Late November 1988, it was a Thursday in autumn and merely my sixth day in Tokyo, Japan.
Of course, I did not speak any fluent Japanese. I only spoke a little bit of it, but I knew it more than enough to understand what people talked about. And since a lot of people understood English over here well enough, I would find my way through my stay here.
"It's past 7:30am already, Karolina. Do you want to stand up? Elsewise you will be late for your first day at school."
My aunt's voice chimed as she entered my room.
"Oh, you're awake. Great! I will just make some breakfast, so put your clothes on quick."
"Ciocia [Polish: auntie, aunt], can you help me, please?"
I inquired as I stood up from my futon, placing my book on the small nightstand next to it.
My aunt nodded as she walked further into my room while I walked up to my closet.
"I know it's childish and so on, but what uniform should I wear? Green or dark green? Black?"
"Dark green suits your long, dark blonde hair more. Chose that one then."
She walked up to my closet to put the green uniform back inside, leaving me with the dark green one.
"After you put on your uniform, come to the kitchen, I'll make some pancakes. Thirty minutes before school starts, uncle will drive you to school."
She informed me, leading me to nod in agreement. After my confirmation, she left my room.
"Do they really have to wear such skirts?"
I sighed while changing into the dark green uniform.
I combed my hair and put on a moisturiser before leaving my room. I headed into the kitchen where my aunt stood at the stove and where my uncle sat at the table.
"Good morning."
I greeted my uncle in Japanese, leading him to smile at me, looking up from his documents.
"Good morning. Practising Japanese now, I see."
He giggled while I sat down on the chair across from him, smiling at him afterwards.
"Keep doing that, Caroline, it really helps to learn a language more effectively."
He added while putting his documents together, placing them on the empty chair next to him.
"Yep, you're right. That's why I try to do it as often as possible."
"Okay, bon appétit you two. I'll go and change my clothes now as well."
My aunt interrupted us for a moment, causing us to smile at each other.
She placed my uncle's and mine plates on the table, leaving the kitchen soon after.
"Are you exited to go to school today?"
"People will probably detest me because I'm not from here. I'm barging into the middle of the school year just like that."
He handed over jam to me so while he replied.
"I don't think they won't like you. I can imagine they will be curious about why you're here."
"Oh yeah. I will tell them that my parents are maybe divorcing and to apparently keep me out of it, they sent me here to Japan."
"Well, I would not tell that to anybody right of the bat. Perhaps try something like you're visiting your aunt and me for a few months now. You are getting to know Japanese culture while spending time with us, maybe even find the love of your life."
"For everything else - okay. But the last part - no, never! I mean, yeah, love, right? It will only get in my way to success probably, so I will just stay away from it."
"You are only 17 years old, don't say that. Maybe after your studies, you'll meet somebody like you and you will fall in love with them?"
"That's far too imprecise to think about for far into the future. I'll stick to my initial plan of becoming a medical doctor for now."
We switched topics and ate our pancakes before my aunt's voice resounded as she entered the kitchen again.
"It's 8am now, you two. Karolina, do you want me to do your hair?"
"Hmm.. no, I think I will leave it open today. I have a hair tie with me in case I will change my mind."
"Okie dokie."
Once my uncle and I arrived at my school, he stopped the car next to a sidewalk.
"Caroline, look out of the window real quick. What you see right now is a small park in front of your Highschool. Walk the way straight ahead but not up the stairs. You will see stairs that go down on the left before the stairs that guide you upstairs. Got it?"
"Yes, thank you. Straight ahead and then downstairs on the left."
"Correct. Now, have fun at school! I will pick you up at this exact spot after school."
"Alright. Get to work safely then."
"Will do."
I got out of the car and closed the door, waving goodbye at my uncle as he drove away from me.
I proceeded my route by walking straight ahead, seeing a group of girls following a black clothed boy walking down the stairs my uncle told me not to use.
A green line appeared on the boy's left knee while I was observing him. He started falling down the stairs, leading me to widen my eyes in shock.
I ran up to him as fast as I could before noticing a purple ghost surrounding him, leading me to slow down for a moment. As the boy landed on the ground in a rather soft manner for such a fall, I fastened my pace again.
The ghost was probably just my imagination.
"Are you okay?!"
I asked him while kneeling down next to him, analysing his apparent wound. Where did this cut possibly come from?
The boy looked at me with frowned eyebrows. I covered my mouth for a moment before repeating my question in Japanese.
"I'm fine."
He answered in English wryly, analysing his wound himself now, his eyebrows still frowned.
The boy brushed off the dust on his black school uniform. I observed his rather muscular body while standing up myself.
He didn't really look that Japanese. His bluish green eyes were wider than other Japanese would have and he was way taller than most Japanese men.
"I was so worried about you!"
"Are you okay, JoJo?"
"You think you're hurt anywhere?"
The girls surrounded the boy called JoJo again, thus pushing me away from him.
I lost my balance and unluckily fell on my back, causing everybody to look at me.
The girls quickly looked away from me, proceeding to observe JoJo while he persisted on looking at me.
"Hey, are you okay?"
He asked me in English, causing the girls to look at me again before one of them continued in Japanese.
"Don't mind her, she's probably just clumsy."
"I didn't ask you now, did I?"
JoJo sneered at the girls, leading them to retreat slightly.
As JoJo was about to offer a hand to me, I quickly rose up to my feet and brushed the dust off of my uniform.
"You're hurt, don't mind me. Get well soon. I'll get going."
I remarked in Japanese while picking up my bag, starting to walk away from them after bowing at him.
I noticed another boy walking down the stairs JoJo just fell down from. This time it was one in a green school uniform, but I continued my way to school.
I observed my slightly burning elbows, seeing my long sleeved top being ripped there. Dust was on top of my wounds which were still bleeding.
"I should check the infirmary before the wounds inflame.."
I muttered as I checked my watch. It was 8:35am, in ten minutes class would have started.
A group of students approached me, stating they knew I was the new student their teacher told them about previously. They were tasked to welcome me and get me to our classroom.
While on the way to the infirmary, they told me they think it's impressive that I understand Japanese. But they feel weird talking in Japanese with me since I don't look like I understand it at all. Still, they said they would try their best to talk in Japanese with me.
The bell rung before we reached the infirmary, indicating the students to go to their classes, so I was told the rest of the way.
I knocked on the infirmary's door before a pleasant voice resounded from there.
"Come in."
I entered the room quietly while the doctor looked at me, leading her to gasp at my appearance. Not because of my wounds, but because of my nationality, obviously.
"I'm sorry, you probably don't understand Japanese that well yet."
She remarked while I closed the door behind me. I turned around with a smile before replying to her.
"It's okay. I understand Japanese pretty well already, but forgive me for answering in English."
She smiled at me before stepping aside, exposing the actual infirmary behind her.
"Where was I? Oh yeah, I wanted to check your temperature."
The doctor remarked, looking at two boys resting on the beds.
One of the boys on the beds started to talk, both of them sweating with widened eyes.
"Hey, doctor..! What are you trying to do?!"
"What does it look like? I'm shaking up the thermometer to reset it!"
I slowly hid behind a curtain to observe what the doctor was doing when JoJo came out of the changing room.
"That's not a thermometer you hold in your hand! That's a pen!"
One of the boys remarked again, leading the doctor to laugh at them.
"You think I'm dumb? Does this look like a pen to you?!"
I noticed a green strand moving to and around the doctors leg before she stabbed one of the boys in the eye.
The two boys stormed out of the room in panic while JoJo noticed my presence as I moved my hand in front of my mouth.
"JoJo.. you aren't going to tell me this isn't a thermometer, are you?"
The doctor said, attacking JoJo right after.
"JoJo!"
I yelled while coming out from behind the curtain.
"Don't come closer to me! Leave the room!"
He clenched his hand around the doctor's wrist, stopping the pen to pierce through the skin on his face. The doctor's force made JoJo struggle though, eventually hitting him on his left cheek with the tip of the pen.
"What the hell is going on with that strength?! This is no mere woman!"
He exclaimed, leaving me helplessly stand a good distance away from him. I caught him whispering to himself.
"Noriaki Kakyoin.. was he the one to cut my leg on the stone steps, too?"
Since I heard what JoJo said, I replied to him.
"It would only make sense that your wound was caused by something. But I didn't see anybody that close to you to cut you like that!"
"But yes, it was me."
A different voice resounded, this time unknown to me.
As I looked into the direction where the voice came from, I saw it was the boy in the green uniform, now sitting at the open window. He had red hair and a rather slim figure. He also wasn't as tall as JoJo was, maybe about 180cm (6'0) tall.
"So it is you!"
JoJo yelled, still struggling with the doctor.
"Hey, long time no see."
The green clothed boy said, Noriaki Kakyoin as JoJo called him, before continuing by explaining the situation to us.
"So my Stand is currently controlling that doctor. If you attack my Stand, you'll hurt her too, JoJo."
A Stand? What is that?
"You bastard, who are you?!"
JoJo demanded to know, leading Kakyoin to smile mischievously.
"I told you. I'm Noriaki Kakyoin. And the name of my Stand here is Hierophant Green. I am human, but I have pledged loyalty to him. That's why I will have to kill you!"
To him? To whom did he possibly pledge loyalty to to kill JoJo?
The doctor's might overwhelmed JoJo and pushed him back, but he managed to get out of her grip, holding her at distance before kissing her.
Out of nowhere, the purple ghost I previously saw appeared around JoJo again. The ghost held a head of another ghost, a green one.
The purple ghost had long black hair, golden shoulder caps, a red scarf and a cloth covering his private parts. The green one looked like a robot with a tail like a snake.
"I have zero intentions of hurting her. Now that I dragged it out, I see it for what it is. Just a sleazy Stand whose only ability is to possess people."
The purple ghost tightened its grip around the green one's head, starting to hit him with one of its fists several times.
"So this is your stand, Kakyoin? This green stripy thing looks like a shining melon."
"You're gonna regret doing that. Dragging that out of her was a mistake, JoJo."
"Don't act tough and see my finger marks on your forehead. If I decide to crush your Stands head like a melon it is, I guess your head will be crushed, too."
The purple ghost clenched its hands around the green ghosts head tighter this time, leading Kakyoin to cringe in pain.
"I'm going to keep a tight grip on you for now. We're going to pay my gramps a little visit. I'm sure he would love to meet you. And I would like to know more about Dio myself."
JoJo remarked before green liquid started to flow down Hierophant Green's hands.
Is Dio the person Kakyoin was referring to when he told us he pledged loyalty to someone?
"What is this substance coming out of its hand..?"
I remarked in disgust, leading Kakyoin and JoJo to look at me for a brief moment.
"You can see Stands as well?"
JoJo asked me while still looking at me, leading me to nod in affirmation.
"You should have listened to me, JoJo. I told you you're gonna regret this, didn't I? This is the attack of my Stand! Hierophant Green's.."
"No weird moves, Kakyoin!"
JoJo warned Kakyoin but the liquid coming out of Hierophant Green's hands started to form little jewels already.
"Emerald Splash!"
Kakyoin yelled as emeralds flew into JoJo's and my direction with high velocity.
The purple ghost tried covering JoJo and me, but it was not the only ghost that appeared in front of us. There was also a white ghost, trying to shield us just like the purple ghost.
Emerald Splash hit the two ghosts trying to shield JoJo and me before I felt a sharp pain in my arms and chest. JoJo and I both flew into the thin wall behind us, destroying it in the process.
As JoJo and I laid there, unable to move at first, some footsteps were heard approaching us.
"So you can already manifest your Stand as well, how interesting. May I know your name, dear lady?"
Kakyoin's voice resounded, leading me to narrow my eyes while JoJo already moved his upper body up. Both of us kept quiet as Kakyoin continued to speak.
"So what do you two think? Did you like Emerald Splash? That fluid you saw in Hierophant Green is actually a surge of destructive energy. It tore straight through your Stand's chests and your insides have now been torn to shreds. And as for that doctor over there.."
"Why? I know I took that Stand out of her, so how?!"
The doctor was lying on the ground, bleeding out of several body openings.
"I tried to warn you that by attacking Hierophant Green, you would hurt her as well. My stand can travel farther than yours, but it dislikes open spaces. Without exception, it prefers to hide in something. If you drag it out, it gets angry. That's why, when you ripped it out of her throat, it hurt her along the way."
Kakyoin explained while I moved my upper body up now as well, seeing the doctor bleeding on the floor myself.
"You're the one who did this to her, this is entirely your fault, JoJo. You must be held responsible, look at what you've done!"
"Oh no, Kakyoin."
I spoke up for Jotaro before coughing a little bit of blood into my hand, but it was not stopping me from continuing.
"It's not JoJo's fault. Because you propounded it!"
"All he had to do was let me kill him, you and the doctor would have walked away unharmed."
Kakyoin tried to convince me as JoJo stood up while grunting in pain.
"And still, you get up. You are so pathetic. You're nothing more than a sandbag about to be pummelt by a skilled boxer. Why even bother standing up? I'm just gonna knock you down again."
"Look. No one ever said Jotaro Kujo was a nice guy. I beat the crap out of people, more than I have to. Some are even still in the hospital. I had idiot teachers who liked to talk big, so I taught them a lesson and they never come back to class. If I go to a restaurant and the food is bad, I make it a policy to stiff them with the bill."
JoJo, actually abbreviated from Jotaro Kujo, spoke up.
Jotaro continued in a much stronger and louder voice right after standing firm on both of his feet.
"But even a bastard like me can spot true evil when he sees it. True evil are those who use the weak for their own gain, then crush them with their foot when they're through..! Especially an innocent woman. And that is exactly what you have done, isn't it? And your Stand gets to hide from the victim, the law and the consequences. That's fine. I will judge you myself!"
Jotaro was already shaking in anger, his breath quickened while Kakyoin got visibly annoyed.
"I'm evil? See that's where you're wrong. Evil is always the loser. It's the victor who has justice. The victor being the last man standing and how you win the battle is irrelevant!"
Hierophant Green attacked Jotaro directly but he dodged the attack by jumping to the side, moving behind Kakyoin with immense speed.
The purple ghost appeared for a moment, kicking a chair into Kakyoin's direction. Kakyoin dodged it by using Hierophant Green's kind of tentacles to destroy it before looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
I slowly rose up to my feet while trying to keep Kakyoin in my sight as well. Hierophant Green already attacked me with his tentacles, causing me to move away abruptly.
Jotaro's purple ghost moved and the white ghost in front of me, destroying Hierophant Green's tentacles that were shot against me.
"So you can also use your Stand effectively, young girl? You still haven't told me your name."
Kakyoin remarked as everybody stayed put. Every ghost, so called Stand, returned to its original Stand user.
"Well, Kakyoin, was it? My name is Karolina Milewska, but people also call me Caroline."
I replied to him while I brushed the dust off of my uniform, continuing to talk after my eyes met Kakyoin's again.
"This ghost that you apparently call Stand is with me for a longer time now, but I didn't know what it was there for. I thought I imagined it, like an imaginary friend, but I'm glad now that I didn't. Meet White Snow, as I named and call my Stand."
White Snow has powder pink skin, wears no shoes and a white overall with her wavy, long platinblonde hair.
She or it was around the same height I was, just like the purple ghost was around Jotaro's size and Hierophant Green around Kakyoin's size.
"So you're not from Dio.. bystanders should probably be eliminated as well. Caroline, be a good girl and let me take care of Jotaro first, then I'll turn my attention to you."
Kakyoin remarked, looking away from me to face Jotaro again.
"I maybe don't know how to use my Stand correctly yet, but for now, it's two against one."
I remarked while turning my head to look at Jotaro, leading him to look at me as well.
"You shouldn't get yourself in danger. Better get yourself to safety."
While Jotaro and I were distracted by each other, Kakyoin took upon the opportunity and tied up both of us with Hierophant Green's tentacles.
"See, the loser is always the evil one. Time to finish you off! Emerald Splash!"
"Really? The loser is evil? Then let me show you.."
Jotaro's Stand appeared in front of him, dodging the emeralds with his two arms before shattering them into small pieces all at once.
"What? There is no way! No one can deflect the Emerald Splash!"
"... just how evil you are!"
Jotaro's Stand moved at Hierophant Green with immense speed, grabbing it by its throat before shaking it violently.
Kakyoin started to vomit blood already, yet Jotaro's Stand proceeded by hitting Hierophant Green with its fist several times, screaming a powerful cry.
"Ora! Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora!"
Ora came from the Latin language. Since some words could be interpreted into different things in Latin, it depended on what context they stood.
Ora can mean 'edge', 'coast', 'shore' or 'seaside' among others.
"I'll teach you justice with my Stand!"
Jotaro remarked before his Stand punched Hierophant Green through the ceiling, leaving a hole behind.
Student's screams were heard inside the room above us while Kakyoin started to bleed more, falling down on the floor.
"Your Stand.. has.. incredible power..!"
Kakyoin muttered before losing his consciousness.
"You caught me by surprise earlier. I'm glad my Stand isn't weak, but.. sometimes it feels like it can get more savage than I am. That was a close call."
Jotaro spoke to himself while I retracted my Stand, approaching the doctor lying on the floor.
I got on my knees to observe the doctor's visible wounds while Jotaro walked up behind me.
"She won't die, Hierophant Green did hold back on her. Once her wounds are treated, she will be alright in no time."
I told him as I rose back up to my feet.
Jotaro and I looked into each other's eyes, me looking up at him and he looking down at me, just before an alarm set off.
"Was that a gas explosion? It came from the nurse's office!"
"Everyone stay in the classroom!"
Different voices resounded, sounding like they came out of the classroom above.
"I'll leave the cleanup to them. Wasn't that enough school for one day?"
Jotaro asked rhetorically before picking up Kakyoin and throwing him over his shoulder.
"Maybe you should come with me.. Karolina, was it? My grandfather can tell you more about Stands, since you seem to know nothing about them even though you possess one yourself."
"I should probably leave this room, so yeah, gladly."
I accepted his offer while picking up his, Kakyoin's and my school bags.
Jotaro and I escaped through the window Kakyoin previously entered through. I followed Jotaro as I didn't know where he wanted to go.
After a while of walking in silence, Jotaro held his free left hand into my direction, leading me to tilt my head to the side.
"My bag."
"Oh, you don't have to carry your bag. You're already carrying Kakyoin."
I insisted, yet Jotaro continued to hold out his hand.
I sighed quietly as I handed over Jotaro's bag to him, continuing to carry Kakyoin's and my bags.
I continued to follow Jotaro, walking slightly behind him, both of us not saying a word. I spoke up as we started to walk up the stairs where Jotaro previously fell down.
"I'm surprised you pronounced my name correctly. People tend to pronounce it like the US State Carolina, but it is actually pronounced similar to Karoleena."
"Five minutes from here, we will arrive at my place."
"Okay. Thank you for taking me with you."
"Thank me not, it would have been irresponsible to leave you there. Everything's a wreck. Also, you probably want to know more about Stands, or your Stand, to be precise."
"Yeah, you're not wrong. I'm sorry."
Jotaro stopped abruptly, so I stopped as well. I looked around us, thinking Jotaro noticed something odd until I realised he was looking back at me.
He kept quiet as he continued walking again.
Why did he look at me like that? Did I say something to annoy him? And they say girls are complicated..
"These two boys that ran away from the infirmary previously, they will probably tell the police what happened. In case the police asks us, should we tell that we ran away as well?
I remarked to change the subject and to break the silence.
"That would be it."
Jotaro is not really talkative, I see.