Hello, everyone. I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to read and review the first chapter. This is my first real attempt at writing something, so I wasn't sure what sort of reception to expect. Needless to say, the positive reaction was really nice to see. That said, please be critical of the story. I want to improve as much as possible, and I can only do that through criticism.

Without further ado, here's chapter 2.

-1 Year Later-

Kira awoke to the sound of the local radio station, slivers of the morning sun sneaking past the curtains and tickling his face. He turned to the alarm clock and smiled as he tapped the clock, stopping the noise. 7:30 exactly, just like always. Brushing the covers aside, he got up out of his bed and opened the curtains, welcoming the new day. Dressing gown and slippers covering his body, Yoshikage exited his room and walked over the the stairs, stopping momentarily to adjust a slightly crooked painting. Yes, he had a lovely feeling that today would be a good day.

Taking a right at the door of the stairs, Kira walked through the dining room and into the kitchen. Soon the house was filled with the sounds of cooking and smells of scrambled eggs, sausages and toast. After sampling a bite of egg to ensure it was just right, Kira loaded up two plates and placed them adjacent to each other on the dining room table.

He looked to the ceiling and his smile dropped, brows furrowing slightly. Yoshikage glanced at his watch and sighed.

"It's already eight and she's still not awake? Well, it is a weekend, I suppose." Kira said to no one in particular. "Still, I should get her up before this goes cold."

Leaving his meal on the table, Kira walked back up the stairs to his bedroom and carefully eased the door open. Arriving at the other side of the double bed, he leaned over and smiled. "Good morning, you. Are you coming down for breakfast? It's bacon and scrambled egg, your favourite."

The amputated right hand offered him no response, instead laying on the pillow where he left it the night before as dead as ever. Kira, not one to be deterred by the silent treatment, merely chuckled and picked it up, carrying it downstairs with him. Placing it at the plate opposite to his, he sat down and picked up his cutlery. Before anything could even pass his lips, however, his eyes moved to his fourth girlfriend of the year. "What, not hungry again? If you don't want it then feel free to leave it for me." He said. A few seconds later he stopped, and a look of realisation dawned on his face.

"Oh, is that what you're so worried about?" Kira began to softly laugh. "I've told you before, Naoko, you're being silly. Women like that used to ask me on dates all the time where I used to live and I turned them down every time. Do I look like I'm about to break that streak?" The Stand user paused, as if letting 'Naoko' speak. Then the smile returned to his features. "Exactly. Now come on and get ready. Today's going to be a big day."


An hour later, Yoshikage and his 'girlfriend' had finished getting ready and were walking down the street, Kira wearing a white jacket, white trousers, a green shirt and polished black shoes. Naoko, on the other hand, was decorated with a single expensive-looking jade ring while resting comfortably in Kira's inner pocket. Yoshikage had made sure that she was looking her absolute best; today was a very special date, after all. Namely, it was the one year anniversary of his arrival in this world.

He couldn't help but smirk. An entire year since his total victory against the Stand users of Morioh. Looking back, he still couldn't believe how simple it was to set up a new life here. Stealing enough money to buy the luxurious home he lived in now was trivial with Killer Queen, and the leftover cash had went towards paying off a small crime syndicate to forge him a birth certificate, driver's license and a number of other legal documents. The only real hard part was later exterminating said crime syndicate to prevent himself from being traced, and even then it had only taken a little detective work and a tap from his Stand's index finger. He even managed to secure himself a high-paying office job, just like back in Morioh.

Yes, it had all gone smoother than Kira ever could have hoped. Not one thing had happened during his time here that caused him to lose sleep, and that was cause for celebration. Oh, and celebrate he would. For tonight, he had booked a visit three months in advance to what he believed was the best restaurant in town, the Lakeside Inn, which served the most mouth-wateringly delicious seafood risotto he had ever tasted. However, that on its own didn't do justice to such a momentous occasion. Kira's plan was to reserve the three tables at the far end of the building, tucked away in a corner far from prying eyes. One would be under his name while the other two would instead be under false names of his own invention. He would take the one furthest to the back, of course, while the others would be unable to have anyone sit at them. To top it all off, Kira had booked the tables half an hour apart, ensuring the fake reservations would line up perfectly with when his food would arrive. With such precautions, he would be able to anything he wanted while being at nearly no risk of being discovered.

In short, Kira was very much looking forward to his romantic, candlelit dinner with his girlfriend.

"Good morning, Mr Kira!"

Snapped out of his reverie, Yoshikage turned his head to the left, a far warmer air replacing the slightly menacing aura. Watering the shrubs in front of his house with a garden hose was Kimihito Kurusu, Kira's next-door neighbour.

Kira, against all odds, liked Kimihito. This was quite strange because Kira didn't really like anybody, aside from his girlfriends of course. Wherever the killer went, his interactions were always somewhat businesslike. He was polite, of course, but he couldn't deny that he usually wanted to be somewhere else. It didn't matter if he was in the workplace, in stores, anywhere really, Kira was just more distant than other people. Even his father was more or less just convenient to him in his later years, useful on occasion and nagging him about how to murder better the rest of the time.

Kimihito, though? No, Kira liked him because he was so normal. Whenever the two of them passed on the street they would stop for a brief chat, and they would often share leftovers from their cooking (though Yoshikage had long accepted that the 22-year-old was his culinary superior). Kimihito didn't like making too much noise and always tried not to impose on people. He didn't invite many friends round, either, and certainly wasn't one for parties despite being of that particular age. Yes, the young man was the kind of person who kept to themselves, preferring not to pry into other people's business and instead being content with his own ordinary life. The ideal neighbour, and Kira's kind of person.

Shaking his head, Kira turned to him with a smile. "Kimihito, how many times do I have to say it? Call me Yoshikage. You're my neighbour."

Kimihito laughed. "I keep trying, but it just doesn't feel right. Besides, you're older than me."

"Only by twelve years."

"Even so…"

They continued on like this for a while as Kimihito moved around to different plants. As they passed the three minute mark and his neighbour was still working, Kira truly realised how big the property was for the first time.

"You know, this is quite the garden to take care of." He said, looking past the young man. It seemed the shrubs extended all the way out to the back, getting gradually larger as they progressed.

"It's quite the property to take care of. It used to be easier because my parents used to help out, but they're not around as often anymore…" Kimihito's voice trailed off, his smile becoming slightly more strained. The blonde salaryman frowned; the absence of his neighbour's parents was, as he had learned in the past, something of a tender subject. In fact, he'd never even met them. Though he would definitely deny it if he ever asked, Kira was sure his amicable neighbour felt like his parents had abandoned him in a way. Even his relatively useless father had helped him learn how to dispose of a body before he got his Stand, and he didn't want to imagine how short-lived his career would have turned out without Yoshihiro's input while he was still learning the ropes.

"I'm sure they'll come to visit you soon. Their year away is almost over, right?" Kira said in an attempt to comfort his neighbour who just nodded, shoulders still slumped. The older man frowned internally, trying to think of some way to change the subject. Just as he was about to give up and return to consoling him, Kira realised that the best way out of this was to play on the downtrodden boy's greatest weakness.

"Although, if you really want someone to help you with yard work… then why not get a girlfriend?"

As Yoshikage predicted, Kimihito's mood instantly changed from dejected to absolutely flustered. Cheeks glowing scarlet, he turned and shot Kira a scandalised look. "M-Mr. Kira, what are you talking about?! It's way too early in my life for that sort of thing! A-And besides, I haven't met the right person yet!"

Before he could continue his undoubtedly lengthy explanation, Kira leaned over and clapped his neighbour on the shoulder. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat about relationships, but I've got to get down to St. Lady's. They're due to bring out the fresh batch of sandwiches soon, and I'm not about to be cheated out of my lunch for a second time this week. Have a nice day, Kimihito."

Kira turned on his heel and continued on down the road, grinning playfully to himself as he left his hapless neighbour sputtering and searching for a reply to his teasing. Indeed, Kira had to admit that he liked being the Kurusu boy's neighbour, thanking his fortune once again that he got to live next to someone as quiet and agreeable as himself.


The commercial district was abuzz with the clacking of shoes on pavement, people filing in and out of every store clutching plastic bags full of all manner of goods. Inside one of the stores, Kira himself perused one of the aisles in search of lunch. St. Lady's, being this world's equivalent of St. Gentleman's, had quickly taken the place of Kira's favourite bakery. Just like the original from his own dimension, this sandwich shop boasted high-quality sandwiches set out at 11AM sharp with fluffy bread, fresh vegetables and tenderloin still warm from the oven.

Eyes finally settling on worthy prey, Kira reached out towards the back of the shelf and picked up a particularly loaded sandwich with significantly more tenderloin than the rest. The clear plastic packaging made a rustling noise as his fingers wrapped around his soon-to-be meal, careful not to ruin the sandwich's contents in the process. As he rose from his kneeling position on the tiled floor, the familiar weight in the inside pocket of his jacket seemed to get somewhat heavier and he paused mid-rise.

"You know I can't bring you out to look right now. It's a weekend, this place is practically infested with people." the serial killer sighed, giving his girlfriend an admonishing look. Unfortunately, living in a place larger than Morioh meant that the St. Lady's also got more business than its counterpart. As a result, it was nigh-impossible to let his girlfriend choose for herself on a working day, let alone a busy Saturday such as this one. He felt bad about it, of course, but he couldn't risk anyone finding out about his true nature.

Kira stood up to his full six foot height and set off towards the checkout, freshly made sandwich in hand. Despite the fact that he towered over most of the other shoppers, years of honing the art of blending in caused him to go almost completely unnoticed as he walked between the shelves. That was, at least, up until the one on his right began to fall towards him.

Eyes darting towards the danger, Kira sprung into action. Summoned to its master's side, Killer Queen reached out towards the shelf to halt its descent. However, Yoshikage then realised what a stupid idea that would be. The shelves in the store were huge, taller than Yoshikage himself, constructed of thick wooden planks and stocked full of baked goods. Because of this, they were incredibly heavy. Of course, it would be no problem for his Stand, which could lift and throw a large car quite easily, to stop it in its tracks. The problem was the recognition he would get from it. Under no circumstances could Yoshikage, even as muscular as he was, have caught it without raising questions. Questions meant attention, attention meant fame, and fame meant the end of his quiet lifestyle.

Instead, Killer Queen grabbed Kira and dodged to the side, dragging the Stand user out of danger. And not a moment too soon as the shelves came down upon the ground with a resounding…

Nothing?

Kira looked back at the shelves, more than a little confused at the peculiar absence of loud noises. The shelf was suspended at a forty-five degree angle, its contents having slid to the front yet miraculously managing to avoid falling off. It was almost as if time itself had stopped, which was incredibly unnerving given Kira's more-than-unpleasant experience with stopped time in the past. As Kira's gaze moved towards the bottom of the wooden rack, however, he saw just what it was holding the shelf up.

A long, snakelike tail was wrapped around the lower half of the shelving unit. With crimson scales that glimmered in the soft yellow lighting of the store running its entire length, the reptilian limb was truly massive, 20 feet long at least. Kira followed the trail of scales up the length of the limb and back to its source.

At the top of the tail was the body of a young woman, likely in her early twenties. The transition between her skin and scales was covered by a blue denim skirt, held up by a leather belt with a large yellow buckle. Her midriff was left bare, revealing a thin waist with pale flesh. Covering a substantial bust was a pale yellow button-up shirt, the bottom of it tied in a thick knot to prevent it from bursting open. Waist-length hair as red as her scales framed her face, which seemed to be flushed equally red in embarrassment.

"Gah! I'm so sorry, Ms Smith! I wasn't looking where I was going! I just got excited by all the egg sandwiches and I-I just twisted and-"

"There's no need to worry, Miia. These aisles are just a little small, that's all." said an older, yet feminine voice from behind the snake woman. An official-looking woman walked out from the cover of the other woman's red hair, every part the government agent in her black suit. Jet black hair hung straight down to her hips, two parts over her front while the rest hung at her back. Sleek sunglasses covered her eyes, though they did nothing to mask the mirthful smirk on her lips.

"Besides, nobody was hurt." the suit reassured her charge, her head moving over to where Kira was standing. "Although you should probably apologise to the man you nearly crushed, hmm?"

Before Kira could escape this absolute disaster scene, the snake woman gasped and, in the blink of an eye, slithered right over to him. She snatched up his free hand in both of hers and looked straight at him, reptilian slits gazing into rounded human pupils. To be honest, the intensity of her gaze was sort of unsettling.

"Ah! I'm SO sorry, sir!" the young woman cried, her voice full of remorse. "I-It's just that, being a lamia and all, these aisles, well, they're not built for somebody my size, so I tend to knock things over! I didn't mean to almost crush you, are you okay?! I'm REALLY, REALLY SORRY!"

By this point, the woman, apparently Miia, had let go of his hand and was deeply bowing in an exaggerated display of traditional Japanese customs. A large crowd had already gathered around them, some people fumbling around for their phones. Kira began to sweat; he had to wrap this up fast.

"I-It's fine. Don't worry about it, really…" his eyes darted left and right, searching for a way out. With no clear escape route and some people already with phones out of their bags, all hope seemed lost until he laid eyes of the offending shelf. Miia's attempt to stop it from falling had obviously taken its tole, the powerful tail muscles having nearly broken it in two. In fact, as his good fortune would have it, it looked about ready to collapse…

Summoning Killer Queen, Kira directed the Stand towards the shelf, where it lightly brushed the splintered back panel with its fingertip. Thumb met finger and a tiny explosion was set off, eliminating the final few bits of wood holding the thing together. With a feeble moan, the top half finally gave way and crashed onto the floor, splattering the tiled floor around it with various sandwich fillings.

The diversion worked perfectly. Startled by the sudden noise, the crowd stopped reaching for their phones. Miia and the official were also distracted, their heads angled towards the wreckage with wide eyes and open mouths. Taking his chance, Kira silently slipped out of the aisle through a space between two shelves while everyone else was preoccupied, managing to reach the door completely unnoticed.


It was only once he was a block away that he finally allowed himself to relax.

"Thank goodness." Kira breathed out, wiping the sweat from his brow. He had made it to a secluded bench in a nearby park, surrounded by tall bushes. Before him was a large pond, reflecting the midday sun while the motion of animals underneath it caused tiny ripples to spread across the surface. It was the perfect kind of place to hide out and calm down in times like this, and had been scouted out before by Kira in case of emergencies. Dropping himself down on the worn-out wood, the serial killer's hand dove inside his pocket, feeling the familiar shape of Naoko's slender fingers. Running his palm over hers was wonderfully therapeutic, and he soon stopped hyperventilating.

That was too close. Those rotten pieces of shit almost put my face on the internet, he thought to himself, grasping his stolen sandwich hard enough that the bread began to deform. I, Yoshikage Kira, just want a quiet life, so what have I done to deserve this? That damned snake woman…

Kira leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes, exhaling slowly and running his hands through his pale blonde locks. He didn't understand it. Why was he troubled with such an awful disaster on today of all days? Luck was his constant ally, yet he had become the centre of a public spectacle. If not for his Stand and quick thinking, then his face would have been plastered all over the web for every filthy reprobate to point at and laugh, and his peaceful existence would have crumbled to pieces. A shiver ran up his spine at the mere thought, and he clasped his girlfriend even tighter.

A group of swallows passed over him, whistling their shrill birdsong and snapping him out of his reflective trance. Kira looked to the sky and watched the clouds form and disperse in the wind. The sounds of civilisation were absent in this part of the town, the only loud noise being a quiet breeze which rustled the autumn leaves of the bushes. Some of them broke off and danced freely in the wind, creating little whirlwinds of orange, yellow and brown throughout the park.

Beholding the natural world was always one of Yoshikage's favourite pastimes. Whenever he gazed upon small birds flitting through the sky or fish darting between patches of underwater vegetation, he felt utterly at peace. Seeing them go about their short, hectic lives always made him feel better about himself and his situation; the prey animals could not dream of a peaceful life such as his, constantly running and hiding from hunters, every turn of a corner possibly bringing a new predator into the equation. Such lowly creatures could never be the masters of their own fate like a human, and being surrounded by animals that could never bring him harm was incredibly relaxing. Only in a place such as this could he feel truly safe. But it wasn't mere prey Yoshikage was fascinated by. It was the predators.

Since a young age, Kira had admired the ability of predators to snuff out the life of another to sustain their own. By killing other things, predators elevated themselves above that which they devoured. They did not fear the cold embrace of death like their food, but rather had the divine right to decide just what would die that day. Of course, this meant that an apex predator had the most authority of all, completely free of such things as being hunted. Of all the animals in the world, it was those at the top of the food chain that reserved the right to have the most desirable, peaceful lives of all. Even all these years later, Kira still remembered the day that he first discovered this fundamental law of life, and his true nature.


Yoshikage sat outside in the garden of his house, in his hands one of the gerbils his father had brought home that day on the way back from work for his ninth birthday. It was a small thing barely three months old, soft brown fur with the occasional white patch covering its wriggling form. The Kira boy watched with interest as his new pet wormed through gaps in his fingers. However, a soft pat to his left dragged his attention away from the gerbil. Snapping his head round, the blonde boy found himself face to face with a huge cat.

The thing was absolutely massive. It appeared to be of the Maine Coon variety. Covered in matted grey fur that spread out wildly in all directions, the cat had to be more than a metre long from its nose to the tail swaying behind it. Its paws were at least as wide as Yoshikage's palm, claws visibly extending out like blades. Two ears torn in various places pointed towards the sky, alert for any hint of danger. A pair of amber, predatory eyes leered out from black pits beneath the mass of tangled fur, like baleful spotlights zeroing in on their target. And from the look of things, that target was the tiny animal between his hands.

In his shock, Yoshikage's hold on the small rodent loosened enough that it was able to squeeze out of his grip, hitting the stones beneath them and bolting off towards the shrubs that bordered the garden. Before the young boy was even able to react, the giant feline exploded into action. In a split-second it had traversed half of the not-inconsiderable breadth and pounced on the unfortunate gerbil. The cat's mouth was locked around his pet's neck, already having crushed its spine between dagger-like teeth while droplets of the gerbil's lifeblood leaked out of the wounds and onto the ground.

Yoshikage's blue eyes were wide, his mouth agape at the brutal spectacle before him. Yet no tears fell, and no shrill screams escaped his throat. Rather, he stood there and watched, intrigued. Where other children would have ran crying to their parents, the young Kira boy merely observed with morbid curiosity as his pet was devoured by the massive hunter, listening out for and memorising every crunch of bone or tear of flesh. As he watched, Kira began to notice how rugged the cat looked. Its ears were torn in various places and it had a long scars lining its body, telling of many hard-fought battles. He realised that this wasn't just some house cat that had wandered into his garden; it was a true survivor of the streets that lived how it pleased, dominating the food chain and bringing its judgment upon every creature it crossed paths with. As the top predator, it had the unrestricted right to kill.

Seeing the murder of a creature stirred something deep within Yoshikage, something that had laid dormant until then. It was like a void in his stomach that he didn't even know existed before now had opened its maw and demanded to be filled. The grizzled feline before him was unlike any animal he had ever seen. He had seen stronger, deadlier animals at the zoo before, of course, but they were little more than glorified pets who relied on human handouts, completely restricted by what their owners decided. This cat, though? It was truly without anything to hold it back and lived by its own rules. It was free to sleep, free to eat, free to roam and live however it pleased.

Free to kill.

Having seen enough, the blonde boy stood up and walked back into his house. The hungry feline looked up momentarily at the movement, though turned back to its meal once the human was out of sight. Yoshikage made nary a sound as he moved across the wooden floorboards, his face completely straight with purpose-filled eyes locked dead ahead.

A short while later, he walked back outside with a second gerbil.


The serial killer had finally calmed down, glistening beads of sweat gone from his brow and breathing once again normal. He looked down at the watch on his wrist, surprised to see that it was already 11:25. At that moment he realised he was a now quarter of an hour late for his lunch, a fact both the watch and his growling stomach reminded him of.

"Hmm. I suppose it's about time to eat. Don't you, Naoko?" Kira whispered to the limb in his jacket. The murderer stood up and scanned the area for possible trouble, peeking out from behind the hedges. Content that no witnesses were nearby, he gently lifted the disembodied hand from his pocket and set it to work opening the sandwich wrapper. Its dead fingers moved back and forth as if they were alive, deftly removing the plastic wrapper as Kira controlled the severed tendons with incredible dexterity. In no time at all the sandwich was sitting in her palm, tantalising and ready to be eaten.

"Now, would you like the first taste or should I take it?" he said to the hand, looking down at it lovingly. He paused for an answer, then laughed softly at the reply. "Why, thank you. You're far too good to me."

A serene smile spread over Kira's face as he savoured his first bite and looked out over the pond, watching a mallard lead a trail of ducklings into the safety of the reeds. Yes, he was truly, utterly safe amongst the creatures of the wild, for not one of them could threaten those at the top of the food chain. And in this concrete jungle, he was the ultimate predator.

-To be continued in chapter 3: Dinner For Two-


And that's the first half of this story arc.

While I'm here, I'm gonna address some things I may have left a little too unclear. This version of the MonMusu world is still in 1999, since the year didn't matter as much in its story as it did in DiU (1999 BIZARRE SUMMER). They still have all their modern technology, though, which is okay since JoJo's German army already had cyborgs and truth serum in the late 1930s. It's also not in a city anymore but rather somewhere like Morioh, since I feel Kira would have noped the fuck out of there to live somewhere else the moment he discovered the place could be described as something bigger than "large town".

Also, everyone should check out the Manga "Ana Satsujin". It's pretty good.