For as long as you can remember, you had an affinity with animals, specifically horses. Perhaps it was because they were your only true friends during your lonesome childhood, but whatever the reason, you knew you loved horses. There was nothing quite like riding a horse and enjoying the wind flow through your hair...
So when you saw the Steel Ball Run advertising in the newspapers, you instinctively knew what you had to do. You were going to enter that race at all costs, you were finally going to escape from your parents' hellish claws-
You directed your attention back to the newspaper, brushing your fingers over it. 'THE STEEL BALL RUN RACE' had been imprinted in large, bold letters, which was what quickly brought your attention to it. The article had taken up the whole front page, showing the immense impact it was having on the country. To the side of the paper had a portrait of a man, a man apparently named Steven Steel. Your eyes dropped to the caption below it.
'The Steel Ball Run Race will start on September 25th, 1890, at 10 AM on the Pacific San Diego Beach! The goal will be New York, making it mankind's first North American - cross country horseback race!'
Your eyes scanned the article once more, landing at the bottom of the page which listed the prizes. Your mouth proceeded to drop at the amount of money they were offering for winning, your fingers counting the zeros on the paper to make sure you were seeing correctly. Well, of course, you weren't a professional in any way. The only experience you had was the lessons your parents forced you to attend (that you now were glad for) and the leisurely walks you would take with your horse, Land Slide. But hey, there's a first time for everything right? Even if you didn't win, maybe you could find someone to settle down with-
Your hands flew to your face, quickly covering it as your cheeks increased in redness. You really needed to stop getting embarrassed so easily. Removing your hands from your face, you glared down at the newspaper once more. The entry fee was $1,200, an amount that you didn't have, despite being the daughter of a wealthy family. But it was going to be yours. You were sure that your family was going to blow up at you for stealing money from them, but frankly, you couldn't care less.
Unbeknownst to you, the Steel Ball Run Race would change your life forever.
You had arrived at your destination, the San Diego beach. And boy, did you feel claustrophobic. Hundreds, no thousands of people and horses were clustered together on the beach. Maybe you shouldn't have come here at all. With all of these people here, what made you think you could beat them? That you would win and overtake them in a race? Maybe-
"No," you thought. "I know Land Slide and I make a perfect duo. I can do this. Geez (y/n), you really need to work on your positive thinking skills."
You brushed your hand against your mare's face. She had been with you for as long as you can remember. You remember when she was just a little baby...
You directed your attention to your surroundings. You knew you had to size up your competition if you wanted to at least rank highly. After all, you were a petite woman in a sport primarily dominated by men. You could already feel the looks of other contestants boring onto your back, and the jeers and rude comments they made.
Gritting your teeth, you once again looked around for any interesting characters. While on the way here, you had heard some juicy gossip, specifically about the race's top competitors. You had seen the photos of these said men, and you eagerly scanned the crowd to see if you could pick out any of them.
That is when you first laid eyes upon Diego Brando.
Truthfully, you had never heard of him. Your parents had kept you disclosed from the world, so you didn't have the chance to experience many things...
But one thing you could say for sure, he was hot as hell.
Now listen, you were nowhere near the type to throw yourself at any random guy you saw. Yes, you did want a loving marriage with a man that you trusted, but Diego Brando was beyond your expectations, mostly in the looks department.
Elegant gold shoulder-length locks fell at his shoulders. Dark eyebrows, and sharp light blue eyes that coldly sized you up. He sported a green turtleneck with yellow diagonal stripes along with a helmet consisting of three large, loosely placed letters, spelling out "DIO".
You had a feeling that you knew what kind of man he was. As much as you wanted to get to know him, you knew shouldn't get close to him. You could just find another friend that would hopefully accompany you across this long and difficult journey. Maybe even a lady friend.
Of course, this didn't exactly go as planned.
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Hello everyone! This is my first Diego Brando/Reader fic! (THIS FIC IS ALSO ON MY AO3 UNDER THE SAME NAME SLEEPYMIMA.) Seriously, I think I've read all of the Diego/reader stories out there and I'm dying. I need more,,, that's why this exists.
I'm planning on making this a full story, and I would love any feedback and comments on this. Thanks for reading and enjoy! The prologue is mostly delving into the plot so there's no real interaction yet. I also haven't read SBR in over 3 years, so my memory will probably be a bit rusty...
Jojo and its characters do not belong to me!! They belong to Araki Hirohiko!