Chapter 54: The Next Step part 1
Nirvana. That word swirled throughout Bronny's head all day. Why was it written all over his arm? And who, or what, was Nirvana? So many questions, yet no answers. It frustrated Bronny, not being able to know anything, it was as if his life was slowly falling out of his control.
"Bronny?" Bronny looked up, seeing Joshua standing above him. "Oh, hey Josh," Bronny muttered. Joshua tilted his head in concern, "Jolyne has been complaining to me about your condition," he said, "I know things are hard for you, but shutting yourself out from those who care about you won't make things better." Bronny looked to the floor, nodding slightly. "I'm not asking for much, but know that you won't be able to accomplish anything on your own, especially in the world we live in today," Joshua said, "we're all going through the same trouble, so don't think you're alone in this." Bronny clutched his arm, if anyone were going to know about what happened to him the previous night, it would probably be Joshua. He looked around to see if anyone was watching, and stood up.
"I'm gonna show you something," Bronny said, "but you gotta promise me you won't tell anyone else, not even Jolyne and the others." Joshua nodded, "of course, and what would this thing be?" Bronny sighed, pulling up his arm sleeve. Joshua's eyes widened, he looked at Bronny's arm with amazement, "what the hell is this?" He asked. "Last night, I had a dream," Bronny said, "or, a vision or whatever, the White Figure, it was speaking to me, and when I woke up, I had this written on my arm, you have any idea what it means?" Joshua looked at the writing, "Nirvana…" He muttered, rubbing his chin, "I can't say I've ever seen this before, but if it was the White Figure that led you to discover it, then it has to be connected to it, we should tell the others." Bronny grabbed Joshua by the shoulders, "no! We can't do that; I don't want to drag them back into this mess." Joshua shook his head, "they've already been brought into it, there's no point in hiding the truth from them, they'll figure it out eventually."
"Find what out eventually?" The two turned, seeing Jolyne approaching. "Is there something I should know?" She asked. "Bronny has something serious to show you," Joshua said. Jolyne looked at Bronny with concern, "Bronny? What's wrong?" Bronny sighed, "last night, some crazy shit happened." Bronny showed Jolyne his arm, "I think that the White Figure was trying to give me a message or something, I don't know, but I had this dream, and like it was extremely real, and when I woke up, I had this shit on my arm." Jolyne rubbed Bronny's arm, "Nirvana? What is that supposed to mean?" Bronny shrugged, "no idea, not even Josh knows." "We should this to Giorno and the others." Joshua shook his head, "that won't accomplish anything, they know as much about it as you do," he said, "I haven't even seen anything like this, as of now, this is a completely new behavior from the White Figure, it's like he's marked you." Bronny rubbed his forehead in frustration, "damn, I was just saying how all this shit happens to good people, well, if I am, marked, what does that mean exactly?" Joshua paced around, "I don't know, like I said, I've never seen anything like this, but it's worth investigating."
"Heyo…" A certain purple haired girl lay across the railings outside of the school. She leaned forward, her profound chest now even more exposed. "Hey, come on, don't leave a girl hanging," she muttered, "it's not polite for such a good-looking guy…" The boy she was working was blushing heavily, not able to respond. Noel chuckled, grabbing the boy by his tie, "shy, are we? Hehe, I like it when they're shy." "Noel." Noel turned, seeing the three standing behind her. "Excuse me sweetie," she said, patting the boy on the head, "hey, can't you see that I'm busy?" "We have important matters to attend to," Joshua said, "and trust me, what you're doing isn't really that interesting." Noel sighed, "you would think that, but this one actually likes me a lot." Jolyne smirked, "if he likes you, why'd he just run off them?" Noel was taken aback, she turned, seeing the boy running away. "H-Hey! I wasn't finished!" Joshua sighed, "I assume you're free now?" Noel pouted heavily, "yeah, I guess I am, now what do you want?"
Before anyone could respond, a voice rung out. "Mr. James, could you come to my office, I'd like to talk to you." The group turned, seeing Principal G. "Uh, yeah, no problem," Bronny said. He turned and went with Mr. G. "Well, wasn't that a big waste of time, "Noel whined, "and to think I was wooing that poor kid into his first girl." "Oh please, you always do this shit, just to dump them after a week," Jolyne muttered. Noel scoffed, brushing her hair to the side, "not my fault they can't handle a day in bed with me, have you ever even slept with someone, perhaps..." "Don't fucking go there." Joshua shook her head, "you two are ridiculous," he said, "I'm more worried about Bronny, I don't trust that man, lets follow them."
"Please, come in." Bronny nodded, taking a seat. Mr. G paced around the room, rubbing his chin. "How are you Mr. James?" Bronny shrugged, "I'm good, for the most part." Mr. G nodded, he walked over to his desk and took a seat. "I don't really believe you," he said, "now I know you are a good kid, but I have a feeling that there is something going on that I don't know." Bronny rubbed his neck, "I'm fine really, it's just, it's been a weird couple of weeks." Mr. G nodded, "I see, you know, as Principal, it's my job to make sure all my students are well in mind, I just want to know that if you're really ok." Bronny sighed, "look, I'm fine, really, I just, this is something that I need to do-" Mr. G pulled out a gun, placing it on the table. "Alone…" Bronny looked at the gun nervously.
"I know about you Bronny James, I know what your future holds." Mr. G stood up, grabbing the gun off the table. "Your life, is but a large piece of a puzzle," he said, "put in and you will find the other pieces that connect to it, you are special, but think you realize, how special you really are." Bronny gulped heavily, "I don't know what you're talking about." "Yes, you do," Mr. G leaned in closer to Bronny, "you know exactly what I'm talking about, how is it, that you were able to survive your journey, how you were able to seemingly overcome every obstacle you faced, how you saved an entire city with a power you only just recently obtained, don't you think that's, suspicious?" Bronny glared at Mr. G, a feeling of uneasiness being overtaken with an urge to fight. "The White Figure, it's you, or perhaps, it's your Stand, isn't it?" Mr. G smiled, his normal white teeth replaced with large fangs, "this man doesn't know anything about this," he said, "this man, is simply another body on top of an already full pile." Mr. G skipped over to his desk, standing atop it. "I am in every, single, person, think of me as a parasite, feeding away at you." Mr. G clocked the gun, and placed it under his chin, "Bronny James, like I told you before, this is your story, and it is far, far, from over."