[And that's checkmate], signed Shizune.
Joshiro paused for a minute. "What was the last part she mentioned?" he asked Misha.
"She called checkmate." Misha replied.
[Oh, right.] he replied. "Thanks"
[You seem to be getting better at this.] Shizune signed.
[Chess or sign language?] Joshiro replied.
[Both]
[Yeah. Those classes do help with the second, surprisingly, but I don't know about the first. All I know is you're still kicking my butt.]
Shizune giggled, [Your strategy is improving. You are getting more deliberate with the techniques I showed you.]
It was kinda weird. As Council President, she seemed like a big hardass, but when she's really in her element. She's incredibly playful.
[Well, I'll take your word for it.]
[So.] signed Misha. [What's left for Tanabata?]
[We're pretty much done with the stalls.] Shizune replied, [I think we are practically set for that.]
[Thank God.] Joshiro signed. [Between preparing the School Festival and Tanabata I am beat.]
[But one other thing has crossed my mind. You mentioned someone was controlling Lilly's mind back then.]
[I guess I never told you.] Joshiro replied to Shizune. [Alys is a vampire and private assassin responsible for countless killings and assassinations]
"JFK?" Misha asked him.
"Possibly. I don't know." [I ran into him by accident and he seems to be building his own thing now. I overheard something about stand users.]
[Stand users?] asked Shizune
[People who can summon fighting spirits like us. I guess no one has expressed the term in sign before.]
[I guess we have to make sure Alys' minions won't attack the school again,] Misha replied.
Shizune buried her chin in her hands for several moments
[You have an idea?] Joshiro asked
[No…it's nothing.] replied Shizune.
As he was leaving, Misha gave him a package and said, "Make sure to give this to Kenji tomorrow morning."
"Oh, hell no." he muttered to himself as he took the package.
The next morning, after nearly tripping over it, he attempted to mentally prepare himself for the task of delivering the package to the one and only Kenji Setou.
Joshiro put down the package and knocked on his door. He heard what seemed like a bazillion locks unbolt and he opens the door, saying.
"What the hell is this?"
"Your mail."
"Who's to say you didn't mail me a bomb?"
"Why the heck would I deliver a bomb!? I would blow the whole frickin' dormitory wing up."
"That's what those bitches at the Student Council want. They are already outnumbering men by a small margin. They only need to make the next move to increase that margin! You know you're betraying your own kind by agreeing to their schemes"
He ran to the neighbor and bashed on the door. Hisao came out groggy, "What is it?"
"Hurry! There's a bomb in this package and we're gonna diffuse it."
"A bomb? How the hell would a bomb get cleared to be delivered? There's no way…"
"This is the Student Council we're talking about. They run this shit! We better do this right."
Kenji tore open the package with a surprising lack of caution, considering his theory, and looked inside.
"Oh, false alarm. That's just my mail."
Joshiro gestured his arms out as if to say, "What did I tell you?"
"I still have my eyes on you, Joshiro Sanjo." Kenji said as Joshiro walked out. "Humanity will prevail."
Hisao made a facepalm.
"So if you thought that bomb scare was bad, wait until you hear what happened to me at the convenience store the other day…"
This was the last thing Hisao wanted to hear while finding out the vending machine was out of his favorite coffee. He decided to get the juice instead and braced himself for the rest of whatever rant Kenji was going on.
"…she told me not to bother her because 'she was sick'. Look, I get diarrhea a lot, but you don't see me complaining about it! And here she is refusing to deal with a milk carton without a frickin' price tag on it because she has a little sniffle."
"Maybe all that milk is what's giving you the diarrhea." Hisao mumbled
"Not bothering me. That's what keeping me strong for the inevitable female invasion. I heard a rumor…around…that the student council, including Sanjo, has superpowers of some sort, like, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure type shit. Makes me even more afraid of whatever the hell they're planning in there."
Kenji saw Lilly coming towards them and said, "Oh shit! Run while you can!" and bolted off.
"You finally out of the hospital?" he asked.
"Yes" she said. "The doctors only had me for a couple days at the beginning, but they wanted me back several weeks later and they kept asking me questions about the whole thing. It was a pain."
"What happened that caused you to act like that?"
"It was a bad infection that I got while in England. This kind of stuff happens when you go far away. It caused some minor neurological damage that was treated real easily."
Hisao was kind of confused but took her word for it. "Anything permanent?"
"Not really, it was easily reversible. In fact, Hanako and Joshiro, especially, helped a whole lot encouraging me," she giggled "Funny enough, Shizune and Misha even pitched in a little as well"
"I never got the feeling you two even got along."
Lilly shook her head. "We butt heads from time to time, and my brief stint on the Student Council got a bit heated to the point I didn't really want to bother considering I'm representative already, but, for the most part, we do get along decently. In fact, me and Akira are going to her house during summer break if you want to join…"
"Sure. Why not?"
As the Student Council arrived at the Shanghai, they were greeted by Yuuko, who dramatically bowed as she said, "W-welcome!"
"Don't worry about that." said Misha. "It's just us."
"It's kind of my job…" Yuuko replied.
Misha and Shizune order coffee while Joshiro orders tea.
"I see a lot of Lilly in you…" said Misha.
"What makes you say that?" Joshiro replied, "my right eye?"
"No…your tea preference."
"Oh. I just don't drink coffee later in the day"
"Right…and you certainly weren't hanging out with them while we could've used your help." Misha replied.
"No. I was actually going to class…like the good representative I'm supposed to be."
[We managed to get Tanabata prepared much earlier than expected thanks to you,] Shizune chimed in.
[Are you gonna wear a yukata tomorrow, JoJo?] asked Misha
[I may have one…but I don't think I brought it.] Joshiro replied.
[Aw man. That sucks. We'll be wearing them though!] Misha replied.
[I think it's the first time we're able to wear them.] Shizune added.
[Oh, yeah.] Misha replied [Last year, Shiichan, Lilly, and I were running a soba stand! Shiichan kept complaining how you wanted to take orders from customers instead of Lilly and let her do the cooking!]
[That makes no sense,] Joshiro replied.
[It eliminates the need for Misha to act as a middleman, making it more efficient.] Shizune replied
[Yeah, but your deafness and Lilly's blindness would make you taking orders and her cooking a little difficult.]
Shizune had to let that sink in. She turned red at the idea that she had to admit he was right. Misha burst out in laughter.
[Let's just have fun tomorrow…] Shizune replied.
"So, Lord Alys. What are we going to do now that our little mole was compromised?"
"There's a couple more where that came from, Sinatra. One of them is right under their noses."
"Let's hope this works…we can't afford for them to become allies with another one of our stand users."
"You think I sent another mind-controlled slave? That's not my style. I have many who are loyal to me. Two who chose to join the cause willingly will be much more effective than some brain slug zombie, I can promise you that!"
Hisao woke up. "Another dream. Why do I keep getting ones with the Sinatra guy and that bearded man?"
It was six hours before most sane people arise on a holiday, but Hisao decided to go ahead and take his medication and wake up. After being too full, after taking his 17 prescribed medications, for breakfast, he decided to take a walk outside. With very few people outside, it was about as serene as he could have wished.
He walked about the courtyard and found Rin. "Hey," she said.
"Hey," he said back.
"I managed to do much better on this mural. Wanna see?" she said as she moved towards a very festive mural around the same spot she did the last one.
"I used a large variety of colors for this one. Decided on a black background that really made them pop."
"I see what you mean. Looks very…festive."
"Of course. It's for Tanabata. It's supposed to be that way."
"I mean…yeah."
They stood in awkward silence for a while.
She glared at him for a second and said "You look a little tuckered out…"
"Well, I don't get a whole lot of sleep due to after-effects of my medication-"
"More than usual"
"I had this weird nightmare last night. There seems to be some pattern. This one guy with a beard, I think his name is Alys or something, and this other guy named Sinatra is plotting something or other. I don't know why I keep these dreams keep interconnecting."
"Well, you're lucky. I always have this really nice dream, like I'm flying through clouds or I'm with some dreamy guy, or something, but then I wake up before it gets interesting, so I go back to sleep to try and continue the dream and then it's about trains or some crap. It's really tragic. I want that power you have to continue the plotline of a dream. Hey, maybe that's why you were admitted here."
"No, it's the heart condition. We talked about this. Besides, the Academy caters to physical disabilities, not psychological ones like some weird lucid dream power."
"Oh. My bad."
"Are you looking forward to tonight?"
"Not particularly. It's not like I can easily wear a yukata or anything. The prospect of the food sounds pretty good though…"
Joshiro and Emi do their regular run on the track. As usual, Emi always seemed to be one step ahead of him. He suspected for a while that the prostheses gave her an unfair advantage. He also briefly suspected her power on the track was some stand ability, but he ruled that out.
"Well. You sure are breaking less of a sweat. Are you giving up on beating me, or what?" Emi said after they were done.
"Not yet. But it's becoming more and more obvious how insane you are at this."
"I mean, these things are good." she replied while bouncing up and down on her prosthetic legs, "but your leg muscles have the potential to grow. I'm limited to what I got."
"I guess you're right." said Joshiro "By the way, I was looking for some extra gloves for my lab class and I happened to stumble upon something…*chuckle*…interesting"
"And what was it?"
"A conspicuous bottle labeled 'Personal lubricant, lemon flavored'"
"Oh, I know exactly what that's being used for"
"What?"
"You, know," she said before cracking a devious smirk "Anal."
Joshiro doesn't even try to suppress a snicker and laughs loudly like a kid hearing the word "penis" in Health class. "I guess I should have expected that."
"Yeah, the track captain's pretty wild about that. I found out the hard way that he prefers to have his 'clandestine encounters' with other dudes when I developed a crush for him and he, naturally, wasn't interested."
"Bummer. That must have really sucked!"
"Eh…romance isn't really my thing anyway. Kinda distracting. Besides, the adrenaline you get from running is better than sex!"
"Well then…" Joshiro replied, "I'm glad to be your partner then!"
"You never cease to amaze me with your stupid humor."
After his run and shower, Joshiro decided to rest for a while. He didn't really know what to do. He did all the studying he really needed, no one was trying to kill him. After a couple hours of watching TV and a bit of reading, he decided to look in his closet to decide what the hell he was going to wear.
Sure enough, he did have a yukata. It was basic, two tone, navy blue. But it will work.
He managed to meet up with Shizune and Misha at the front gate. Shizune waved hello.
"You did have a yukata!" said Misha
"You managed to add another drill. Why am I not surprised?" Joshiro replied.
[It suits you,] Shizune signed to Joshiro, pointing to his yukata.
[What? Because it's cheap?] Joshiro replied
[No,] she replied giggling [It's straightforward]
[Okay.] he replied [That makes sense]
The two made a mad dash towards to the stalls in town. When they arrived, a crisis arose.
[I wonder what flavor of snow cone I should get?] Joshiro said as he approached a shaved
[You should get red!] Misha replied
[Red's not a flavor, Misha] Shizune replied
[I agree. It's too general. Are we talking strawberry? Cherry? Watermelon?] Joshiro added.
"JoJo~! Why are you taking her side?" Misha demanded.
"I'll make it up to you. I promise."
[You should get plain, to match your yukata] Shizune commented
[Now that I know sign language. I really know how savage you really are.]
Shizune giggled
[But plain isn't a flavor,] Joshiro added
For the second time, Shizune looked defeated.
[I was starting to get tired. But I need to see how this goes] said Misha
After a few more minutes of browsing, Shizune said, [Well, I'm tired. Let's start heading back]
As they were heading back, a girl nearly ran into them. She had an eyepatch on her left eye. The same as Joshiro's, "Oh, I'm sorry," she said before running off.
[Could it be?] Misha asked Shizune.
[Haruno Diemci was expelled, remember? There's no way…]
They looked out in the field
[The field's pretty nice tonight] Shizune signed
"It would be much more romantic if it were only two of us" Joshiro jokingly said to Misha, who laughed as Shizune glared to see what they were talking about.
Summer break was coming up, and he was invited to spend the week with Shizune's family with her. Misha and Shizune met him in the dorm hallway after his running and a quick shower.
[Your hair's wet] signed Shizune.
[You're here early. Misha was right]
[Are you saying you want to race?]
[Already did that with Emi. That's why I just got out of the shower.]
[Did you win?]
[Hell no]
Misha ran up the hallway with a giant, green, suitcase that looked like it could be used for transporting bodies. Knowing Misha, God knows what could be in it. "Sorry, I'm late JoJo!"
While Shizune was wearing a sharp-looking dress, Misha…
"Bush/Cheney 2004?" Joshiro inquired
"I like this shirt!" she retorted
[You have any idea why Misha has a foreign campaign shirt?] he asked Shizune
[Beats me…]
Lilly told Hisao to meet her near the gate. When he arrived, she was with another blonde with shorter hair and more androgynous features. "Hello, Hisao. I'm Lilly's sister, Akira."
"I was just about to introduce you to him, Akira." said Lilly "How do you know so quickly?"
"I guess I'm just good with names."
Akira's driving was quite chaotic. She struggled to stay in the left lane and almost ran a sign. "Sorry, for asking, but have you had anything to drink recently?" Lilly cautiously asked.
"Oh. Sorry." Akira frantically said. "I bought the car recently. Still getting used to it."
Lilly looked a little faint.
"You alright?" Hisao asked.
"Yes. I just have a bad feeling, that's all."
Joshiro and the student council's trip on the train was much smoother, so smooth that Shizune and Misha fell asleep
They eventually reached Shizune's house
[Nice mansion.] signed Joshiro.
[It's just a normal house…nothing that ostentatious] Shizune replied.
"A little big to be 'just a house'," he muttered to himself.
They entered and Lilly, Akira, and Hisao were already there.
"Oh, hello. Didn't expect you to see you so early," said Lilly
[Lilly says she didn't expect to see you so early], Misha translated
[I should have rearranged my entire schedule for you.]
"Shizune said that she'll have to rearrange her schedule then..." Joshiro translated.
"My, my. She's gotten a sense of humor from you." Lilly replied.
"Well, technically that was my sense of humor, since that was my translation."
"I see those classes really helped."
"C'mon, JoJo." said Misha. "I was about to translate that…"
"First dibs. Besides, it loses the sarcastic flair translated literally," Joshiro replied, signing to Shizune that he caught the sass.
[I was being contentious, not sarcastic]
[Well. It will help to lighten up.]
Another person entered the room. "Hey, Shizune's sister. I'm Joshiro"
"I'm not her sister, I'm her brother, Hideaki."
Joshiro's face flushed with embarrassment. "My bad."
Lilly and Misha starting laughing. Misha's was, naturally, more raucus.
"You look so much like…Nevermind, I'm digging myself a grave already."
"Anyway." Hideaki replied. "Do you guys fish?"
"Not really." Hisao replied. "I kind of want to learn, as I heard it's relaxing."
"We could just get some from the store…" said Lilly.
"Yeah. But where's the fun in that? We could make it a competition!" Misha said.
"I can drive over there if distance is an issue." Akira said. "However…I don't think I can fit all seven in my car."
"I'm with Lilly on this one." said Joshiro. "I'd rather sit this one out."
"You don't like fishing, JoJo?" Misha replied.
"Was never lucky with this sort of thing."
"Well, that leaves six." said Akira. "Maybe if Hideaki sits on my-"
"No"
"I'm sitting this out too." said Lilly. "I'm a little carsick."
"Okay. We'll bring you some afterwards. Let's do this!"
After they packed the car and after a car ride that left Shizune on the edge of her seat in excitement and Misha wanting peace to sleep, they arrived.
"Okay." Said Akira, rubbing her hands together. "How are we gonna separate the five of us?"
"This is no good! We don't have even numbers!" Misha replied.
"Well, I have no idea how fishing works," Akira replied "So…"
"Me and Shiichan vs. Hiichan and Hideaki. That way it's boys vs. girls!"
"No, I actually want to try."
[Let's just do it individually,] Shizune tried to sign, but Misha was distracted. She tapped on Misha's shoulder and relayed the message again.
[Oh, sorry.] Misha replied "Shiichan wants to do it individually"
"Not a bad idea." Akira replied "Let's try that"
Hideaki explains how the line works to Hisao and he quickly gets the hang of it.
"So, I guess you and Shizune know each other?" he asked Akira
"Well…"
"Did you just forget that we are cousins?" said Hideaki
"Oh, sorry. Spaced out. Yes! We go wayyy back!" Akira replied
"Good to know." Hisao replied
Joshiro was watching TV in the living room. Lilly was reading.
He was flipping through channels and ended up watching American programming
"Oh, you can understand English too?"
"Yeah. I have…relatives who are…foreign"
"Interesting. I'm part-Scottish. So, English comes naturally to me. Plus, most of my braille books are actually English."
"Oh, really. I wouldn't really know since I don't know braille to begin with."
"You sure picked up sign language pretty quickly."
"Speaking of which, this may be a sensitive question, but I heard you used to be in Student Council, was it difficult to communicate with Shizune?"
She giggled. "Very. Sure, Misha was there, but that led to a completely different problem of having to take her seriously"
"Yeah. She can be a nutcase. Plus, even with the interpreter, it's hard to really tell how she feels unless you can be in the moment. Being blind and not able to read sign language must have been the salt on the wound."
"I'm jealous, Joshiro. Being with a cute girl only you can understand."
"I'm not her girlfriend," he said abrubtly
"I'm sorry. I must have given the wrong impression."
"No. It would be…extremely awkward to have a girlfriend so far from home"
"Oh. Really? Where are you from?"
He seemed not to want to give that answer and the awkward silence was broken when Misha loudly exclaimed "We're back!" with their catch of fish.
The next morning, Joshiro woke up and saw Lilly and Hideaki about to eat breakfast.
"Morning", they exchanged to each other.
"Uh…" Joshiro started to ask Hideaki, trying not to say anything else super awkward "Where did Misha and Shizune run off to?"
"They're running errands for Dad"
"Alright…" he replied
Hisao later joined them. "Do the two families usually get along as well as they do last night?" he eventually got to asking
"Not really…" Hideaki replied "Our fathers are brothers and they don't particularly like each other"
"That clears up a lot of things" he replied
They were eating in awkward silence and Joshiro was about to leave when Misha arrived and covered his eyes. "Guess who?"
"Misha…"
"Right, JoJo! How did you know?"
"Who aside from you and kidnappers would pull a stunt like that?"
"Who says she isn't a kidnapper?" Hideaki added.
"That would explain her enormous luggage," Joshiro said
Misha started wahahing uncontrollably
He, Misha, and Hideaki walked into the living room where he met, no, encountered the hulking man with a huge katana strapped to his waist who happened to be Shizune's father.
"Hello! You must be Shizune's other friend. Slept well?"
"Pretty well. Nice to meet you." Joshiro replied cautiously, recieving a handshake that nearly cut the circulation in his arm. When he released his hand, her father gave him, along with an aching arm, his business card. "Jigoro Hakamichi, Contractor, Office Hours 8-6"
"So is the Student Council that busy Shizune has to bring her friends wherever she goes?"
[It's a vacation…] Shizune signed after he translated that.
"This is just for fun…" Joshiro replied to Jigoro. "So how did you get into contracting?"
"Well that's an odd question. Are you some kind of tax man?" Jigoro replied.
"JoJo ain't some tax collector's boy!" Misha commented "What do your parents do, anyway?"
"Auditing…"
"Well, you must know," Jigoro continued "I met a guy while working in a Consulting firm during a convention overseas that offered a job much more benefiting of my…stature. So now I do contract work for him."
He nodded.
"Oh, and thanks a lot for using our expensive fishing equipment and not even putting it up correctly…"
"I'll take care of it…" Joshiro muttered
[Don't feel pressured to do it. You didn't even fish with us.]
[Alright. Sorry] Joshiro replied "Nevermind, I guess you had to be there…" and went to finish his breakfast with Lilly
"There weren't even enough poles for all of you!" Jigoro continued without a second thought to Joshiro. "What was you guys' though process…"
"Well," Hisao started "Five of us went and we couldn't do it at the same time, so first it was just me, Akira, Hideaki, and Mish-"
"Just stop…" Jigoro interrupted. "Are all delinquents like this? Sweater vest just screams 'I am a digrace to my family'. Smartass Jabroni over there has the right idea: simple yet effective collared shirt."
"Well, that was a very hearty breakfast you brought back. I'm stuffed!" said Misha. "Let's go get some fresh air, Shiichan and JoJo. Hiichan, you too!"
They all went outside with Shizune looking very uncomfortable.
"Smartass Jabroni?" Joshiro commented while finishing the sausage he was eating while the whole argument went down, with Shizune asking him how he was able to pay attention to all that from the other room away.
"Well so much for 'gracious host', that felt like an interrogation!" Misha said
Shizune started angrily ranting in sign language with heavily punctuated gestures.
[I don't recognize half of those words.] Joshiro replied.
[Sorry. I keep forgetting you have yet to learn how to sign profanity]
"Don't take it so hard Hiichan!" Misha said "Shiichan's daddy is like this to everyone. It's kind of his…joke"
"Well, that was the most aggressive joke possible"
"Well," Misha replied. "Let's get away from the house and do some shopping!"
Later, Joshiro was studying up on sign language online in an attempt to catch some of the dialects, among other things, and possible secret signals Shizune and Misha started using after he picked it up.
"What are you reading?" Hisao said, looking over his shoulder
"Doing some studying on sign language. Mainly stuff that we don't really cover in class."
"Can you teach me?"
"Well, I'm still an amateur, and there was definitely some 'French' that Shizune used earlier that I'm still not familiar with"
"Oh, alright."
[Hey, Joshiro. I went back and bought those collared shirts you were eyeing yesterday.] Shizune said, entering.
[Yeah, thanks.]
Jigoro enters unexpectedly. "Afternoon, Sanjo."
"Mr. Hakamichi…"
"Say, what were you doing just then with your hands? Something girly you picked up; like, Cat's Cradle or something?"
"Just talking to Shizune."
"Talking?"
"Sign language, sir"
Jigoro chuckled a little bit. "I've heard a good deal about you and I expected more from you than you than believing in something as ridiculous as 'sign language'. I mean, your fashion sense is way superior than that sweater-vest jackass. But you didn't have to buy all those shirts on my account…"
"Hey, JoJo! Hisao! Mr. Shizune's dad!" said Misha, entering from the same door as Jigoro
"That's Mr. Hakamichi to you. Talk normally."
"Like the new haircut, Misha" said Hisao.
Misha's hair no longer sported her signature drills and she now sported a bob style haircut
"Shut up, sweater vest." Jigoro replied. "Looks like an intern haircut. At least the last one looked like she could be a Judge."
"The old one looked more like a pink Founding Father to me." Joshiro replied. "I think you look very cute."
"Waha! Well it certaintly wasn't for you, JoJo!" she replied. She then looked suddenly embarrassed and left suddenly.
"I guess I wasn't wrong in calling you a jabroni, Sanjo, you really need to work on your skills with the ladies." Jigoro replied. "By the way, do you want to preorder my autobiography?"
"Not now. I'm gonna head to my room," he replied, taking his laptop.
"I'll get someone in touch soon!" he replied
Joshiro went into his room to get away from Jigoro's raucousness. He then heard one of the phones go off in the room. He picked it up.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Who's this?" Akira answered. "Did I get the wrong number again?"
"This is the Hakamichi residence. I'm a friend of Lilly. We met a couple days ago when me and Shizune arrived, remember?"
"No, we didn't. I only just now got off work, but I found out my car and wallet got stolen and I need someone to come help pick me up."
"I can help you. Meet me at Yamaku. I'll head out right now."
Joshiro had to sit down to process what was going on. Was that Akira he met earlier the real Akira?
Shizune then burst into the room.
"Shizune? What's going on!?" Joshiro instinctively asked verbally.
She rushed up close and put her hand on his face to shush him…and decided to sit on his lap.
[Is this the kind of shit you're into?] Joshiro asked, signing this time.
[Enough with the cute stuff and tell me what you can hear what my dad and Akira are saying from outside.]
[It's hard to hear. They're kind of speaking softly.] Joshiro responded.
[I wanted to tell you earlier that I think my father may be working for Alys.]
[So he's a jackass and an enemy stand user.]
[Akira may have been possessed like Lilly was as well.]
[I don't think so. She called the house a couple minutes ago and said she only got off work today.]
[So it's something else.]
[Get off me. This is weird]
[Sorry. I got a little carried away,] she replied, and they both stood up.
[I'm going to the school. I'll figure out what's going on.]
As he was leaving, he saw whom he'd previously assumed was Akira. He used the opportunity to use Holy Diver to covertly scour her pockets and indeed found her wallet and keys.
He quickly walked out before "Akira" was able to notice.
He found Akira's car and decided to take the opportunity to bring it back to its rightful owner. He had to be careful. Not only was he was he still under the legal driving age in Japan, but it may have been already reported to the police.
"I wanted to apologize to JoJo for that little outburst earlier." Misha said.
"Check his room. Last time I knew, he went in there," Hisao replied.
They went inside, only to find a note. "Sanjou: I got your girl (who HAPPENS TO BE MY DAUGHTER). If you wanna see her again, come and get her. I'll be in the courtyard."
"Pretty sure the only one JoJo's interested in is me," Misha responded
"What makes you think that?"
"The weird flirting."
"I'm pretty sure that's just him being a 'smartass jabroni'"
"Wait, a second…MR. SHIZUNE'S DAD KIDNAPPED SHIICHAN. THAT SON OF A BITCH!" she realized before storming out.
"Hang on!" Hisao said before making an attempt to catch up with her before realizing his heart probably won't let him.
Joshiro somehow made it to the school without running into legal trouble. He met Akira at the front of the school, who responded…
"Give it back, bitch!" and pulled out several knives out of thin air.
Joshiro pulled out Holy Diver in retaliation. "Easy. I'm the person you talked to on the phone."
"Oh. My mistake." Akira replied. "Sanjou, right? You know who took it?"
"Yourself."
"Weird. Be on the lookout. That's a tough looking stand, though. It should do the trick. I can take you back if you want."
"Just a second. I left a book I want to also read in my dorm room."
As soon as he reached his dorm room, he met with…Misha!?
"How did you get here?"
"I caught a train. I had to tell you I'm sorry for earlier."
"No need to apologize. That was nothing."
He went into the room and grabbed his book. She sat on the chair.
"Is it true you have feelings for me?"
He cocked his head to think as he sat on the bed. "I don't honestly know. Maybe? It's weird. I'm so busy with other things. Love is the last thing on my mind."
"You're so silly!"
"Quiet. You're not supposed to be here."
"Sorry." she said, surprisingly going to tears and moving next to Joshiro. "There was someone completely different I want to confess my feelings to, but that person will never let me…"
"I'm sorry. I didn't really understand all those wisecracks I made had that much of an effect on you."
"It's okay…" Misha replied. "If you actually have feelings for me, then please comfort me, Joshiro, just for tonight."
He hugged her tightly.
"What?"
"I'm comforting you."
"No, you dork, in another way. You know…"
He was, in reality, using this as an opportunity to sneak attack her with Holy Diver…but right before he could get the hit in, he was somehow pinned to the wall by some blue gelatin looking thing. His hunch was correct, she wasn't Misha.
"Remember me?" said the girl that ran into him at Tanabata.
"Haruno Diemci, wasn't it?"
"Correctamundo, you thief."
"That wallet and keys weren't your's to begin with. And you forgot two things. One: I am currently 17, which is under this prefecture's age of consent; two: Misha, even depressed, will never call me Joshiro."
"No matter. Alys promised you would be all mine forever if I managed to defeat you with my unbeatable stand, It's Tricky."
"Well, Diemci, I would concede, but I realized you forgot another thing. I'll give you a hint. It has to do with my stand."
He then used Holy Diver to disable her and her stand while she was still which then released him from its clutches.
He ran out as fast as he could to escape to Akira's car with the five second window his stand gave.
Misha found Jigoro outside. Shizune was out cold next to him. "I've only put a couple sleeping pills in her drink. She should be fine once I'm done dealing with loverboy, sweater vest, and her pink intern sidekick"
Misha summoned The Hand and yelled "If you want the one who loves her, you're looking right at her! She's pissed and about to kick your ass!"
"Well, that's a surprise." Jigoro replied "I take that back. Not really. The garish hair color gives it all away."
"Do you wanna repeat what you just said about my hair!?"
"No matter. Anyone who wants Shizune has to go through me." Jigoro said. He pulled out his sword, which then transferred to his armored metal stand. "Besides. Alys told me to get rid of you all anyway."
Hisao then ran out and saw what was going on, including the stands. He panicked "What the hell!?"
"So, you can indeed see them as well." Jigoro responded. "Draw your piece!"
"What?"
"Don't tell me. You haven't summoned your stand. Alys was certain it was your stand that was giving him shitty vibes for several nights."
"Huh?"
"Get out of the way before you give yourself a heart attack, Sweater Vest"
Misha charged blindly and tried to close the difference between Jigoro and his stand using the Hand to erase the space between them. Bad idea, as that gave his stand to take a swing at Misha. She dodged the blade swing, but it managed to punch her after the swing, sending her way back.
"It's dangerous to get pissed off fighting against Killswitch. It's strength with any weapon I give it is twice my own. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty strong myself."
Misha was in a pinch. She had little opening to attack Jigoro. Hisao was just trying to figure out what was going on without irritating his heart.
Jigoro moved in for a blow, but Misha used her stand to position herself away to make a blow, but Killswitch grabbed The Hand by the wrist.
"Say your prayers, Mikado!" Jigoro said before attempting to make the killing blow. However, his balance was dropped as he felt a sharp pain down his knee.
Shizune had just woken up and used Emperor to shoot him in the knee.
"You ungrateful daughter!" he replied
[Sorry. Speak up. I can't hear you.]
While Jigoro was distracted, Misha was able to get in a position to attack his stand. Before he could use Killswitch's sword to counterattack, Misha used The Hand to erase it.
Frustrated, he tossed the hilt away and tried to punch The Hand with Killswitch, only to receive a punch in the face from her stand, knocking him down in a corner of the courtyard. With his knee, he struggled to stand up, and he was surrounded by Misha and Shizune. Not to mention the police had shown up.
[Misha.] Shizune said, concerned. [I understand how you feel about me, but...]
[Don't fret, Shiichan. What's passed is passed. I can't afford to stress about things like that anymore]
"I want my phone call." Jigoro said.
Joshiro had to catch his breath for a second. He had reached the track field and was sure he had shaken off Haruno. "Let's hope that's it. I don't know how I'm gonna deal with that stand."
Akira had run over "JoJo, is everything alright? You were gone for a while?"
Joshiro summoned Holy Diver. "Shit! I forgot again!" she replied and released the gelatin from It's Tricky to punch Joshiro several meters in the direction of the storage shed
He had an idea when he landed. He ran as fast as he could towards the shed. He found it was very cluttered. He ended up knocking over several things. Though he intentionally kicked over one of the articles intentionally.
Haruno entered the shed and restrained him with It's Tricky. "What a perfect place. No curfew or any of the other rules that got me expelled will get in our way."
"Be careful. I happened to spill some suspicious lubricant the track captain conveniently left in here."
She still rushed in and slipped. "The only thing your ass is going to be is kicked."
Before she could maintain her footing...
"MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!...
MUDAA!"
She was launched far out of the shed and he wasn't able to find her. He assumed she ran off.
On a later day, Joshiro and Akira met with Shizune and Misha at the station.
[I worked everything out with some people I'm in contact with called the Speedwagon Foundation] said Joshiro. [They'll ensure your father gets the justice he deserves.]
[It's still bittersweet.] Shizune replied. [He was still my father.]
[True.]
[I'm still glad we got to spend time together. That was fun.] Misha replied.
[Oh, you ditched the eyepatch?] Shizune said to Joshiro, who had uncovered his blind eye
[Decided to follow Misha's example and try to change my image.]
"Still making dumb wisecracks." she replied verbally.
"Did you confess to her afterwards?" he asked.
"Did Diemci spill the beans on that?" she replied.
"Basically"
"I'm over it. It didn't work out the first time I tried long ago and it won't now. I have more important Student Council things to stress over now," she said hugging both of them.
[What are you talking about?] Shizune asked.
[It's none of your business.] Joshiro replied.
Shizune mockingly stuck her tongue out
[Let's eat. I'm famished!] Misha replied.
=TO BE CONTINUED=
STAND NAME: ?
STAND MASTER: Hisao Nakai
ABILITY: Unknown, but likely the cause of his visions of Alys during the night
Power: ?
Speed: ?
Range: ?
Durability: ?
Precision: ?
Development Potential: ?
STAND NAME: Sabotage
STAND MASTER: Akira Satou
ABILITY: Six knives the user can summon and control their trajectory when thrown
Power: B
Speed: A
Range: D
Durability: D
Precision: A
Development Potential: C
STAND NAME: Killswitch
STAND MASTER: Jigoro Hakamichi
ABILITY: Can carry any weapon the user desires and enhance its strength
Power: B
Speed: D
Range: C
Durability: B
Precision: C
Development Potential: E
STAND NAME: It's Tricky
STAND MASTER: Haruno Diemci
ABILITY: Can disguise the user as another. Can hit with a lot of force and even restrain an unsuspecting opponent
Power: B
Speed: A
Range: C
Durability: A
Precision: D
Development Potential: B