Chapter 9: Maddening Interlude

"So, let me get this straight," JoJo said, looking at MC and Sayori sitting opposite him. "This chick became a Stand User, your Club President is an enemy and another enemy got wiped from existence in front of you?"

"Sounds about right," MC nodded.

JoJo looked straight at him. "I've got only one thing to say; What the fuck?!"

"Er," Sayori tried to butt in, "Well, we didn't-"

"And how the hell did you get a Stand?" JoJo remarked. "Let's put aside the fact that you got one in the first place. How the hell did an airhead like you actually harness one?"

Sayori recoiled a bit at his words. MC, however, darkened his gaze.

"Joster," MC growled, "Don't even think about talking to her like that."

"Or what?" JoJo replied, meeting MC's gaze. "I mean, you haven't even done anything to a Stand User enemy right in front of you everyday!"

"Dammit, JoJo, we still don't know for sure!"

"Oh, really?" JoJo stood up from his seat and pointed at MC. "Didn't you just say that Monika saw your Stand in one of your Rollbacks? Isn't that evidence enough, aside from the fact that she fucking suicide-baited the kid you're trying to protect now?!"

"Oh, well what have you done, then?" MC got up from his seat as well and walked up to JoJo. "All I've seen you do till now is be some kind of Guru or something. You talk big about your Joestar legacy, but what the hell have you done about it till now, huh?!"

"What the hell does-"

"STOP!" Sayori screamed as a wave of exhaustion washed over both MC and JoJo, rendering them quiet. Sure enough, Sayori stood beside them with Take Me to Church out, and rope curled around their hands.

Retreating her Stand, the rope vanished with it. "Both of you, stop fighting. We're not going to get anywhere by doing this."

MC took one last look at JoJo, before sighing. "You're right, Sayori. We shouldn't have fought like that. I'm sorry."

JoJo, however, remained quiet. Soon enough, he chuckled.

"Who knew you'd have the balls to do that?" he remarked.

Hearing their confused whines, he continued. "I mean, I hadn't expected you to use your Stand to break up our fight like that. MC, does she regularly stop fights like this?"

"Well, I guess," MC spoke for her. "In the last run, she stopped a similar fight between Natsuki and Yuri. This is the first time she used her Stand for it, though."

"Y-Yeah," Sayori looked away in embarrassment. "I just don't like it when my friends can't get along…"

"Good grief, a fierce gentleness, then?" JoJo asked. "I guess I can see that. Your Stand wouldn't be very strong, though. But I guess I can accept that you have a Stand now."

"Uh, thanks?" Sayori half-asked.

"Alright," JoJo announced, ready to move on. "Now that we're thinking rationally again, can we actually discuss what's going on in this Literature Club of yours?"

"About that," MC asked, "Do you think you could join the club? Help us take care of this?"

JoJo waved his hand in dismissal. "That's a red flag. I'm pretty sure Monika already suspects us of being Stand Users. Me joining would worsen that doubt."

MC blanched. "What the hell are we going to do, then?!"

"Simple," JoJo smiled. "You guys have to take care of it."

"What?!" MC screamed, with Sayori widening her eyes as well. "We cannot do that! We don't know anything about her Stand! Hell, I hardly even know how to use mine, and Sayori just got hers today!"

"I'm not saying you're ready for this, because you certainly aren't," JoJo frowned, pondering. " Sadly enough, you two are our only hope in stopping whatever this is. I'm seriously considering joining the club as well, but I can't. I've got other stuff I need to do."

"What stuff?" MC asked.

"I work on the side for an organization called the Speedwagon Foundation," JoJo explained. "They basically keep care of anything Stand related, and take care of potential threats to humanity based on Stands. I have to go back to them to give reports on the situation here."

JoJo then looked at Sayori. "That reminds me. Sayori, have you ever been stabbed by an arrow at any point in your life?"

"An arrow?" Sayori parroted in confusion. "No, I'm pretty sure I'd know if I have."

"What about you, MC?"

"Not that I remember," MC admitted.

"Okay, then had either of you fallen sick for- wait, no, that won't make sense, Sayori had just fallen sick…"

Sayori eventually relented, "What's going on? What's with this arrow?"

"You two are anomalies," JoJo blurted out.

"Wait, what?" both responded in unison.

"I don't know about MC, he might be a natural-born Stand User. Sayori, on the other hand, had just fallen sick. She had gotten her Stand from somewhere, but it's not the arrow."

"JoJo," MC spoke up. "Can you please explain what this arrow is?"

"Ah, right!" JoJo remarked. "I'm talking about the Stand Arrow. If you get stabbed, even grazed by it, you either develop a Stand or die."

"Oh…" Sayori muttered. "Wait, I've never been stabbed by an arrow, so how did I get my Stand?"

"As I said," JoJo nodded and closed his eyes. "Anomaly."

"And that's not the only thing," JoJo continued. "MC, remember when I interrogated Hoketsu?"

"Wait, what's this about interrogating?" Sayori asked, recoiling a little.

"Yeah," MC admitted, ignoring Sayori's horror. "You still haven't told me what he said."

JoJo nodded. "Most of it doesn't matter, but this does. He had never heard of the arrow either."

MC widened his eyes and leaned in closer. "What are you trying to say?"

"I think there's something we've never encountered before, giving people Stands."

"Wait," Sayori interrupted. "You're saying none of us remember the arrow, right?"

"Well, yeah," JoJo replied. "What's your point?"

She looked back at MC. "Remember when Natsuki forgot her argument with Yuri?"

MC immediately noticed her point. "Monika! She can make people forget things!"

"Really?" JoJo asked. "Well, that changes things. Do you know what else she can do?"

"No," MC admitted. "Nothing else is clear. We just know she can make people forget things, and I think even modify their emotional state. She can also delete people from existence."

"Good grief, that's an odd combo," JoJo responded. "And you haven't seen it even once?"

"No, no we haven't," MC revealed, "And she still exerted her influence."

"Hmm, interesting," JoJo pondered. "That means we have only one possible reason for these Stands. Monika has an arrow, but she's making people forget them after she stabs them."

Sayori nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's the only way."

"It's interesting, though." JoJo remarked. "Normally, either of you should have died if she gave you a Stand. Also, why would she bother giving you two power like this?"

MC and Sayori paused as they looked at each other, processing what JoJo just told them.

"We… don't know for sure." MC admitted. "Maybe it's a sick way of showing she cares for us?"

"Maybe," JoJo replied. "All I can say is that we don't have all the details yet. We still need to investigate."

"I don't think we have time," MC said. "Yuri's getting progressively worse every day. I don't even know what's going to happen with her tomorrow."

"Yeah, he's right," Sayori added. "I've never seen Yuri like this before. She never acted like this in the last run."

"Hmm…" JoJo hummed. "In that case, this Yuri takes precedence. You two, go to the club tomorrow and do what you can to save her. I'll also be nearby if you need any assistance. If Monika decides to interfere, don't hesitate to stop her."

While MC nodded, Sayori's breath hitched in her throat, a motion noticed by JoJo.

"Sayori," he spoke to her, "I can see that you aren't comfortable with stuff like this. However, the world of Stands is incredibly dangerous. You need to let go of that softness of yours, and be ready to do what's necessary for survival."

"I… Y-Yeah, I know…" Sayori sighed. "I just… don't know how."

Seeing her in distress, MC immediately placed a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her.

"Don't worry, Sayori," he said. "You saved me today, right? You can save Yuri, too."

"I…" Sayori paused, processing MC's words. "Yeah, okay, I'll try. If it's for my friends."

"Awesome." JoJo smiled, seeing the growth in front of him. "Anyway, Sayori, I'll brief you on the basics of a Stand for now. MC, you can go back and do whatever."

"Alright," MC sighed as he got up from his couch. "Good luck, Sayori. Remember to come back for the night, okay?"

She beamed back at MC. "Thank you, MC! I will!" She then turned to JoJo. "Okay, let's get started."

As JoJo trained her, MC zoned out and sauntered back to his room. As he settled down on his desk, he quickly finished off his homework that he had already done the past week, and wrote yet another poem. This time, he wrote the same poem as last week, not wanting to think about it too much. As he cleared up all of his work when he finished it, he quickly noted that he still a little time left before JoJo was supposed to return. Looking for something to do, he rummaged through his bag. That was when he saw the book inside.

"Portrait of Markov, huh?" he muttered to himself.

Remembering how Yuri reacted to the book, he decided that spoilers weren't important if there was a possibility that it could be affecting a friend. So, MC opened up his laptop and searched for a Portrait of Markov Wiki online.

"There it is…" he told to himself as he found the link.

He ignored most of the stuff that he saw, and focused on moving to the profile of the protagonist of the story. He read out their character traits to himself.

"She had a rather meek personality before the torture she had gone through. She had tended to apologize profusely for the smallest things, even accidentally intercepting someone as they walked in front of her. She was rather introverted, and stuck to her own close circle of friends most of the time. Even then, it would take a lot to get her to communicate with her peers."

'God, this is exactly like Yuri!' MC thought as he read.

"However, after the incidents of the Training Camp, her personality had darkened, making her even more attached to those left of her friends. Her growing obsessiveness for them had forced her to commit torture and murder in their name. However, the pain hadn't been unforgotten by her, which was clearly denoted by her habits of self-harm that she had turned to whenever she couldn't exert her dominion over another victim."

'Self-harm?' MC's eyes widened in surprise. 'Obsessive traits? None of this sounds like Yuri at all!'

Sadly, MC knew that his assumptions couldn't count for much. After all, he could never assume that Sayori would be suicidal.

'Has Yuri… killed before?' he wondered. 'Or is it the self-harm she was talking about?'

MC suddenly heard a knock on his door, jerking him back in fright.

"Hey, MC!" Sayori announced. "JoJo's gone back! Let's talk!"

Sighing, MC opened the door to reveal a cheery Sayori standing in front of him.

"Heya!" she cheered, not noticing MC's grim mood.

"Hey, Sayori." MC said as he closed the laptop sitting on his desk. 'I can't show this to her yet. She'd get too worried.'

"How'd your training go?" MC asked as Sayori entered the room and sat on his bed.

"It was alright," Sayori smiled. "I'm pretty sure there's a lot I need to learn about my own Stand right now, aside from those rules JoJo told me about."

"I'm glad." MC then let his expression fall as he looked at Sayori, determining that this was the best time to breach his question.

"Alright, do you want to talk about it now?"

Sayori cheerful expression immediately fell, a motion that MC had gotten used to by now. "I guess so," Sayori said.

Mc took his place next to Sayori on the bed. "Okay, go ahead."

"I just…" Sayori looked away. "I just felt like I was useless. Like there was nothing I could do to save that boy. He had forgiven us, and wanted to work with us. I just… It's unfair."

Sayori looked at MC. "Why does it have to be the good people that suffer the most?"

"Oyanagi died because he wanted to help us," she continued. "Yuri is suffering because of some game Monika is playing with us. MC, you had to face me as I died. I can't even imagine how much I hurt you that day."

Before Sayori could continue, MC quickly closed in the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her. Sayori's breath hitched as she felt MC's hug.

"Sayori, you're right," MC said. "I was hurt that day. I can't even imagine what would've happened if Day One hadn't reset for me."

"And about the good people suffering," MC continued, "I think that's why we got these abilities in the first place. We need to make sure that the good people remain safe, and that the bad people making use of them can be stopped."

"But why did it have to be us?" Sayori exclaimed. "We're just high schoolers! Why are we involved in all this danger so soon in our lives?"

"I… don't know," MC admitted. "But no matter what, we have to do this, Sayori. We can't leave our friends behind."

Sayori heaved a sigh. "I know, MC. I know."

She then stood up. "Okay, enough of that sappy stuff." Turning to MC, she revealed that glint of mischief in her eye. "Do you want to help me train with my Stand?"

MC smiled and stood up as well, happy that Sayori was leaving this behind now. "Alright, sure!"

Sayori took in a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this! Take Me to Church!"

"Day One!"

Yuri was frantic.

She had absolutely no idea what was happening to her. No matter what she did, no matter how many times she cut herself, she couldn't stop thinking about the thing that was on her mind the whole night.

A wonderful boy with the dreamiest amber eyes she had ever seen.

MC. Mark Caulfield. Even his name rung like a song in her head.

She gingerly held Sky in her hand. This was one of the brightest of her collection. A bright sky haft with intricate spiral swirls covered it, beauty held back by Yuri's fingers grazing it. The blade, a sleek titanium silver, with a slight coat of crimson and brown along its stiletto edges from recent use.

She brought the edge to her arm yet again, thinking about the boy that she was now smitten with. She held her poem for tomorrow in front of her, a true masterpiece. It held everything she was. Her love for MC, all her unnatural tendencies, her love for MC, they were all shown on the single page. A true masterpiece, after all.

As the blade bit into a rare fresh area on her arm, she kept thinking of that bitch that MC walked back home with. Sayori. Even thinking of that name made her want to retch, forcing her to dig her blade in deeper, salivating at how it would feel when she would do the same to her.

After all, MC was hers alone, and no one else could have him.

And so, she continued her fantasy of mixing her blood with MC's, as an invisible figure hugged her face and held its arms inside her eyes.

A/N: Yes, I know this chapter was boring except for that last Yuri bit. This is a pure exposition chapter, so it was to be expected after all. That's also why I made it so small, too.

Anyway, I've got good news. I'm finally done with my semester! You know what this means, of course. More time for me to write chapters!

I've left Ascension be for way too long, and I've got to review the old chapters one more time to write a new one properly. So, I'll be writing a new Ascension chapter after the Yuri Arc of this story is completed. That will be either in the next chapter, or the one after that.

Reviews!

IzuOchaShipper99: Thanks for the explanation. Monika's Stand is still very different, though, as it might have been suggested by this chapter. I'm actually reading JoJolion now, so I'm going to enjoy that Stand once the time comes for me to read about it.

I'm pretty sure I can get MCBA chapters out much faster than Ascension ones. I'm also thinking up of new stories to write, but those are all for MHA, so I won't be talking about those here. Wait for my new Ascension chapter for that debrief if you're interested.

Anyway, look forward to the completion of the Yuri arc in the next chapter. I'm also thinking about an intro theme for this story, but I don't know if that is overdone. In any case, if I am, I'll only be making it after the Natsuki arc because it'll have spoilers for her and Yuri's arcs.

Honestly, now that I think about it, it's weird how this story will never go past the same week, except for when it is time for the festival.

That'll be all for now! I'll be working on the next chapter very soon, so it'll come up in the next few days, probably. I'll see you next chapter!