Sighing softly as he lay, stomach pressed against the warm, grassy field that he'd found – there were a lot of parks in Morioh, and the weather was a lot milder than it was in Cardiff – Tenmei reached out to pick up one of the ladybugs crawling around on the long grass that he'd managed to find a patch of. Ladybugs were almost the prettiest kind of bugs that he'd seen, and certainly the prettiest that he could manage to find easily. Picking up one of the ladybugs on his right pointer-finger, Tenmei yelped as he suddenly found it swatted firmly off.

Turning to look up at whoever it was that had just swatted the ladybug he'd been studying off of his hand, Tenmei found himself looking up at a blond man in a pale lilac suit.

"Um, hi," he said, feeling more than a little strange; he hadn't been expecting to meet anyone in the park, especially not like this.

"You should take better care of your hands," the man said, leaning down and actually picking him up, shifting him until he was sitting on the grass, rather than laying down on it. "Someone your age shouldn't be playing in the dirt like this," he continued, laying his large right hand on Tenmei's head in a way that was clearly meant to be comforting.

The whole situation was strange enough that it really just came off as unsettling, though.

The man left without saying another word, though, and given the way he was hurrying, Tenmei got the feeling that the man he'd just met wasn't even sure himself why he'd stopped over to do what he just did. Looking out down the path that the strange man had taken out of the park where they'd both met for a long moment, Tenmei shook his head and turned his attention back to his work. He'd met his share of strange and eccentric people, both in this town and before he'd come here, after all.

And really, Rohan-sensei wouldn't be happy with him if he let something like that distract him from the work he was doing.

=DiU=

Making his way back to his car, Yoshikage Kira found that he couldn't get the sight of those tiny, perfect hands out of his mind. The nails were perfectly clipped, and even filed, and as he'd picked the boy up, Yoshikage had caught sight of what looked like a nail file in the boy's left pocket. It seemed like he could take care of his hands, only it seemed that he wasn't entirely willing to.

Finding himself biting his own nails at the thought of those lovely, perfect hands not getting the kind of proper care that they would need to maintain the beauty he had seen…

Pulling his finger free from his mouth, Yoshikage climbed into his car. There were things he was going to need, before fate led him back to that boy and his perfect hands, so he would need to collect them.

"Don't worry, dear," he said, reaching up to gently stroke his latest girlfriend where she rested in his pocket. "I won't let our son go on like this forever."

=DiU=

Sitting down with Aunt Alice and their contact from the Speedwagon Foundation, Jotaro folded his arms and glared down at the cage.

"So, you figure that these rats aren't as smart as Pet Shop or Iggy?" he asked, folding his arms as he looked back up from the cage at the man they were meeting with.

"From what we've been able to determine, the Arrow's effect on animals is to just enhance their native intelligence," the man said, looking from the notebook he'd been writing in to study the rats that'd been dumped in the cage together. "So, considering the previously extant differences in intelligence between the three animals, the Arrow would only be able to do so much."

"Would you like my aid in setting up some kind of testing facility for these two?" Aunt Alice asked through The Duke, tilting the ears of the Serval whose shape The Duke was currently wearing forward, presumably so that she would be able to hear him better.

"Thanks for the offer, ma'am, but we've previously taken care of that," their contact said, smiling widely at The Duke. "We've always been pleased to have the assistance of you and your company, ma'am."

Their contact spoke with Aunt Alice a bit more, both of them exchanging their goodbyes, while Jotaro kept an eye on the rats they'd captured. Checking the list of remaining Stand users that Nijimura had created in his idiotic efforts to find some kind of babysitter for his kid brother, or just to test the capabilities of that damned Arrow, Jotaro looked up just in time to shake the hand of their contact, before the man turned and left with the cage holding the rats.

"So, what's up next on the agenda, Jotaro?" Aunt Alice asked, once the pair of them were alone in the room that Josuke's family had let them use for however long they were going to be in Morioh for their research.

And now, their hunt for the remaining Stand users that Nijimura had created.

"Looks like the only one we have left to find is a cat," he said, finding himself a bit amused; after all, when The Duke wasn't traveling as a bracelet on Stardust's arm, it seemed to take the form of a cat over any of the other animals it could possibly be.

"Well, isn't that something," Aunt Alice said, sounding more than a little amused by the whole situation.

=DiU=

Smiling as he saw the sun just beginning to touch the tops of the trees all around him, Tenmei stopped to lean against a fence while he sketched the sight and shadows as they slanted across the trees. It wasn't quite sunset, but it didn't look like it was that far off, either. Tenmei almost thought it might have been the time of day that he'd heard called either the Golden Hour or the Magic Hour, since the entire world seemed to be bathed in buttery, golden sunlight. For a moment, even as he continued his sketching, Tenmei found himself wishing that he'd brought at least some of his coloring supplies.

Before he could think too much about that kind of thing, however, Tenmei felt a rough, wet cloth pressed against the lower half of his face, firmly covering his mouth and nose. Vaguely, as he saw the world fading away all around him, Tenmei wondered whose arms had locked around his head and waist…

=DiU=

As his new son's body relaxed in his arms, the chloroform doing its proper work, Yoshikage Kira caught sight of something white fluttering to the ground. Narrowing his eyes, even as he called out Killer Queen to destroy whatever it was that his new son had been holding so that he would leave no trace of having adopted the boy behind, Yoshikage carried the boy back to where his car was waiting to take the three of them home. Once he'd made it back to his car, Yoshikage tucked his new son's tiny body carefully into the back of the vehicle.

He'd previously gone shopping, both to be certain that he would have everything he needed to care for his new son, and also so that he would have a better chance of concealing him from anyone who might have taken too much of an interest in what he was doing. He'd never truly acted on impulse before, but the indefinable feeling that had drawn Yoshikage to his new son – even before he'd managed to adopt the boy and begin making provisions to bring him home – had been more than he'd been prepared for.

Aside from that, fate had never truly denied Yoshikage Kira something he wanted.

Once he had made it back home, his girlfriend tucked safely into an inner pocket of his coat and his new son resting in the back seat of his car, Yoshikage Kira made certain to conceal himself completely within his garage before he began unloading his groceries. As well as his new, far more precious cargo.

"Isn't he lovely, dear?" he asked, once he'd managed to bring his new son into the room he was going to prepare for him to stay in.

Reaching down to pick up his new son's right hand – though with the child's long hair, soft skin, and full lips, he was cute enough to be a daughter, sometimes – Yoshikage smiled as he placed a gentle kiss on the palm of his hand. Tucking his latest girlfriend between his new son's hands, Yoshikage gently wove their fingers together, and then fetched the sleeping medicine he'd bought to keep him docile. After measuring out the proper dose for someone his son's age, Yoshikage propped him up in bed so that he could drink it.

"What a sweet family we have," he said, smiling gently at his son, holding his latest girlfriend in his tiny, perfect hands.

=DiU=

Making his way back into his house, his mind and his notebook both filled with new and unsettling information that he and Koichi-kun had learned about Morioh's history. Apparently, there was a killer hiding in the shadows, and yes, that kind of thing would have made an interesting plot, but there were some things in fiction that should stay fictional.

"Tenmei-kun, I need to talk to you," he said, shoving his way through the door to his assistant's room.

There was no one there, but the sight of the cracked cup and scattered pens let Rohan know that something had gone wrong.

Turning at the sound of Koichi-kun gasping, Rohan narrowed his eyes.

"Something happened to Tenmei-kun," Rohan said, casting a brief glance back at the boy who was friends with the one that seemed to be in the process of becoming a part of the fascinating family – either Joestar or Brando, Rohan hadn't been paying enough attention to determine which of those was the case – before he made his way over to the desk to clean up the spilled pencils and the cracked cup.

"We have to tell Jotaro-san and the others!" Koichi-kun said, a worried look on his face.

"Yes, I suppose we do," Rohan said, narrowing his eyes.

He wondered if Jotaro would actually punch him in the face this time, or if there was going to be something else. Maybe he and Tenmei-kun's father would be more interested about what had actually happened to him, rather than the fact that Rohan hadn't been looking after him so well as he otherwise might. Still, the fact was that no one could have really predicted that something was going to happen to Tenmei-kun. He could probably explain that to Kakyoin-san, at least.

=DiU=

Humming softly as he shopped, Yoshikage bit his lower lip as he controlled himself. It would hardly do if he gave himself away by being too pleased about things. He'd also have to think of a way to explain himself in a simple way to anyone who asked, since he couldn't allow himself to be unsociable. At least not in a way that people would notice.

Perhaps he could just say that his son was the little sibling of his girlfriends; a little sister or little brother, depending on what he was in the mood for when anyone happened to ask.

Once he'd finished purchasing a pair of house slippers and some sleepwear in his new son's size, Yoshikage made his way back to his car. Turning back into the street that would take him home, Yoshikage found himself stopped at a crosswalk for long enough to be annoying. The red-haired man in the bottle-green coat shuffled halfway across the street, slumped in a way that made him look drunk, before the other man in the white coat and hat hurried to pull him the rest of the way.

"Now, now, dear, it takes all kinds to make a town," Yoshikage said, not wishing for those kinds of ugly feelings to start taking root in his girlfriend.

The time would come when he would need to get rid of her, of course, but he'd no desire to make it any sooner than it had to be.

Arriving back at home once again, Yoshikage allowed himself to smile, humming softly as he made his way to the room he'd set up for his new son. The sight of his father, leaning over his new son, brought Yoshikage up short for a moment, before Father turned and he got a look at the man's face.

"Where did you find him, Yoshikage? He's so cute," Father cooed, smoothing down his new son's hair, pulling it out of the well-brushed tail it had been bound in when Yoshikage had brought the boy home, but notably leaving in the silver clips that held back the short, softly curled fringes of his hair.

"I found him when I was on a date," Yoshikage said, making his way into the room so that he could lay out the clothes he'd bought for his new son. "I know that you and mother spoke about wanting grand-children, before she died."

Father chuckled softly. "You've always been such a dutiful son, Yoshikage."

Smiling softly, as he made his way over to where his new son was laid out so neatly, Yoshikage found himself pleased to note that Father had already taken the liberty of undressing him for bed. Setting his new son's house slippers down next to the bed, close enough that Yoshikage would be able to fetch them easily when it was time to wake him up in the morning, he folded back the blankets and proceeded to dress his new son in the sleeping clothes he'd purchased for the boy, smiling softly as he tucked his new son back into bed.

Yoshikage truly couldn't think of anything that would make him happier, right at this moment.

=DiU=

Seeing Kakyoin so defeated like this… Jotaro could say with absolute certainty that it pissed him off. Not even knowing where Tenmei-chan had been taken, and with no other ways of finding out just where he was other than sending out Stardust to spy on everyone in the town, they'd decided to bring in the Old Man to see if he could tell them just where Tenmei Kakyoin had ended up after he'd vanished on his way back to that Kishibe bastard's house. They all suspected that it was probably another Stand user who'd grabbed the kid, so there was too much of a chance that Stardust would be spotted if they sent it to try to find Tenmei or the bastard who'd kidnapped him.

That was why he'd contacted the Old Man and asked him to come to Morioh: so that he could use Hermit Purple to find the bastard who'd kidnapped Tenmei and just where he was hiding himself, so that they could find said bastard and kick his ass. Stardust, who'd gone to fetch the Old Man since the Stand's range had been growing steadily ever since their pain-in-the-ass Uncle Dio had struck the both of them with that pain-in-the-ass Stand Arrow, quickly arrived with the Old Man in tow.

"Alice told me what happened," the Old Man said, a suitcase that was probably full of the Polaroid cameras he used when he brought Hermit Purple out for something besides fighting clenched firmly in his right hand.

"Good," he said, nodding sharply as he made his way to the room where the rest of their family – both immediate and extended – had all gathered in when he and Kakyoin had come back with news about what had happened to Tenmei. "Let's get everyone together and find out what the hell's going on."

Now that they had a concrete plan about what to do, as well as the means to carry it out, that made him feel a little better about things, at least.

When they had all settled down around the table and the Old Man had started bringing out the Polaroid cameras he used to track people with Hermit Purple, however, he noticed that Kakyoin seemed to be getting more – not less – tense as the Old Man prepared himself.

"Hey," he called, leaning in so he could get a better look at the expression on Kakyoin's face. "What's wrong?"

"It's just… We're pretty sure the one who kidnapped Tenmei is a Stand user," Kakyoin said, hands clenching on his pants, seeming like he was trying to hold himself together with everything he had left. "So… What if they can tell that they're being watched? What if they find out how much Tenmei means to all of us? What if-"

"Yare yare daze," he muttered, reaching out to slap a hand over Kakyoin's mouth. "Stardust, you mind getting Avdol?" he asked, knowing that the quickest way to stop Kakyoin from freaking out was to bring the reader to them.

Stardust gave a short, sharp nod, vanishing for a long moment, before returning with Muhammad Avdol in tow. As the Old Man explained just what it was that had happened – why Stardust had been sent to fetch him, what had happened to one of their kids, and why they'd brought him in when they clearly had the Old Man and Hermit Purple right with them – Jotaro found himself looking back at Stardust again. Aunt Alice's primary Stand did seem to be steadily increasing the range of its teleportation.

At first, it'd just been able to teleport between different rooms in a house, then houses in a neighborhood, then between cities, and now countries; he couldn't help wondering just what kind of a range Stardust was ultimately going to develop. It was a hell of a thing, though, since long-range Stands like Stardust always seemed to be physically weak; Stardust's secondary ability, phasing through solid matter, meant that physical strength meant pretty much fuck-all, though. And, while it was good to know that Aunt Alice would be able to take care of herself if she ended up on the wrong side of an enemy Stand user, thinking about what that meant…

No one would be able to escape Aunt Alice, if she was determined to hunt them down.

Turning back to watch Avdol as he shuffled the cards in his deck, Jotaro narrowed his eyes as he watched the fortune teller set them out.

"The Three of Wands," Avdol said, laying out the first of his cards. "Your son is still alive," he drew a pair of cards, though he seemed curious about having drawn two at once. "The Empress, and the King of Swords, both reversed; the man who kidnapped Tenmei has little impulse control, and has a distorted idea of himself and the world around him," Avdol drew again, a single card this time. "Eight of Swords, reversed; Tenmei was kidnapped for the man's own selfish, petty reasons," Avdol took a breath, narrowing his eyes as he returned his attention to the cards again. "The Sun, reversed; the man who kidnapped your son wishes to create a family of his own by force."

"How-" Kakyoin shuddered, folding in on himself briefly, before sitting back down, clenching his fists in his lap in a clear effort to compose himself again. "How can we save him?"

Avdol brushed his long fingers over the cards, a look of concentration on his face. "Eight of Wands, reversed; we will need to operate carefully, if we wish to take Tenmei back without a violent confrontation."

"That's good to know," Kakyoin said, slumping back down on the couch, clearly relived.

"Well, we at least know he's still in the city," he muttered, folding his arms.

"Yes," Avdol said, nodding. "With this many Stand users in a single place, fate would certainly keep the kidnapper within Morioh. However, I suspect that such a man would confine himself to the outskirts of the town, if only to keep his activities a secret."

"Yeah, we're probably going to need Nijimura for this," he grumbled, not entirely fond of the idea that he was going to need the help of the idiot who'd been responsible for fuck knew how many Stand users wandering around the city, but knowing that a long-range colony-type Stand like Bad Company would be best suited for searching the outskirts of Morioh for anyone who fit the profile they'd been able to piece together.

"It does sound like that would be best," Kakyoin said, sounding more settled now, now that they had something resembling a plan.

"I'm glad that I was able to aid you in your search," Avdol said, rising back to his feet as he tucked away the Tarot cards he'd been using. "Still, if that is all you needed from me, I think it would be best that I return to my shop."

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Thanks for being so willing to do this. I know it couldn't be easy, with time-zones and all."

"Yes," Avdol said, a wry sort of smile on his face. "Even Stardust's abilities cannot entirely conquer time."

Aunt Alice's Stand smirked briefly, sauntering over to flick Avdol on the forehead, before teleporting the both of them back to Egypt, returning in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. It was always more than a little strange, seeing that. At the moment, however, there were a lot of other things they were going to have to do; starting with getting back in contact with Nijimura, which probably meant getting back into contact with Josuke and the rest of his group again.

=DiU=

Humming softly to himself, having returned home from St. Gentlemen so that he could have lunch with his cute son, Yoshikage Kira made his way over to the dining table to set the bag down, then to the cupboard so that he could fetch a pair of plates. Once he'd finished setting out the chicken katsu sandwiches for himself and his cute little son, Yoshikage made his way back to the room he'd given to the boy.

Smiling as he leaned down over the cute little boy he'd adopted just about half a day ago, Yoshikage leaned down to lift him up out of the bed he was laid out on.

"I hope you enjoy having dinner with us," he said, still considering just what he was going to name his sweet little boy with the lovely hands. "I managed to find two sandwiches for us; they're chicken katsu, so I'm sure you'll enjoy them. Don't worry about washing your hands; I'll take care of that for you," he said, stopping off at the sink, bracing the little boy's body against his own so he could help him stand up.

Lathering up both of their hands with lemon-scented soap, Yoshikage smiled as he felt the boy's tiny fingers between his own.

"I'm so glad to have met you," he said, gently settling his cute little son down in a chair next to him, settling his girlfriend down on the table between them. "You're a wonderful addition to our family."

After taking two bites of his own sandwich, Yoshikage moved to settle down next to his cute little son. Picking up the sandwich he'd set out for the boy, Yoshikage pressed it against his son's lips and gently helped him to eat it. He'd had to drug the boy, to keep him calm since he'd been so startled when he woke up in his new home, so it was no surprise that he wasn't able to eat for himself.

Yoshikage didn't mind; whether it was one of his girlfriends or his adorable new son, Yoshikage could hardly complain about taking care of the people he'd chosen to be his family.