! Right, (Y/N)? We don't even have to worry about schoolwork! Well- that's mostly because I gave up on mine, but.."
You nod, finally taking your very first lick of ice cream before responding. "Mhm.." Your tone of voice doesn't sound very much like normal.
Josuke, of course, notices. "You okay?" He's obviously concerned for you, but at the same time, questioning if he even did the right thing. Currently, he honestly thinks that his ides to come here might not have been the best now.. all he wanted was to make you happy.
You stay silent, standing up and walking over to the nearest trash can to throw away pretty much all of your dessert. For some reason, you just don't feel like eating anymore.
Josuke is visibly upset. He doesn't really care about the money wasted. What he DOES care about is your well-being. He knows something is wrong.. but he doesn't really know how to approach the situation. Ask again? Act like he doesn't notice you acting somewhat off? No, that wouldn't be right. "(Y/N).. are you okay..?" His voice cracks with sadness, almost feeling bad for repeating his question. He doesn't want to force you to answer, but he also can't just sit here and see you like this. His throat gets tight, thinking maybe he did something wrong. Josuke is.. holding back tears..
"...." You stay standing, staring down at him for a moment before speaking up. "..I don't like the vibes of this place. I don't feel safe here." Amethyst is now standing behind you, which is short-lived, since it hops up onto the table and starts licking Josuke's ice cream instead. It doesn't seem to sense anything wrong with anyone here, so what's the big deal?
Josuke sets his dessert down on the table, surrendering his cone to the cat, keeping eye-contact with you instead. You can still tell that there's worry in his eyes. He just wanted this to be a nice time.. and honestly, you really did too. "Hey, don't worry. There's nothing here, and even if there was, you know that i'm here with you!" He sighs, thinking he should've worded that differently or something. "But if you really want to go," He stands up. "we can."
You nod, feeling bad about this whole situation.
Josuke offers a hand out for you to hold so you can both leave together, but before you can even take a single step, a short, familiar-looking student bursts through the door, looking frantic.
Koichi.
"J-JOSUKE! COME QUICK! SOMETHING'S WRONG!" The kid in all green yelled, his eyes switching between looking at you and Jojo.
Everyone else in the parlor looks concerned. Is there really a problem? Or does this kid just have a problem? No one really cared to check or ask any questions, and before you know it, you, along with the other two males, are now out of the building, standing outside in the road like before. Koichi looks left to right over and over again, sighing. "I swear he was out here!"
"WHO?" You and Josuke both say in unison, still unaware of what's even going on.
"Some dude wearing an apron! He was a stand user! He was attacking me! I was using Echoes ACT3 to try an-"
"Slow down, Koichi." Josuke takes a step towards his friend and puts a hand on his shoulder.
You stay standing still and watch. "𝘈 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯..?" You think, both worry and fear rushing over you. It can't be. How did he leave the shop without you seeing? Or anyone, for that matter? You could've sworn the guy was standing behind the counter just doing his job the whole time, so why? How? "I-I think he means the ice cream man-" Your sentence is short-lived, considering you realize how stupid that really sounds out loud. But it does match the given description..
No one heard you.
You stay staring down at your feet, waiting for the two males to be done talking among themselves. You honestly feel useless right now. Irrelevant. You decide you want that to change. "Guys, I really think-" You tilt your head up to talk with the two, but see that only Josuke is there.. looking just as confused as you are. "Huh? Did Koichi go somewhere, or-"
Jojo turns to look at you in the eyes, taking a step closer and pulling out a comb. Just a typical-any-old-comb. It's made of plastic, and entirely pink. You remember him having all kinds of brushes when he was in his room, and you definitely know how important his hair is to him, so this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. "..You know, (Y/N), maybe we should just give this whole thing up."
Confused by his sudden change of mind, you question him. "What? But I thought we were worrying about possibly being attacked?"
Josuke shakes his head violently. "NONONONONONONONONONONOOOOO! No more worrying, my dear~! Let's just go back inside, okaay?" He gives you that same smile you're used to, but something is just.. off.
"You're acting weird.."
He runs the comb through his pompadour once more, still slowly walking towards you. Josuke is now chest to chest with you, and you're too terrified to move. Something is definately wrong and you know it. "What do you mean, (Y/N)~? Weird~? WOULD YOU CALL THIS. WEIRD?" He runs his finger across the smooth plastic of the comb, seemingly having somewhat of a hidden switch. A pocket knife in disguise.
"J-JOSUKE, WAI-" You don't have any time to react. Your sentence is cut off by him jabbing the blade into your skin, just under your chin. This also pierces your tongue in the process.
You can't scream.
You can only cry.
You send out your stand behind the male, teleporting to that exact spot.
You're so hurt.
Both your feelings, and your physical body are hurt. How.. HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO YOU?
You try to speak, but no words come out. Amethyst summons it's rings, and as much as you don't want to, you make them all fly towards Josuke at once. Spinning with spikes.
They all miss. There's nothing there. Josuke.. is gone.
The rings hit the building directly in front of you instead.
Your mouth is still gushing blood. Was it a hallucination? No.. he hurt you. HE did this to you..
You hear someone clapping slowly from behind you. And an unfamiliar voice. "Well, well!"
You sharply turn around, wincing in pain from where you were stabbed. Sure enough, it's just who you suspected. That worker. "Are you REALLY that slow? Have you not pieced it together yet?"
You want to fall to your knees. Where's Josuke? Where's Koichi?
"I bet you're wondering where your little friends are, hm~? Well let me give you a little HINT. They're still in the store!" The man laughs maniacally, clasping his hands together.
You're still so confused..
"Is THAT really your stand, (Y/N)? HOW PATHETIC- A CAT? REEEAAALLLYYY?"
You want to throw some kind of insult, or prove him wrong, but you can't speak. Your vision is starting to blur by the second with how much blood you're losing. You need to figure out what's going on.
Your stand gets defensive, but can't really act on it's own in means of fighting. Plus, it's a support. Trying to attack again would be pretty much useless and you know that.
You're defenseless, and out of options. That's when you see it. His stand. It looks like it's made of cigarette smoke, and definitely smells like it, too. It's humanoid, with no distinct facial features. Completely mute other than the slight puff noise it makes whenever it blows more smoke from where it's mouth would be, as if it actually had a cigarette. It's just the shape of a man skinnier than it's user, floating beside the shop worker.
Smoke. That's it.. it must've been some kind of illusion- That's the only explanation, the only way your friends could actually still be in there, even though you just saw 'them' seconds ago. That.. that WASN'T JOSUKE- AND NEITHER WAS THE KOICHI THAT LURED YOU OUT HERE-
Jotaro would probably be proud of you for your quick thinking, but will you even ever be able to recover to tell the tale? Obviously you can't be healed by Jojo, and you can't call out for help.. so what? What should you do?! What options even are there?!
"You seem to have alot on your mind, (Y/N).." The man circles around you slowly, arms behind his back, his stand mimicking just that, staying and floating behind him. "My stand is the one they call 'Cigarette Daydreams'. It can shape itself to look like anyone from someone's memories that breathes even a PARTICLE of it in! I sent it through the vents of the place when I saw you with that RAT.." He scoffs. "I'm sure he'll be pleased with me once i'm done with you. Such a shame that you fell for my trick oh-so-easily.. it almost feels like a dream, does it not? Except it's day! Get it? GET IT?" The man puts the same, now bloody knife to your throat, pressing it's blade against your skin. "Now.. your little kitty cat isn't gonna do SHIT to me, okay? Even if you wanted to, you're too much of a PUSSY to even leave a SCRATCH on me!" He laughs once again.
Terrified. You're terrified. Even if you did try to attack, just like he said, not only would it not do much, but he'd slit your throat immediately! God.. is there really no solution? Just like that? You're done for? Already..?
You hate how he called Josuke a rat. You really want to give him a piece of his mind, but you can't..
He opens his mouth, ready to say something else to you, but gets pulled to the ground out of no where. It's not until he's fully down that you can see what happened.
Koichi.
He was standing behind you both for long enough to at least use his stand and crush the dude with gravity and force. Echoes ACT3 isn't anything to mess with.
Already out of commission. The crack from his skull and bones breaking into a million pieces can be heard, as blood splatters from the skin that's just been broken open all over his body.
You watch in absolute horror.
While you're happy that the guy is dead, but so soon? Jesus. You're lucky the short guy is on YOUR side.
He rushes over to you, putting his hand under your chin to put pressure on your wound, and stop most the bleeding. Koichi calls out something, but all you hear is ringing in your ears.. and then you collapse again. Not the first time this has happened, and it's really only been a day since the last.
-------------------------
You wake up still on the ground. Who knows how much time has passed. Josuke and Crazy Diamond's hands can be seen looming over your face, healing your wounds.
With just a glance over, you can still see the bloody, destroyed body. You decide not to think about it too much.
Jojo puts one hand below you, propping you up into a sitting position. Even though you're all better and able to speak now, you still can't. You don't want to. You feel like an idiot for falling for such a thing, then not doing anything about it and letting it end so quickly by having someone else save you.
Josuke gives you a soft smile, holding out a purple flower with his free hand, still using the other to make sure you don't fall over. "I thought you'd like this.. and it made me think, what about a nickname for you?" He doesn't seem mad or upset with you at all, just happy he was able to get to you in time.
You tilt your head slightly, feeling undeserving, but still curious about what he had in mind.
"Flower..! What do you say..?"
You smile widely- you don't know what to say, even still- but you love it..
It's nice, and soft.
It feels like.. you.
You nod, taking the plant by the stem, blushing once again. "Thank you, Josuke.."
"Of course, Flower. I love you.." He's Still noticeably nervous just being within your presence.
How cute. You can't believe he actually just said those words to you.. <3
(Word Count: 2659)