"Crap...where did I leave my backpack?" Joshua Jiu, heavily wounded, propped himself against the hallway of his new school. His head was spinning, and his arms were dead. The hero of flight number 2521 may have escaped the jaws of death, but its cold hands still follow, menacingly.

Josh sank to the floor, not even having the mental strength to summon his Stand. Imagine the school finding him like this tomorrow.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?" A voice spoke to him. Who was it? His head was too dizzy to make it out. "You're right in the hallway. He could still find you. C'mon."

Whoever that was, he felt they wrap an arm around his shoulder and carried him somewhere that took a quite number of turns.

"Yo, Andrew, help me out here." He heard the voice say.

"The nurse's closed," another said. "Come back tomorrow."

"Bitch quit your yapping, this guy needs help."

"Send him to the hospital then. The school nurse isn't equipped to handle celebrities."

"He got attacked. Call out your Stand."

"Stand?" Voice B said. "Why do I need to stand?"

Voice A took a deep breath. "You still owe me from last time."

"...Fine." B said. "Close the door."

Someone did, presumably A, and he even heard the lock getting turned.

"Put him here."

He felt himself getting placed on a chair. The arm around him was let go.

"All right, this is gonna hurt a little." The sound of B was closer. Was he standing in front of him? "「Dr. Dre」."

There was not a sound, not at all, but he definitely felt the presence of someone, no, something, appear.

"Okay, so all of his ribs are broken, and the nerves in his arm are completely dead. The internal bleeding is out of control. Jesus, Miller, who did this?"

"My brother."

"Poor guy."

A strange and eerie sound was made. The low and steady humming was like one of those UFOs from old school alien movies.

Then came the pain.

Something wrapped around his mouth to block out his screaming. He squirmed uselessly as a strange, metal sensation rubbed over his arms and chest. Was he getting...probed?

"Damn, was it ever that painful?"

"The more material I use, the better the effect, and stronger the sensation. Blame your brother for this. This was necessary."

His arm. He could feel it again. He could feel the blood flowing through his arm, pulsing with joy. What was happening? When his mind was no longer fuzzy, and his blurry vision dispersed, he saw an alien. At least he thought it was. Tall and gray, the thing had sharp blades protruding from its shoulders, its huge eyes glowed a soulless red.

"Welcome back to Earth," Voice B said, who turned out to be a tan skinned youth wearing a lab coat.

"Yo." And sitting next to him was the JROTC kid.

"You...!" Josh, by instinct, tried to move, but his body was more sluggish than he ever thought it would be. More so than his armor.

"Don't strain yourself," the kid who wore the lab coat said, hands shoved in pockets. The alien thing faded inside of him. That was a Stand? "Rest for a while before you move again."

He did as he was told, but he kept his eyes on the one who started all this.

"C'mon, I just saved you," the JROTC kid said, "don't give me that look."

Was he the one who distracted the tiger? Josh narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

The lab coat guy crossed his arms and leaned back on the nurse's desk. He seems to be interested too.

"Look, this may come to you as a shock, but I don't think you are as bad as they told me. I don't know why, but I just don't."

"They?"

"Chinese Zodiac Club. Surely you must know. The entire school does."

"I do, to an extent."

"Well, I'm a part of them."

"He's the Dog." The nurse guy said. "The underdog, that is."

"Shut up. Not my fault they always send me on errands. Anyway, the point is that they are out there to get you."

"Me?"

"Yeah you, Mr. Hero who saved an entire plane of passengers. They think you are a spy from Tesla Tech."

"Seriously?" Labcoat said. "Him?"

"Apparently."

"But why?" Josh asked. "I never took a step in there, and I haven't done anything."

"I don't know either." The kid shrugged. "I'm kept in the dark as well. Only the Dragon, Tiger, and Ox knows everything, and they're the ones in charge."

"What about the guy who attacked me earlier?"

"That's Tristan, my brother. He's the Tiger, as you could probably tell."

"I have a question." Josh said. "How are you still fine? I'm pretty sure I crippled you, if not for life."

The kid smiled, and Josh noticed that his Stand, the one with the canine head, was rooted by the large potted plant in the room. It must have been the one who gagged him during his screams.

"His Stand is cheap." Labcoat answered for him. "So long as the sun is out he is practically immortal."

"Which is a shame considered by many."

"I don't understand," said Josh. "Why did you help me, uh..."

"Miller." The kid replied. "And that guy over there is Andrew. Known him since primary school."

"As much as I wish I haven't," retorted Andrew.

"Right, so why did you suddenly want to help me? Weren't you bent on 'teaching me a lesson' just a little while ago?"

"Yeah, well, I'm just sick and tired of getting ordered around without my consent. Literally no one but them thinks you're a crook."

"What is it with Tesla Tech?" Josh asked. "Are they a rival to your school or something?"

"I don't know much about their pasts, but last year we had a member who was killed by them. John Johnson, I think. He represented the Rabbit and worked well with the leading members."

"Killed?"

"Everyone in the club was sure that it was the work of a Stand. Except for me, because I wasn't allowed to look at the body."

"You forgot they literally left a calling card that said Tesla Tech," Andrew chimed in.

"Right. Yeah. So now we have this bone to pick with them."

"Clubs are not so different from gangs, it seems." Josh commented. Gangs and their petty street wars. "So who are the rest of the members I need to watch out for?"

"The thing is, I don't know. I'm just an errand boy, and since I'm pretty much dispensable they don't reveal themselves to us. I only know all this from my brother. Anyone in the school could be in the Club, a Stand user, even the prettiest girl you see."

"What about him?" Josh glanced at Andrew. "Is he a part of them?"

"Nope."

"He just works as the nurse's assistant here. No one but us knows he's a Stand user, so don't tell anyone."

"I wouldn't," Josh stood up, "out of you for saving me. Thanks, but I gotta leave now. My mom is going to kill me when I get home."

"Just one last thing," Miller stopped him before he reached for the door. "A favor, if you will."

"Favor? I'll keep your friend's identity as a Stand user, sure, but..." Josh considered the weight of the kid's actions. He wouldn't be here right now without him. "You know what, never mind. You saved my goddamn life. State your price, so long as it's not my money."

"Wellll..." Miller leaned back and shot a look at Andrew, who shrugged indifferently. "You know this girl named Alicia? Alicia McCall? White girl, blonde hair?"

"Yeah."

"I figured that much. I see you talking to her every day. Are you, uh, her boyfriend?"

"What? Hell no, my mom would disown me the moment I bring a non-Asian girl home."

"Oh," He actually looked surprised, then held his chin. "Well, change of plans then. Could you introduce me to her, out of me helping you out?"

"Sure, but you better prepare to be disappointed. I'm sure someone like her already has her own fan club or something."

"I'd be surprised if there isn't." Miller said. "I mean, have you seen her? She's hot, dude. The gorgeousiest girl I've ever laid this pair of goddamn eyeballs on, if that's a real word."

"It's not," Andrew answered for him.

"Right. I wish you luck then." Josh opened the door and checked for the hallways. No signs of enemies. "I'll see you on Monday."

"Hold on," Miller called out. "You wanted to know where the JROTC office is before, right? They close at six, so if you run fast enough you might still make it."

Josh stopped. He looked at the wall. "Not anymore."

And with that, his first week of school in America is over. While he is still having trouble on adjusting to the strange lifestyle here, Josh had to admit that it was chaotic enough to make things less boring. Exciting, even.

But first he has somewhere important to go, with something personal to do. Is the supermarket still open?