History (I)
Nicole had been refining her hamon abilities since noon and she slept in her room in order to recover. Her body was sore and yet Nicole was able to do more than simply produce hamon. The woman had been sleeping for over three hours. No one could easily wake her up. Her body consisted of bruises and scratches. None fatal. The woman laid sprawled over her bed.
Not too long Joseph came knocking on Nicole's door to not receive a response. He places his hand on the doorknob and turns it. Joseph opens the door and steps inside quietly. He sees Nicole sleeping and softly chuckles. Seeing his childhood friend sleeping peacefully reminded him of the many times he would tire Nicole out when they were children. The man quietly approaches the bed and sits on it. Joseph stares at Nicole. His eyes carefully focused on her facial expression.
"To think our grandmothers are both widows and they faced that tragedy years ago when they were young. I know facing the Pillar Men is troubling and the leader wants you to be his pet. I'm stuck with these rings full of poison and Speedwagon is keeping an eye on granny and Smokey. Now, we are training to finish those monsters." Joseph said softly. Nicole continues to sleep.
"I swear Jojo. The officers here can be fucking annoying. Impudent apes. Trying to make money off a pickpocket is pathetic." Nicole said as she and Joseph confronted the two officers. "Heh, you must be mixed with animal blood by the shade of your skin. Though your English accent proves you are mixed." One cop stated as he drops the boy to the ground. Nicole's eyes narrow as her serious demeanor grew into anger. "To disrespect my sister means you will be facing a far worse punishment," Joseph said as Nicole slips her glove off her hand.
The glove limps for a second and then stiffs up into a solid rock hard weapon. The kid watches Nicole. He had fear in his eyes as he did not know what was going to happen. Nicole's eyes darkened as she stood in front of the fat officer. "You should know your place woman, an animal like you-" The heavyset man's face came in contact with Nicole's glove. Her glove slammed into the man's face only to break his nose and knock out a few teeth. "Useless. Useless, useless, useless. You are all fucking useless." Nicole said and the man stumbles back in pain. Nicole flicks the glove back to normal. She slips the glove back on her hand.
"You bitch!" The other officer scolds Nicole. Nicole was about to step forward but Joseph politely approaches the man and uses hamon on the coke bottle. The bottle cap flew into the cop's hand, breaking his fingers on impact. The pickpocket seemed amazed. The officer screams in pain as his hand went limp. Joseph grabs his wallet and turns his attention the pickpocket. "Let's get going." He said.
The three were able to hide from the crooked cops. It took some running and Joseph needed to find his grandmother. "You two...you two were amazing. I've never seen anything like it." The pickpocket said as he was impressed. "My name is Smokey by the way. What's yours?" Smokey introduces himself.
"Joestar. Joseph Joestar." Joseph answers, "And this girl is my older sister, Nicole Rose." Nicole nods with her introduction, "I'm older than he is and I'm a woman." Smokey blinks as he carefully looks at Nicole. He could not believe the woman was a woman and not a girl by her age. He even thought of Nicole as cute by her looks. "Well, crud Joseph!" Nicole looks like she's close to my age!" Smokey stated. Nicole shot a glare at the pickpocket. She did her best not to act violently towards the boy's assumption. Although this was not a first for her to meet a pickpocket.
"So you steal Jojo's wallet, get caught by crooked cops, and we save you. You know this city Smokey?" Nicole said. Smokey nods, "Yeah. I live among the streets." "Yeah...you aren't living on the streets anymore. Jojo, I'm asking granny Erina to take him in." Nicole says with a grin on her face. Smokey and Joseph were in shock at her words. Nicole was able to find Erina in a small clothing store. The woman was able to drag both boys by the arms into the shop without any trouble.
The young woman asks her friend's grandmother to adopt the boy. It was a semi-long conversation but the elderly woman did not mind. Nicole was like a daughter to her. "However you made that happen means you are a demon," Joseph said as everyone rode in a taxi. Nicole gives a thumbs up to Smokey as she sits in the front passenger seat. Joseph stares out the window. "Hey, granny. What's the deal with you and old man Speedwagon?" Joseph questions to start up a conversation. "Excuse me?" Erina spoke as her eyebrow rose. Joseph looks at his grandmother with a casual expression on his face. "You know...no children. Never married. He has been a bachelor all his life. You two never...?" Joseph hints to the question. Everyone was quiet until Nicole clears her throat to speak. "He wants to know if you and the old man ever had sex." She said the obvious.
Erina looks angry and raises her umbrella to strike her grandson. "How rude! You need to hold your tongue! I never!" Erina scolds as she hits Joseph by using her umbrella. "Ow! Why am I getting hit?! Nicole said it!" Joseph spoke in frustration. "You implied it, Jojo. I just stated the truth." Nicole casually spoke as she was enjoying the drive. Smoke just watches in silence. He saw Nicole as the female equivalent for Joseph but she had more restraint. Although, the woman's real family was a mystery only Erina and Speedwagon knew about.
Joseph did not know much about his "sister's" family history let alone his own and Nicole only knew the dark truth. She even hid her last name given to her to hid her relation to the specific darkness. Both Joseph and Nicole were outcomes of their family tragedies. Each was bound to a face and no one could free them from it. Nicole was to carry on that nightmare and Joseph was to die young. Each one was fated to suffer. Erina did not want to see her late best friend's granddaughter to turn into a beast. The woman had abilities that could kill if trained properly and her personality had a hint of her grandfather's. He expression would grow dark and she would become cold and distant. Otherwise cruel. Nicole was meant to kill Joseph if she became manipulated.
Later that day, the Joestar family were sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant. Joseph and Nicole were looking at the menus. More of the menu since Jojo snatches the menu out of Nicole's hands. The two were joking around until Erina had cleared her throat signaling them to behave. "I want a garden salad with some stuffed shells," Nicole said as she was looking at the main dishes. "You always choose that. I will get a hamburger...or the steak." Joseph said. He had a grin on his face. "You are typical." Nicole snorts before turning her attention to Smokey. "What are you going to eat Smokey?" She asks. Smokey looks at the menu he held in his hands, "Well, uh, I never had eaten here before..." Smoke let out a small nervous chuckle.
As they all were trying to figure out what to order, the sounds of a man complaining filled the air. "Hey! I am not going to eat while there is an animal in the same room! He's not allowed to be in here!" The mafia man shoulds causing everyone to pay attention to the scene. "Look, sir, he is a part of the party requested by a client and they have the money so no discrimination here." The waiter explains. Smokey felt ashamed and stood up from the table in silence. Nicole grabs Smokey by his arm. She looks at him and the boy sits back down.
Nicole was mixed with English and another race. She understood the discrimination. "Get me the owner! This is bull shit!" The obese man demands. Joseph stands up from the table as Nicole begins to fidget with her silverware at the table. She knew that Joseph was going to do something but she wanted to be the first to make a move. "A minute," Nicole said. Joseph nods. "I think you should watch your mouth. Our friend is only here to eat like the rest of you." Joseph said as he caught the man's attention.
"What was that brat?" The mafia man turns to him. "If our friend is allowed to eat here then you are allowed to eat here as well," Joseph explains. "Tch! An idiot like you got some never talking to me in that manner." The mafia man stomps over to Joseph. "Oh really? What are you going to do? Hit me with those knuckles you have in your pocket? Or your next line will be, "how did you know you English punk?" Am I right?" The mafia man pulls out his brass knuckles as he repeats the quote without realizing it. As the man tries to strike Joseph in the face, Nicole flicks her spoon and it hits the man in the nose. "What the hell! You bitch!" The man shouts in pain and anger. His attention drew to the young woman.
"Granny, for this man being disrespectful. I would like to handle this brute properly." Joseph said. Nicole turns to Erina. The elderly woman nods. "You may. This man has insulted our friend and family." Erina gave her grandson permission to fight. Nicole immediately grabs Smokey's spoon off the table and strikes the man once more. Joseph punches the man in the face with hesitation. "Dammit, Nicole you shouldn't play with your utensils." Joseph teases the young woman. Nicole glares at Joseph. Smokey smiles seeing the family was now a part of.
"Tch...we are joined at the hip." Joseph thought as he continues to watch Nicole sleep. He could only see Nicole be completely at ease when she was sleeping. "Signorina, is everything okay?" Caesar asks as he peeps through the doorway to see Nicole sleeping. Joseph turns to him and tells the Zeppeli man to shush. Caesar steps into the room keeping his voice low. "What are you doing in here Joestar?" Caesar asks. "I came to see if she could heal me, but well here Nicole is. Hey, did Messina do a number on you too or did you want to try to flirt with her again? I heard about that date." Joseph said as he was going into protective mode. Caesar closes the door carefully and leans his back against the door.