Jotaro walked quickly, and even with an injured person slung over his shoulder, (Y/N) practically had to run after him on the way back to his house. One second the (H/C) was worried about being late to school and now he was completely ditching it all together. Though he hadn't really planned on being attacked by some weird stand thing while taking Jojo to the nurses office.
The Kujo residence was huge to say the least, with a beautiful pond filled with koi at the front of the expansive garden. The house had been built in a traditional Japanese style with sliding bamboo doors, tatami mats and a well kept zen garden. The place was spotless, looking like it had come straight from an architecture magazine's front page. But that was the way Holly Kujo liked it, nice, tidy and welcoming.
"Oh! Just now! My Jotaro must be thinking about me at school <3," she said, hugging a small picture of him to her chest, "It feels like our hearts are speaking to one another! What a special moment."
"No it's not," Jotaro replied, nonchalantly walking past his mother with a bleeding boy in tow and another classmate following close behind.
"J-Jotaro! What about school? A-And who's that?! He's covered in...in blood! Did you go and.."
"None of your business. Where's the old man..? Why does this house have to be so big? The tea room?"
"Y..yes I think he's in there with Mr. Avdol," she said cautiously peeking out of the door to watch her son walk towards the tea room.
"Hi Mrs. Kujo," (Y/N) tried to be somewhat polite, "Sorry for intruding."
"Intruding? Of course not! Any friend of Jotaro's is welcome," she seemed to light up at the idea her son had finally found some friends.
"Thank you Mrs. Kujo!"
"Hey!" Jotaro stopped just outside the door.
"Yes?"
"You're looking a little pale today. Are you okay?"
".....," she smiled widely, "You bet <3! I'm fine thank you!"
"Hmph."
"Bye Mrs. Kujo."
.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈*¨¨*:·.
Noriaki Kakyoin lied passed out on the floor of the tea room, his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath, he looked pained as if even in his sleep there was something he couldn't escape. His pink hair fell across his face, dried blood coating the entire right side, evidence of the fight that happened barely an hour ago.
Awkwardly standing in the corner was (Y/N), he felt very out of place barely knowing anyone in the room other than Jotaro who stood over the body. His grandfather, Joseph Joestar, sat cross legged on the floor, questioningly looking over the boy, eyebrows knitted together in concentration. And there was Avdol, Mr. Joestars friend he met in Egypt three years ago. He seemed to know a lot about these so called stand things, which were as he was told, a manifestation of ones will and soul. Only stand users could see other stands, and only stands could hurt other stands. So why could (Y/N) see them? He definitely wasn't a stand user that was for sure. Maybe he was just some sort of outlier.
"This is no good. It's too late. We can't save him. He'll die in a few days," Joestar said with a sigh.
"What!?" the (H/C) said, the boy wasn't even hurt that bad.
"Jotaro this isn't your fault look, do you know why? Why this man will obey DIO, even to kill? Let me show you!"
He moved Kakyoin's hair to reveal a small fleshy nub on his forehead. It seemed to dig into his skin, squirming slightly and making a faint chittering noise. It was alive. (Y/N) wanted to throw up, that thing in his head was alive like some sort of gross parasite taking over the boy's brain. He covered his mouth and looked sharply away.
"What is that?! That wriggling piece of flesh--it looks like a spider.." Jotaro looked almost as queasy.
"It is a "Flesh bud" made up of DIO's cells. It connects all the way to the poor boy's brain. This small bud of flesh poking through to the very core of his mind, affecting his personality!" Avdol explained his voice monotone and smooth.
"In other words, this flesh bud awakens a certain feeling far beyond his own control. Charisma! The sheer emotive power that drives a man to follow Hitler, put his faith in a corrupt cult, or swear his loyalty to DIO!" Joseph said, an audible hatred in his voice, "Once his control was in place, it was simple for DIO to use his charisma to order this boy to kill us."
"Surgically remove it, then," Jotaro said matter-of-factly.
"The bud won't die. The brain is a very delicate thing, so if he moves while we're trying to move it it'll hurt him."
"We can't just leave him to die! Especially when there's something we can do about it," (Y/N) protested, raising his voice to a level that made him uncomfortable.
"(Y/N)'s right," Avdol said, "Jojo let me tell you what happened to me. It was four months ago, I was in Egypt, in Cairo when I met DIO!
"I am a fortune teller by trade. It was a full moon, and I had come back to my shop in Khan Khalili when there at the top of my stairs was a man like none I'd ever seen. Eyes so cold it felt like he was invading my heart. Golden hair and skin so white it almost seemed transparent. But most of all, a bewitching sensuality--the kind you wouldn't expect from a man. I had already met Mr. Joestar, so I knew at once--this was DIO, who had risen from the Atlantic! Somehow his words calmed my heart. That was what scared me--the dangerous sweetness of his voice.
"I ran for my life. I didn't even think of fighting him. I was lucky. Had Mr. Joestar not warned me, had I not been by that window, falling out onto a maze of familiar streets. I too, like this boy, would have ended up his pawn, under the influence of a flesh bud. And my stand would be at his beck and call."
"And like the boy, you'd have died in a few years, your brain eaten," Joseph added, making the boys cringe in disgust slightly.
"Died? Let's not Jump the gun. Kakyoin's not," his stand materialised behind him, "Dead yet! I'll pull it out with my stand!"
He cupped Kakyoin's face, his stand reaching out to pull the bud out. The other boy ran forward to try and stop him.
"Did you not hear what they just said! You could kill him!"
"Jotaro!"
"Back off old man! And I'm not going to kill him (Y/N), I'm going to save him so I advise you back off too. I'll pull it out fast, with no damage to the brain! My stand moves accurately enough to catch a bullet in mid-flight."
"Don't! The flesh bud is alive--don't you see. There's a reason part of it is outside the skin! The same reason why even a skilled surgeon can't remove it!"
A long bit of flesh shot out of the boys head and suddenly dug itself into Jotaro's arm. But he didn't flinch not even for a second.
"The flesh shot a tentacle out! This is bad, let go of it Jojo," Avdol's normally calm demeaner faded as the thing snaked up his arm.
"It attempts to infiltrate the brain of anyone who dare tries to remove it!"
Kakyoin's eyes shot open, a confused look on his face as he stared up at the stand slowly pulling something out of his head.
"Don't move Kakyoin, one mistake and your brain in fried."
Very reassuring, (Y/N) thought to himself as he watched it happen from a safe distance. He wanted to do something, the tentacle was almost at his brain but he didn't want to break the concentration and end up with both of them dead, so he just watched, nerves on fire.
"Let go now Jojo! It's reached your face," Avdol tried to rush towards him but was stopped by Joseph.
"Hold on Avdol. He and his stand aren't shaking one bit! His moves are more accurate than a machine!"
With a final pull it was out, the stand yanked the tentacles off the bud, severing it violently. And as it fell to the floor a bright light zapped out of Mr. Joestar, frying the bud completely.
"Hamon Overdrive!"
With that everything went silent again, everyone watching as Kakyoin slowly stood up, holding his head and wincing slightly. Jotaro was already off, striding out of the door as if nothing happened. Whereas (Y/N) rushed straight to his side to help him get up and checking to make sure he was alright. He was still bleeding but there wasn't even a small scrape where the flesh bud had once been. What was that thing? And why was Jotaro acting like this was all so normal.
"Why did you risk your own life to save me?" he stared at the boys back, small tears starting to prick in his eyes.
"Well.. I don't really have an answer to that."
(Y/N) sat for a second, hand still supporting Kakyoin's back while wondering what he was supposed to do now. Go back to school? Go home and pretend nothing happened? It's not like he could just forget about it all and go on with his life. He was in this now and he wanted to help anyway he could.
"Mr. Joestar, " he started turning to the older man, "What should I do now? Should I just go home?"
"Hah! You're asking me boy? Do what you want, but I'm sure your parents will mind if their child doesn't come back from school today."
"Will Kakyoin be alright? Other than the flesh bud, he got pretty beat up back there," he said as if the boy wasn't sitting right beside him.
"He'll be fine (Y/N)," Avdol answered, "Now the buds out, he will recover as normal. But if you're really that concerned, you can always come back to check on him, I highly doubt Mrs. Kujo will mind."
"Heh," he blushed slightly, he barely knew this guy but he was someone still concerned over his health, "I will but I should get home now, thank you very much for explaining everything for me Mr. Joestar, Mr. Avdol. And I hope you get well soon Kakyoin."
He took one last glance of the room before nodding his head politely and stepping out onto the patio. Crossing to the front of the house he saw Mrs. Kujo hanging up washing while listening to music from a record player in another room.
"Goodbye Mrs. Kujo, thank you for having me round!"
"Oh of course sweetheart, and call me Holly. Your welcome around at anytime!"
"Thank you Holly," he smiled, she was the exact opposite of her son but deep down he knew that Jotaro was more of a softie than he'd like to admit.
.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈*¨¨*:·.
The next day he woke up early to go and visit Kakyoin before class started and hopefully talk more to Jotaro, even maybe walk to school with him. And who wouldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to the lovely Holly. Reaching the gate he spotted Jotaro standing outside of his house, shaking his head slightly.
"You good?"
"My mom's not come to humiliate me, I wonder what she's doing," he then turned to look at the (E/C) eyed boy, "Wait what are you doing here?"
"Well your house in on the way to the school and I thought I might drop by to check on Kakyoin," he rubbed the back of the head, trying not to seem too embarssed.
"If I thought nothing better, I would say your only here to talk to me. I've seen you staring at me in class before."
"Heh," he sweat dropped, he's been caught and by the man himself, "Yeah, ha ha. Imagine that."
"Hmph."
The sound of shouting suddenly came from the kitchen, Jotaro whipped his head in it's direction and his expression instantly turned sour. (Y/N) tried to see what was going on, only for the other boy to quickly run to where the sound was coming from.
"Wait!" damn his short legs and overall lack of athleticness.
Avdol was on the floor, cradling Holly as a weird array of brambles burst out of her back. Could that be her stand? Joseph now stood in the door next to Jotaro with (Y/N) being almost blocked out, he could still see what was going on for the most part and she did not look too good.
"Holly?"
"Mrs. Kujo! Is she okay!"
"Mr. Joestar.. Jojo," Avdol said, a little quieter than normal.
Sensing the overall vibe in the room, he decided it was probably a good idea to back off. As concerned as he was this was a family thing and he didn't want to get in the way or be in the general vicinity of Jotaro if something bad did happen.
"I..I've always. I've always been afraid this would happen and it did. My girl, she's gotten a stand," Joseph grabbed Jojo's coat, gripping it with white knuckles, "I knew she didn't have the power to resist. I knew she didn't have the strength to deny the power from DIO's soul."
"Tell me what we can do!" he tore Joseph's hand off him and turned towards Avdol for answers.
"O-ohh, oh," joseph hugged his daughter to his chest, "There's only one thing. We must find DIO. We must kill DIO and break the curse! But my pictures don't ever show us where he is!"
"Pictures?"
"Yes, Mr. Joestar's stand has the ability to photograph faraway visions," Avdol explained, "He is always hiding in the darkness. The background is always dark! If only we knew where he was.. We used every tool known machines, computers but to no avail."
"Hey. Why didn't you tell me? Maybe I might be able.. To figure out where he is!" Star Platinum rose out at took the photo, staring intensely as if it was looking for something, "It found something behind DIO! Let's have it sketch what it sees. My stand can analyse and move accurately enough to remove a needle from the brain and catch bullets."
Before (Y/N) could think about the whole logistics of stands and whether they should be called it or be referred to by pronouns, the stand started quickly sketching away on a piece of scrap paper. In seconds a highly detailed picture of a fly was drawn, practically impossible to be derived from just one blurry photograph but I guess that was just it's power.
"A fly! A fly was in the shot! Wait a second, I know this one!" Avdol brought a book out of nowhere and flipped to the page of the Nile teste fly," Egypt! He's in Egypt! And he must be in the Aswan region."
"So he's in Egypt after all, when do we leave," Kakyoin emerged looking unharmed apart from the bandage wrapped around his head, "I want to join you."
"Leave!? Wait you're all gonna go to Egypt?" (Y/N) asked.
"Kakyoin."
"It was three months ago that he put that flesh bud into my brain! I ran into DIO while I was on vacation with my family near the Nile in Egypt. It would seem he does not wish to leave Egypt," he said a sad look in his eyes.
"Why would you want to come with us?" Jotaro questioned.
"Who can say? I can't really say I know the answer to that myself. Let's just say you opened my eyes that's all."
The exchange a silent look for a second leaving the other boy awkwardly standing between them, it wasn't like he was in the way at all, their eyes easily connected over his head as if he wasn't even there.
Avdol broke the silence, "Jojo. I am a fortune-teller, allow me to give your stand it's name. Tarot, the cards of fate! Draw one card but do not look at it! It will tell us your destiny, along with the ability of your stand!"
He took a card from the pile, showing it to Avdol.
"Your card! It's the star! Your stand will be named "Star Platinum". And of course (Y/N) as you can see our stands it's more than likely yours will present itself too! When it does I will get you to also draw a card to name your stand."
"Wait me? A stand? I don't think I have one," he said thinking about the immense power he had seen highly doubting that could be him too.
"It's the only logical explanation," Jotaro answered, "Why would you be able to see them if you didn't have one yourself."
"In that case, it's probably best if you come with us. Gaining a stand can be hard, but with the right training very powerful. We'll need all the help we can get," Joseph said.
"Of course you don't have to come, it will be dangerous," Kakyoin added, "I'm sure Mrs. Holly would be happy to have someone by her side while we're in Egypt."
He thought about it for a second. He could just stay home, safe, going to school as usual pretending it never happened and forget all about stands and their users. Or he could go on a free holiday with Jotaro and Kakyoin. That sounded a lot better than school and he was sure it wouldn't be too dangerous. Right?
"No, I'll come with you. I want to help! And if I do have a stand, I want to know how to use it to do something good," he said, a sense of determination not going unnoticed to the others.
.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈*¨¨*:·.
A/N almost deleted his entire thing after i finished it but i didn't thank god. when do you think your characters stand should be introduced? I might even pull out one of tarot cards to help decide its powers! hope you liked it anyway <3