Once more, the Hashira had gathered in a single file line to speak with their Leader; Kagaya-san, this time with the added benefit of having the conversational centerpiece with them, laid bent on the ground in front of them all, still fast asleep from his bout with Kanroji. At first, their discussion was about what to do with him after the problems they had caused for Shinobu. But their conversation appeared to have changed when they took notice of a particular part of the unconscious teen, specifically, their left shoulder.
It was small and rather easy to miss if you weren't looking for it- but there, blemished on the skin; laid a birthmark in the shape of a five-sided star. A trait he had carried from his entire family line. Now to him; it was nothing more than a sign that he himself, was from the Joestar Bloodline. But to the Demon Slayer Corps, it held a much bigger significance. Long ago, it had been known that; an extremely rare number of their rank would bare a mark, at any location on their body, known as a Demon Slayer Mark. A proof of power, giving the owner access to a dormant power that could match the strength of a demon themselves.
Each mark was different, and usually pertained to what type of Breathing Style they focused on, activation of one alone was rare, but to be born with one? That was something nobody here had seen; not in any of their lives, at least. They were patient however and had called one of the older Slayers, a previous Hashira - to examine the boy. An elderly figure who, as of currently; had been standing over the male, whose frame still laid flat to the floor, as if some form of display to everybody in attendance. With the stroke of their bushy beard and a few moments of recollection, they stand back, folding their hands behind their back and finally, turning to Kagaya to offer an explanation.
"This boy... Is of the Joestar Bloodline." their voice soft and frail, clearly reaching the end of their twilight years, it seemed.
"Joestar..? I'm not quite familiar with that name, Yoshimasa-san." a quick response from Kagaya, whose expression was that of curious interest. He made it his mission to know of every person in the Slayer Corps, and even went out of his way to visit the graves of those who had fallen in the line of duty- but even so; he had never known of such a surname. It sounded so... foreign.
"Aaaah.. I'm afraid it was before your time, Young Master. You see- more than fifty years ago, we found an artifact that we were led to believe, came from a much older generation of Demons, and that it held an unknown focus of power that could have been extremely deadly in the wrong hands. So, our current leader at the time, demanded that we send it into hiding. Extreme measures were taken; to the point where we sent the item away to the other side of the world, Europe to be exact, where a benefactor of ours promised to keep and watch over the artifact. They weren't a very well-known family amongst the Corps at the time, merely charged with the duty of keeping watch over the other surrounding nations to ensure no Demonic Incursion had left our beautiful nation." Yoshimasa, as old as he was- began to pace back and forth; continuing to detail the long winding explanation, only stopping to adjust the small pair of spectacles over their nose.
"Everything seemed to be fine, right up until a good two decades ago, when we received reports of an incident that occurred in the heart of Europe. The incursion was quite troublesome for us at the time as it would certainly take a good few months for us to travel to Great Britain and offer aid. But the reports we received after the matter was resolved, gave us further insight to what had happened. A young man, whether by pure coincidence or devious knowledge, happened to unlock the hidden machinations of the device we had thought hidden, and laid siege across the English Country for several grueling weeks. If it wasn't for one of our agents, who had been tracking the location of the mask- I do not doubt that we very well could have lost the entire European nation to the claws of Demonkind. There, they happened upon a young man who, after a few months of training, became quite the powerful warrior in the arts of 'Ripple Breathing'" Once more, the faces of all who listen appeared just as more confused than before; having never heard of such a style of breathing.
"This isn't a form I've heard of, Yoshimasa-san.." Kagaya paused, peering over his various underlings, but hearing no returning voice of answer
"You wouldn't have. It's a very old and incredibly hard style to master, It can take near decades to become just proficient enough to use it in a form of combat, and so we never truly adopted it into our known techniques. However, once in a blue moon, there are certain individuals that are capable of harnessing this power and committing great acts for the sake of humanity. Unfortunately.. I believe the only remaining blood relative, shortly died after the incident had ended, So I am not quite sure who this young man could be.." Every moment he moved, there was a soft shake of his hands and feet, Yoshimasa was old, perhaps older than anyone in the corps- so the job of 'record keeper' fit him all too well, especially with that incredible memory of his.
"He claimed to Shinbou-san and I, that his name is Higashikata Josuke, and that he lives in the- Momiji Prefecture..?" even Kyujuro was finding it hard to pronounce the words, having never before heard of such a place; especially amongst their country.
"...I see." Kagaya grew silent, a hand sliding to their chin as a show of pondering thought. If he could see, his eyes would have been trained to the unconscious Josuke; perhaps scanning him for any other sort of features.
"...And you said that- he has some sort of power, Shinobu-san?"
"I can't be sure for certain... But, somehow he managed to surprise both Rengoku-san and I, break out of his bindings then exchange blows with Kanroji-san without even moving his limbs"
The entire crowd turned to look at the half-day dreaming Mitsuri, who bounced at the surprising look of eyes on her. "A-Ah.. Yes! When we were fighting, It felt like I was hitting something, but.. I also wasn't! Like he had somebody helping him, that I couldn't see!" she's back to her cheerful nature, despite having a hard time explaining the recent events through her account.
"Perhaps he has a guardian angel! Hahaha!" exclaimed Rengoku, laughing at his own form of a joke.
"A guardian angel?! Oooh, that sounds so lovely!" Kanroji returns with the clap of her hands and the tilt of her head, enamored by the idea of something so good-natured looking over such a young man like this
"Whether he has one or not, isn't the point. Sensei, What are we to do with him?" Shinobu is quick to bring the focus of the conversation back on track; a lot easier with only a shorter assembly than before. Several of the Hashira, who had previously attended the last meeting, were absent. More than likely that they had already departed on their disclosed missions, and were unable to return at the time.
But Kagaya was silent, still thinking on the matter. This could have been a rather grand blessing if they could convince this 'Josuke' to join their cause.
"Perhaps we should ask him? Hm?" And like that, the gentle smile returned to their leader's face, prompting the Snake Hashira, to awaken the young man; though not in the way Iguro likely intended.
Josuke, was delivered a swift kick to his side, followed by the distasteful demand for him to 'Wake up'. Obanai was holding a grudge, at it wasn't too easy to get out from beneath their thumb once you were on their bad side.
Nevertheless, Josuke's consciousness returns albeit after the following bundle of grunts and coughs, still reeling from the headache that came at the cost of the less that graceful treatment of his face. As a result, there still lingered a red blemish to the side of his cheek, slow to fade with time, but a good reminder that these slayers were strong in their own right, especially the smaller and prettier ones.
"Haaaaa..." a sigh? It's not uncommon, he was probably tired of waking up, and completely bound. As if by queue, the surrounding circle of Slayers all drew their blades, pointing down at the unmoving teen, who seemed less than impressed about his predicament.
Right away, his head jolts from the left and right, quick to realize how bad of a position this was for him. His Stand was fast, but even a large group of people could take him if they were quick about it; so he's at a loss here.
"This feels a little extreme."
"I do apologize, Higashikata-san. But, I assure you, it's just a precaution in terms of our own well being, Considering how much trouble you've managed to cause in such a short time, I'm sure a few of my Hashira would agree that you deserve a lot more 'harsher' treatment." Kagaya was quick to catch his attention, their words so calm and collected. They spoke with such respect, a friendly face to match the voice of the Corps' current leader.
"Hrmmm.. Quite curious indeed... Perhaps we should consider extending the invitation, Young Lord." Yoshinasa paced around the slayer-made perimeter, one hand behind his back as the other continued to stroke at the grayed beard at his chin.
"Invitation? Look, I'm really not interested in joinin' whatever kind of thing you've got going on here." It's truly shocking to the surrounding Slayers, who watch in astoundment when Josuke, without even a single move of his own, began to rise from the floor; propped down onto his feet by some invisible force that nearly caused them all to jump into attack.
"Higashikata-san! How is it that you can do things without even the single twitch of your body?!" Rengoku was simply astounded, as was his Younger Brother, who sat further back; observing the discussion in bewilderment.
"Haaah?" a spike of confusion. "Oh! Uh... It's hard to explain."
"Yes, you have said that before." floated Shinobu's voice, shuffled behind a small palm to hide her smile.
"Please, I believe we're owed an explanation, at least for my curiosity. I'm not entirely capable of witnessing the acts my Hashira have told me, so perhaps it would be better to have a proper description?" Kagaya was adamant on pertaining at least some sort of information, a lot more graceful than Kocho of course, and perhaps even much more convincing with the tone of his voice.
Josuke really wasn't going to do this much justice, but he was a rather kind boy, despite his towering appearance at times. So with whatever he could remember; he started to explain as best he could.
"I guess 'Guardian Angel' isn't too far off. You see, ever since I was little; I've had this kind of 'power'. It lets me help people, and also keeps me safe. The only problem is... I'm really the only person that can see it, Unless you've got one of your own."
"And what do you call this power of yours?"
"Well, Jotaro-san, er... my 'Nephew'. He told me that they came up with the name, 'Stand'. I guess that's because they sort of Stand next to you."
"And.. you say there are other people with these powers?"
"Well.. Yeah. My Nephew has it, My Old man had it, even a bunch of my friends do."
"Hold on a moment, Higashikata-san." Shinobu interrupts, stepping forward with a thoughtful mind about her. Something had struck her that could perhaps be of big help.
"You help people? How exactly do you do that? By destroying things?" It may have sounded harsh, but in actuality, she was trying to pry more information from the teen.
"Well, I don't really 'Destroy' things. I.. fix them, in a way. For example. If I was to 'fix' this rope you've got me tied up with, It'd go back to bein' what it was before it was rope. Like a bunch of thread or something."
"It sounds more like you return things to a previous state they were in. A form of Anti-Entropy."
Josuke had to sort of shuffle on his feet to look at Shinobu, really more of a penguin waddle with how tight the bindings were, happy to see that somebody here understood a more detailed understanding.
"S-Sensei! Maybe he could help with your illness!" Kanroji was quick to perk up, only understanding little; but knowledgeable of the base components. But a single look at Josuke really didn't do well for her suggestion. They appeared to be saddened, even lowering their head at the very idea.
"Unless it's a cold or something... I can't really do much. I can only fix things to before they were broken. But if your body is always supposed to break." He trails off, even bowing his head down to Kagaya in regret, surprisingly formal for somebody who, only hours ago, was making quite the trouble. "I'm sorry."
"Please, there's no need to apologize. I'm quite accepting of my life." the grin never faded from his lips, Kagaya was always the beacon of hope for the Slayers, always the understanding figure amongst all.
After another brief pause, Josuke takes the head of the conversation, attempting to appeal to them all. "Look. I just want to go home. You guys don't really seem to need much of my help- and even if you did, there are way better people you could talk to." His eyes were earnest, trying to appeal to their sense of humanity here as he felt as if this was something much too big for him to get involved with.
Once again, like many times before, there had been a silence following his request, all about turning to peer at Kagaya who, continued to smile; then presented their guest with a nod.
"I wouldn't dare to keep you here as a Prisoner, Higashikata-san. You're welcome to leave whenever you wish, but please... Do be careful. The world is a lot more dangerous than you think... I believe we were about to have our supply wagon set out to Tokyo. If you don't mind the ride, I'm sure that they'll let you join them"
Josuke face brightened, relief finally hit him; FINALLY, he was getting somewhere with these people, and hey; from Tokyo? It'd just be a few hours on a train to get back to Morioh. This could totally work out for him.
"Y-Yes! Thank you!" He bows, nearly toppling from the bindings about him, though catching himself before he crashes to the ground. At last, this nightmare would be over, at least until he got home; then he'd have to hear it from his Mom, and she sure wasn't going to go easy on him.
And just like that, he was unbound; the ropes forced to curl about his form, loosened by the Slayers who; at first had him pegged for an enemy. He was still draped in nothing but blue PJ pants; so the flowing breeze gave him quite a chill.
"Uh.. My clothes? You don't expect me to go into town, half-naked, right?"
"Of course not, We took them to clean and fix the fabric." Shinobu wasn't too happy about their sensei's decision, but there was little she herself could do in this instance. She did, however, catch the sight of their Leader, lean over towards one of his assistants, who quickly scurried away.
"Here." appeared Aoi-Chan, who had been observing along with Senjuro, roughly shoving his fresh clothing into his chest.
"Uff!" a subtle wince on his end, but still catching his clothing with little trouble.
"HMPH!" She was holding a grudge against him. Hopefully, something that would pass over time. For now though; he had to watch her storm off, gesturing for the young Senjuro to follow her back to the Butterfly Estate.
Everything after that was pretty standard. The Hashira were excused, and the meeting came to a quick close- Josuke, after changing into his freshly restored uniform, was led out towards a small convoy of carts led by horses, accompanied by the other Hashira who, in a way; wanted to ensure his safety.
"Good luck on your trip, Higashikata-kun!" Mitsuri, waving carefree to the boy who sat into the back edge of the cart, seemed more than content that; even after their fight- they could perhaps part on better terms
"Yes! I hope you get home safely! Take care of yourself, Josuke-san!" Even Kyojuro seemed unbothered, all the more happy to see him off with that signature smile of his.
Their words faded, as did their forms, whilst the cart set off, beginning the slow journey towards the city. Hopefully, this would all be over by the morning. He could wake up happy and refreshed, forgetting the entire thing and get to focus back on school.
How wrong he was.
[STAND NAME: CRAZY DIAMOND]
[STAND USER: JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA]
[DESCRIPTION: A powerful and fast muscular stand that bestows the ability to return anything, Organic or Object; to an original state. This effect does not work on the user themselves.]
[POWER: A]
[SPEED: A]
[RANGE: D]
[DURIBILITY: B]
[PRECISION: B]
[POTENTIAL: C]