🌠Jotaro🌠
(Name) and I stared at the bud with disgust. It was all flesh pink and veiny, and it squirmed in place as it pulsed from sucking on its host.
"Ugh, sick!" (Name) gagged, "it looks like a spider or a piece of flesh."
"That's it? Is that what made him swear his allegiance to Dio?" I asked, that gave Avdol to answer my questions.
"Yes. It's a flesh bud formed from Dio's cells. It connects directly to the boy's brain." Then he proceeded to explain its purpose in more detail. "Flesh buds are small but they have the power to influence a person's thoughts and actions."
"Simply put, that bud stirs him and awakens a certain feeling far beyond his control." Jiji crossed his arms, "Charisma! The sheer emotive power that drives a soldier to follow a dictator or a believer to put his faith in a corrupt cult. This young man revered Dio, and that's why he swore allegiance to him!"
"So this Dio knows how to use the power of charisma.." (name) tapped her chin. "If it was that easy to take advantage of a teenager, I worry about other people who are also a part of his plot, probably people he's gained allegiances from without the need a flesh bud."
"Very likely, young lady." Jiji nodded, "he ordered Kakyoin here to kill us, and he won't stop until he has."
"So remove the bud." I suggested but my grandfather turned it down.
"No. The brain is very delicate. If he even twitches while we extract it, it could cause brain damage."
I stared at the unconscious Kakyoin and pondered. I thought surely there had to be a way to save him without him damaging the brain. We needed him to talk so we could track this Dio bastard down. I just sighed, this was already giving me a headache. Good grief.
"JoJo.." Avdol spoke to me and shifted my attention to him. "I need to tell you something. Four months ago, while I was still there in Cairo.. I encountered Dio."
The Egyptian told us about his first meeting with him. How Dio was terrifying by using sweet, calming words. How Avdol was able to run before being taken into control. If he had stayed still any longer, he could've also turned into an enemy.
"You would have died a few years later, with your brain completely devoured." Jiji added.
And (name) covered her mouth, "that's awful.."
"Hang on," I interrupted, "Kakyoin may not be in great shape, but he's not dead yet! I'll pull that thing out with my stand." I said, summoning my spirit.
The two men and (name) gasped at what I was about to do and urged me to stop, but I told them to back off.
"I can remove it without damaging his brain. If my stand has the precision to catch a speeding bullet at point blank, it can do this."
"Jotaro, that flesh bud is alive, don't you see?! Part of that thing lives outside of the body for a reason! Even a skilled surgeon can't remove it without causing serious damage!"
Still, despite my grandfather's warnings, I ordered my stand to pinch the parasite but one of its tentacles whipped out and struck into my hand.
"Shit."
"Ahh! Oh my God!" (Name) yelped. "It just sunk itself into his hand! Forget it, you have to let it go, Kujo!"
"Exactly! It can infiltrate anyone's brain who dared try to remove it!"
Again I ignored their attempts to call me off. I just grunted and sat through the itchy pain crawling beneath my skin. Kakyoin then opened his eyes, probably from feeling the disturbance on his forehead.
"Why.. are you-"
"I would try not to move," I cut him off, "if I mess up, your brain is fried."
I pulled on the bud slowly while remaining a strong pinch on it. The bud also fought back as it made its way past my arm and reaching my neck. Still, I remained calm. Avdol grew panicked as he watched but Jiji was able to hold him back from getting close to me and letting me concentrate. Just a little more. The tentacle reached my face and got closer to my temple, but in the nick of time I was finally able to pull the flesh bud out completely. My stand then yanked it away from me too and Jiji turned it into dust, with some of his old timey power.
"He did it!" (Name) cheered. "Dude, that was so cool!" Then, she turned to Kakyoin, "oh- damn, hey, are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah..I'm okay. Who are you?"
"I'm (full name), nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Hey, wait-" I stopped in my tracks from leaving the room as he called to me. "Tell me. Why did you risk your life to save me?"
We stared at one another for a moment, until I gave him my ambiguous response. "Don't know. I don't really have an answer for that."
🪄You🪄
I grinned hearing that from the delinquent. What a way to cover up how much you care, Jotaro Kujo. Quickly after, Mrs. Kujo entered the room with a med kit to patch up Kakyoin. When she was done disinfecting and wrapping his head with bandages, he thanked her.
"Thank you, for everything."
"It's Kakyoin, was it? You need to rest for a while. Why don't you stay here for tonight?" The kind woman offered. "As a matter of fact, why don't you stay too, (name)? A nice sleepover of Jotaro's new friends."
"Huh? No, I-/ That won't be-" Both the red-head and I tried to politely decline, but neither of us got through as she already asked Mr. Joestar to grab futons for us.
"Huh?! Why do I have to do it?!" The old man protested, then went on to complain. "I've never even liked the idea of sleeping on the damn floor! In fact, that futon in my room, replace it with a real bed!"
"No way," his daughter denied, "You're in Japan now, Papa, and here in Japan, we sleep on the floor." Not always, but I feel like I shouldn't say anything.
Their argument then turned into a different subject regarding Mrs. Kujo's name, but I kinda just tuned myself out of it. I noticed Jotaro leaving the room, so I followed him out.
"Hey, Kujo." I called and he turned his head and sighed.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing, really. How's your arm?" Aside from that cool stunt he did with the flesh bud, I was a little worried about him when he didn't ask for a patch up too.
He looked down at his left hand as it still had a small open wound from the parasitic tentacle. He just shrugged it off, "I just feel a little phantom itch. No big deal. So, are you really going to spend the night? While you live down the street."
"Eeeeheheh," I nervously averted my eyes, "I feel like I must. It would be rude to turn down an invite. Also, the school might've switched on me for being absent a second time, so I kinda want to avoid another lecture from my parents."
"You do know that's gonna make it worse, right?"
"Yeah.. but they already took my game console, what else can they do?"
"I don't know, ground you?"
"Puh-lease. I've been grounded before, more times you can count."
"Yare yare.."
That night, I was getting ready for bed. We had just finished dinner and I was now brushing my teeth, dressed in some comfy pajamas that Mrs. Kujo let me borrow. Once I was done, I went to the room I was going to sleep in, sharing with Kakyoin. He was already inside, sitting on his futon and reading a small book.
He noticed my presence and looked up to face me, "hi."
"Good evening," I smiled back as I went to my side of the room with my futon. "How are you feeling now?"
"Better, thanks to Mrs. Kujo."
"Glad to hear. She's a real delight, isn't she?"
"Mhm.."
There was a small awkward silence after that, but I hadn't realized it. I dug into my school bag to pull out one of my own books to read and it seemed to grab Kakyoin's attention.
"You like to read?" He asked.
"I guess so, but I don't think you can count reading manga as reading-reading. Heheh."
"It's still a story you're invested in, right? Why should a manga be any different to a normal story book?"
I felt a twinge of happiness swirl in my chest. "It's nice of you to see it that way. Not a lot of people do. Although, I do like reading actual books. World history is what tickles my fancy, mostly."
"What a coincidence, same here." He grinned. "This book I'm currently reading is about the first world war, from the perspective of a German soldier."
"Oh," the premise clicked in my head as I snapped my fingers, "All Quiet on the Western Front, right? The Americas remade a film with the same name. Almost ten years ago, I think."
"Really?"
"Mhm!"
"Wow, you really seem to know your media." Kakyoin smirked, impressively.
"Let's just say, I have good tastes."
We laughed a bit over the conversation, until Kakyoin decided to change the subject to something more serious.
"I don't recall fighting you with Jotaro, or meeting with you before that. But you brought me here with Jotaro, are you two close?"
"Uhh," I took a minute to think of what to say. I wouldn't say that we were close, but everyone around us sees it that way. Heck, I don't think I really know the guy that well and vice versa. "No, not in the slightest." I answered him. "I started getting involved with Jotaro when I found out he had a stand like me. That was when I thought they were like guardian angels and he thought they were evil spirits. That stubborn prick volunteered himself into prison 'cause he saw himself as a danger to everyone around him. Which, it's admirable to not want to hurt people, but he didn't need to attempt suicide to prove that point. And, he refused to accept help and explanation when his grandfather came at the request of Mrs. Kujo. He- AARRGH! He gets on my nerves!"
"Ah, you like him. Okay."
"Yeah!.. W-WAIT, NO-!"
🌠Jotaro🌠
I was making my way to my room when I stumbled upon eavesdropping on Kakyoin and (name)'s conversation. I heard the majority of their nerdy interest in books, but when they pivoted to talking about me I wanted to move ahead, but I stayed. (Name) went along saying how we weren't close at all, followed by how we became acquainted, then my stunt when I was in jail. She said that I got on her nerves. Well, the feeling was mutual, bitch. But suddenly, Kakyoin came to a conclusion.
"Ah, you like him. Okay."
"Yeah!.. W-WAIT NO-!" I was now taken aback, but I felt like she said that in the heat of her moment. I listened in more.
"So, you don't like him?"
"No, I don't. I just said he gets on my nerves."
"But lovers get on each other's nerves all the time, though." I heard Kakyoin chuckle.
"Yeah, but we're not like them. He urks me because he's stubborn, disrespectful, he smokes, he drinks, and overall, is a massive dick."
"Literally, or figuratively?"
"...I refuse to dignify that with a response. Either way, I know he wouldn't like me when he finds girls that like him are beyond annoying. If he knew that I liked him, to which I don't, he would avoid me like the plague."
It was then that I figured to stop this nosy business and finally get some sleep. I continued my way to my bedroom and laid on my bed after changing into my sleep wear. As I stared at the ceiling, I rewinded what I heard. (Name). She really was a pain in my ass but I kinda grew accustomed to her being around me the past two weeks. But, at the same time, she was right. I hated when girls fond all over me. They were loud, annoying, and always in my personal space, not to mention they were extremely horny. Their murmurs made me shudder in disgust. However, (name) wasn't like any of them. In fact, the opposite. She was nice without benefit, and we would argue without apologizing because that's just the way we were dynamically. At first, she was pushy, but that died down and downgraded to mother-like nagging that my own mother lacked. Then, there's the question of her personality. She's insane, like all teenage women are, but I strangely find amusement in that side of her. How was she just like other girls, but wasn't at the same time?
The more I thought about it, I felt irritated as a warm sense came up to my face. I shook my head.
"Tch, good grief.."
I closed my eyes hoping to catch some sleep. I had school tomorrow..