Chapter 18: Everyone Gets a Stand!

"Umm, JoJo?" MC tried shaking the sandy-haired boy up. "Are you mad that we've all-"

Before MC could react, Renegades' armshot out of JoJo's shoulder and punched MC square in the face.

"Ah!" MC yelped as he staggered back, now holding on to his bleeding noodle-like nose, turning his voice more nasal. "Wat the hyell wass that fyor?!"

Sayori sniggered from nearby, making a downed JoJo turn his head to glare at her. Quickly, Sayori shut her mouth and shook her head in apology.

Sighing, JoJo slowly came up to a stand. Ignoring MC, who was still clutching his nose, he walked towards Mitsuki. "Ma'am," he said. "Are you a Stand User?"

"A… Stand… User…?" Mitsuki asked, quirking a brow in confusion. "What are you talking about? And what are you all seeing? Are you high? Am I high?!"

"That's some relief," JoJo commented after which he ignored her and turned away, looking back at the club members.

"You're saying this is everyone from your club?" JoJo asked, turning to MC, still ignoring Mitsuki who was yelling from behind him.

Still holding up his nose, MC slowly enunciated every word he said to make himself clear, "Well, there's Monika too. She's supposed to be our president."

JoJo sighed in relief.

"She's also our enemy, and the one hurting every single one of the girls here with her Stand."

"OH, COME ON!" JoJo yelled out, gripping his hair in disbelief, letting MC's nose suddenly return to normal. MC smiled as he rubbed his now normal nose.

"Umm, what's going on?" Natsuki asked, gently tapping MC's shoulder to get his attention.

"Don't worry," MC looked back at her with a smile, still rubbing his nose. "This is a trend of his. I haven't added him to our time reversal group yet, so he always goes through this song and dance of getting pissed off that our club is-"

"WHY IS YOUR CLUB FULL OF STAND USERS?!" JoJo yelled out desperately.

"So… does he always finish your sentences like he's your boyfriend?" Natsuki asked.

"Yep," MC replied without a second thought.

Sayori interrupted with a sheepish smile. "It's happened pretty much every time this happened."

Yuri nodded. "Yes, honestly, at times I think it can be a skill of his."

"I'M NOT JOSEPH JOESTAR, DAMMIT!"

MC sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, here's everything you need to know, based on stuff you've asked last time. None of us were hit by the… arrow? I really don't know how, but everyone gets Stands every time I revert them back in time. Also, everyone here's fought for their life because of Monika's Stand, Mess is Mine. We know that it can control minds and emotions, and even delete people."

"Delete?" JoJo asked.

Casting a quick glance back at Natsuki, who looked down to the floor with a crestfallen expression, MC turned back to JoJo and continued. "Being erased from existence. To the extent of me being unable to bring them back with time reversion. It happened in our last run, to Natsuki's Dad."

JoJo widened his eyes. "Oh… I'm… so sorry."

MC shook his head. "He physically abused her, even raped her."

"Oh, good riddance, then," JoJo quickly switched over.

"Wait, he raped you too?!" Mitsuki yelled from nearby. Sadly, no one was listening to her at the moment.

"MC," Sayori said. "You just said that everyone got Stands only after they went back in time, right?"

"Well, yeah, it seems like it," MC replied, placing a finger on his chin. "I don't know about you, because I just got my Stand trying to save you. However, in our first day in the club, I had brought out my Stand for a Rollback to keep some tea from spilling on Natsuki. Back then, only you and Monika saw it. However, Yuri got her Stand after we reverted her, and we find Natsuki now able to use her Stand as well."

"Well, in that case," Sayori slowly brushed her hair in thought. "If it happened twice, can't you say that Day One could somehow-"

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?!" Mitsuki finally yelled out, earning her the attention of the Stand Club by interrupting them.

The entire room froze at Mitsuki's outburst, as they realized that they were ignoring the person who hadn't understood anything there yet.

"Umm, Mama," Natsuki turned to her, revealing her grimace. "S-Sorry, there was just a lot to discuss. I mean, this is all new for me, too."

Mitsuki sighed. "No, it's okay. But can someone please explain what's happening? Also, is Natsuki involved in all this somehow? It sounds very dangerous."

The other members quickly looked at each other, then nodded. Turning back to Mitsuki, MC started to speak. "Umm, Mrs. Sakurai, what I'm about to tell you will not be easy to digest."

Mitsuki deadpanned. "I just witnessed my daughter individually thrash an army of monster men and her birth father by leaving them suspended in the air like magic. You guys are having a conversation in the middle of all those bodies around us. You're talking about time travel, and how Natsuki had a father that raped and abused her. A man that I seemed to love for some reason. Oh, and yeah, I was killed by Noboru too, let's not forget that."

"What I'm trying to say is, is that you're too late to tell me that this will be hard to digest. I'm already unable to take any of this, so telling me any more wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh, right, the bodies," JoJo said, looking at the still unconscious bodies around him. "Damn. Natsuki, right? Your Stand's really strong."

Sayori looked around as well. "You think we should call the cops?"

"No," JoJo quickly retaliated. "Cops ask too many questions they won't understand the answers to. I'll call some other people that can help. MC, you work on talking with the… reborn mother." With that, JoJo pulled out a phone and dialed a number, and walked out of the house by stepping through the ripped barricade.

MC sighed as he turned back to Mitsuki. "You might need a seat for this, Mrs. Sakurai."

Mitsuki nodded as she walked back to their couch and took her seat. Natsuki quickly occupied the remaining spot next to her.

"What?" Natsuki asked, looking at MC. "I want to listen to this too."

Smirking a little, MC nodded and walked to the opposite couch. As he walked, he noticed the wide gash on the couch that Natsuki and Mitsuki were sitting on. Thinking that it was just an aftermath of their fight, MC continued to the couch, sitting next to the unconscious leather-clad man lying on the other end.

"I think this will be a good demonstration," MC said. "Day One."

However, nothing showed up again.

"Okay, I have no clue what's up with it," he contemplated, then shifted his focus to Natsuki. "Hey, can you call out your Stand?"

Nodding, Natsuki declared, "Sweet Victory."

As the pink and silver Stand emerged from Natsuki's side, she flinched. "Heh," she said, calming down. "I'm gonna have to get used to that, huh?"

"Used to what, baby?" Mitsuki asked.

"Umm, Mama, it's right there," Natsuki said, looking at her while pointing at the Stand. "My… Stand?" Seeing MC nod, Natsuki sighed in relief.

Mitsuki, however, shook her head. "I don't see what you're talking about, Natsuki. Are you seeing things?"

Before Natsuki could cut in, MC decided to interrupt. "Ma'am, I can assure you, she isn't seeing things. An unusual property of every Stand is that only a Stand User can see one. Since you are not a Stand User yourself, you will not be able to."

Mitsuki frowned. "Something that only those who have one of can see? Sounds awfully convenient to me."

MC chuckled. "Natsuki, can you come here for a moment?"

Nodding, Natsuki got up and walked up to him.

MC stood up as well, giving her room to work on. "Now," he said from behind her. "Use Sweet Victory to lift up that body on the couch."

Hesitantly nodding, Natsuki made her Stand move over to the body. With ease, the Stand lifted the body up in one pink hand.

"That's-!" Mitsuki gasped, shifting back in her seat. "That's almost like what you did earlier, Natsuki!"

Natsuki looked back at MC in alarm. "I can assure you, that's not what I did. I just hit them with my Stand, and they went flying away and freezing."

"No, that's okay, Natsuki," MC waved her off. Turning to Mitsuki, he carried on, "Her Stand, Sweet Victory, is currently holding this body. A Stand is a physical manifestation of a person's fighting spirit, or at least, that's what JoJo tells us every time we ask. As you can see, they can be rather powerful on their own. Lucky for all of us, however, Stands are purely under the control of their Masters."

Showing the motions to Natsuki, MC made her slowly place the body behind the couch, to move it out of sight.

"As for what we've gone through," MC continued as he and Natsuki reclaimed their seats. "There's a lot to unpack there. Our club president has been abusing us with her Stand, changing our emotions or those of people that we know so that we can suffer. We have no clue how, but we've been saving her victims for a while, now. Her latest victim was your daughter. And for her, we think she amplified her father's willingness to hurt her."

Natsuki widened her eyes in surprise. "Wait, MC, are you saying that the others have gone through things as well?"

MC paused, but then nodded. "Yes, they did, but it's not my place to tell you what happened to them. For that, you'll have to ask them, even though I believe that they'll tell you regardless."

While Mitsuki was processing everything MC said, Natsuki frowned. "If they'll be okay with it, then why don't you tell me? I mean, this is our club we're talking about."

MC, however, shook his head. "I'm sorry, Natsuki, but those are their issues. They should be the ones to share it."

Natsuki paused, but then sighed. "Okay, at least can you tell me what happened to you?"

"Huh? What happened to me?" MC asked, quirking a brow.

"Yeah, well," Natsuki started to explain. "How did Monika affect you? What did she do to you?"

MC raised his brows in surprise, then looked down in remorse. "I'm the only one among us who hadn't gone through anything at her hand. All I've experienced was being responsible for saving everyone else. I'm not saying that it was nothing, however. Seriously, the things I've seen… they're going to haunt me for the rest of my life even if I fix everything eventually."

"O-Oh," Natsuki stammered out, then looked away as well.

"Okay, putting that aside," Mitsuki said, turning to MC as well. "You all have… superpowers? What are they?"

MC smirked as he turned to Mitsuki. "Well, my Day One's got time reversion, as I've already said. Sayori has Take Me to Church, a Stand capable of making rope that can send energy from one person to the other, and even use that energy to heal someone. You've seen that with how Natsuki was healed. JoJo can extend anything his Stand, Renegades, touches. Finally, Yuri's The Knife can make portals on any scratches that it makes. Speaking of, Yuri!"

"What is it, MC?" Yuri spoke up from nearby, breaking away from her conversation with Sayori.

"Can you make a scratch here?" MC asked. "Just in case."

"A-Ah, right, I forgot!" Yuri chided herself as she brought out The Knife and made a quick scratch at the wall in the hallway in front of the door.

"Ma'am," Yuri said, turning to Mrs. Sakurai. "Please refrain from altering this scratch in any way. I was… rendered useless once because all the scratches I would make would be removed immediately. I wouldn't wish to be unable to teleport here if I need to."

Yuri suddenly widened her eyes. "A-Ah, you mustn't know what I'm talking about! You see, my Stand-"

"Don't worry," Mitsuki interrupted with an easy smile. "MC already told me how you can make portals on your Stands scratches."

"A-And, if I could ask…" Mitsuki added with a stammer, gently tapping her pointer fingers together. "Could you… maybe make more scratches across the house as well?"

Yuri widened her eyes. "Um, why would you wish for that Ma'am?" she asked. "N-Not that I don't mind, of course, but I'm curious why you w-would just w-w-wish for it, that i-is all."

Mitsuki sheepishly grinned. "Well… I had a project planned to create this underground escape cavern in case we had to escape, but we don't have the time or money for that. If… If you can help me here, then I can drastically cut down on our further security costs!"

Natsuki widened her eyes. "Huh," she said. "Who knew my new mom would be so stingy?"

"H-Hey, don't you talk, little miss!" she called her out, turning back to her with a scowl. "You try raising a child all on your own while on the run from a gang!"

Yuri decided to interrupt their small spat. "Well," she said, making them turn back to her. "I-I will get started on those scratches, then."

As Yuri walked away, Sayori walked up to them as well.

"You're… the one with the rope, right?" Mitsuki suddenly turned to her with a gleam in her eye, making the coral-haired girl take a step back. "Please tell me that that rope lasts forever!"

Hesitantly, Sayori shook her head. "Sorry, Ma'am," she said. "But they vanish every time I call my Stand back."

"Ah," Mitsuki sighed, crestfallen. But then, the gleam returned to her eye as she looked at Sayori again. "But you can still help with supporting different objects midair, as I fix them in place! No, Natsuki can do that too. Oh, don't worry, I'm sure I can find some place for you here!"

"Umm," Sayori nervously hummed out as she warily looked at MC. He simply shrugged, not understanding her motives either.

"Oh, we cannot forget about you, too!" she said, turning to MC as well. "With your time reversion, we will never face an accident ever! If something happens, you just blip back and let us know! Easy as that!"

Turning to Natsuki, she suddenly hugged her. "Natsuki," she said to her. "I love your friends. Please make more."

"Uhh…" Natsuki stood paralysed under her mom's grasp, turning back to the other two people there. "What?! I don't remember anything about her!" she shouted at them as they quickly shut down the confused faces they shot at her.

"Umm, Mama," she said, slowly prying herself out of her grip. "Okay, we'll help you fix up the place, but please see the whole picture."

"As much as I hate to say it, she has a point," MC added into the conversation, turning to Mitsuki. "The stray Stand Users in our school are all out for our blood. That's not an exaggeration; they've actually tried to kill us before. Now, they'll be out for your daughter, too."

Mitsuki suddenly went rigid as she slowly split away from her embrace. "Are you… are you serious?" she asked.

Gulping, MC nodded. "I don't think I should have sugarcoated this, because you really need to know about the risks."

MC paused, but then added something else. "However, Natsuki, if you don't want to take part in this, then you can let us know. There will still be stuff for you to do, but you can leave the active combat to us."

Mitsuki shot her head towards her daughter. "Natsuki, please tell me you're not going to join!"

The pink-haired girl widened her eyes and turned back to her mother. "What?! Why?!"

"Please, you can't!" Mitsuki pleaded, grasping her hand. "I've lost so much, I can't lose someone else! I… I can't lose you too…"

Natsuki's face fell as she saw her mother in tears, fearfully holding on to her hand unwilling to let go anytime soon. Gulping, she gently placed another hand on top of hers.

"Mama, I'd love to say no," she finally said. "I don't want to die either, obviously. But… they saved me. Pa – no, Naoko, every single day with him was hell for me. In fact, Yuri died back there so that I could be safe. I just… I can't leave them be when I owe them so much."

"B-But you just got your life back, right?" Mitsuki replied while tilting her head up to her, revealing her tear-stricken cheeks and smeared mascara. "Why would you be willing to give it away again?!"

Natsuki looked down, grimacing and hiding her eyes behind the shadow of her bangs. "The club," she said. "They were the only ones there for me, even before they saved me. I won't ever be able to live with myself if I couldn't go the whole way with them."

"Natsuki…" Mitsuki said as she looked up at her, seeing the new determination in her eyes. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around her again. "I… I can't make you stop. I can see that you're not becoming like me, and I'm glad for that. But please… stay safe? I still want to raise my daughter, after all."

Nodding from the crook of her shoulder, Natsuki wrapped her arms around her mother as well. MC and Sayori, from nearby, looked at each other and smiled, unknowingly grasping each other's hands.

However, Yuri stood nearby, hidden by the staircase as she was about to go down. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her eyes, as she kept wondering if anything she did would be worth anything in the end.

After some time enough, a horde of suited men walked into the room through the busted door, JoJo trailing behind them.

"Everyone!" he announced, gesturing to the group of men that walked in. "Meet the Speedwagon Foundation! Well, at least their cleanup crew. The whole organization can help you out with anything Stand related. In fact, they're the ones that ordered me to come here in the first place!"

"We know," MC said with a curt nod. "We've heard you mention them. But you didn't say anything about them sending you here?"

JoJo shook his head with a smile. "We had tracked some stray Stands here, so I was sent to investigate. It's pretty lucky that we met today, considering how most of their work is, for some reason, revolved around your club."

MC sighed. "Shit, we actually met today?" he remarked. "Damn. I've known you for weeks already, and you're still saying that you've met me today."

JoJo huffed. "Well, maybe you should consider bringing me into your goddamn time group?!"

MC chuckled. "Wait for it, man. You'll get your chance soon."

JoJo groaned out loud. "Seriously, do you really want to keep explaining everything to me every time you travel back in time? Why don't you add me right now, huh?!"

MC shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not sure how to. I've always done it to people without Stands, so I have no clue what will happen to someone with a Stand already, like you. Also, I don't really understand everything about it."

Sayori suddenly widened her eyes and attracted everyone's attention with a loud clap. "MC, that reminds me!" she announced. "How much do you know about your Stand? About its Load Save?"

MC shook his head. "I always thought that it was simply reverting time, but I have no clue how I can bring people back as well."

"JoJo, you'd probably love to hear this. MC, I need you to consider this," Sayori walked up to him and JoJo. "Every time you've brought someone back for the first time, they get a Stand."

"Huh?" MC asked. "Was it really like that…?"

Quickly scrolling through the past moments in his head, he widened his eyes as he came to the same conclusion as Sayori had.

"Oh… my god…" MC muttered as he looked at Sayori and JoJo. "Am I… Are they connected somehow?"

Sayori nodded. "That's what I think, too."

JoJo shot looks at both of them. "What are you two talking about? Are you going to say it or not?"

"Every member of the club, except Monika, only got their Stands after I brought them back in time," MC explained. "What if… that's not a coincidence?"

JoJo widened his eyes as he took a wary step back. "MC… what are you trying to say…?"

MC took a breath. "I'm trying to say that there was no arrow, or anything like that. No one here got their Stands in traditional ways. They all got their Stands… because Day One gave it to them."

Stricken, JoJo widened his eyes. "A Stand… that gives other people Stands? Time reversion, too?" He put a finger to his chin in through, but then swiftly shook his head. "No, that doesn't make any sense!"

Looking back at MC, JoJo continued. "Every Stand is supposed to have only one ability. How would you be able to get two…?"

Sayori interrupted his thoughts. "House of Gold had multiple powers. Both the space changing and the butlers. Oh, also, that rule thing too."

"What…?" JoJo shook his head. "Okay, I need to know this. How the hell did we beat space manipulation, of all things?"

MC replied for him. "Future you wanted to tell you about that. You can elongate space. Like… The Hand? Apparently you have to put your all into your punch, enough to form aura around your Stand's fist."

"Wait, are you serious?! Argh, no, not important right now. Was this House of Gold contained somehow?"

Sayori nodded. "It could only be used in his house, as far as I know," she said.

Nodding, JoJo continued. "Then there's your answer for that. Stands can be overpowered if they are constrained somehow. But… MC's Stand doesn't make any sense! Giving people Stands is a ridiculous ability in and of itself. How the hell can MC have that on top of time reversion?!"

MC thought about it as much as he could, but he was drawing a blank.

"MC," JoJo continued, breaking him out of hi thoughts. "Have you ever thought about the kind of Stand that they would acquire?"

MC shook his head, frowning. "No, I was more focused on helping them live. I didn't even think that I was giving them Stands."

JoJo suddenly beamed at him, and MC was only slightly uneasy from the new expression on JoJo's face. "In any case, this is what makes the most sense out of what we know. I've considered the Stand Arrows, like you've mentioned before, but pairing time reversion with that can be tricky, especially when no one had Stands before the time was reverted. But if your Stand can give anyone else Stands, then that could help us tremendously!"

Yuri and Natsuki decided to step up into their conversation as well. "Huh?" Natsuki asked. "How would it help?"

JoJo slapped his forehead. "Seriously, it's common sense. If we can find more people to join us, we can end up giving them Stands as well!"

"No," MC declared with an air of finality. "I'm not giving people Stands."

"Why?!" JoJo asked, gripping MC by the shoulders and shaking him. "Strength in numbers, man! If we can get more people on our side, then why don't we try?!"

Yuri nodded from behind them. "He's right, MC. If we could make a small army of Stand Users, then it would certainly help us."

MC, however, sighed out loud. "How much have we suffered at the hands of Stands?" he asked, looking back at the other girls. "JoJo might be right about gaining more strength with more people on our side. But are we really willing to put other people through everything that had happened to us? All of that pain and trauma?"

The rest of the girls went silent, as they had no clue what to say to that.

"Seriously, we don't know anything about how Day One can do this!" MC yelled out. "We have no clue what the risks are, nor the consequences! In fact, Sayori almost died due to Stand sickness once, and I'm not going to let other people go through that. Not ever!"

JoJo went pale as he heard that comment. "Sayori… had Stand sickness?"

Looking back at him, he nodded. "Yeah, but luckily I was attacked by someone then. She manifested her Stand to save me."

Sayori nodded as well. "That day was not fun at all. That was also the first time someone got deleted in front of us."

"Yeah," MC commented. "That was there too."

JoJo eventually sighed. "Well, fine. If you're not going to give people Stands, then have it your way. I just hope that you'll be okay with this in the long run."

MC looked at JoJo square in the eyes, letting his newfound determination waft off him. "As I said, I don't want anyone else to go through what we are. So, no more. The five of us are enough."

JoJo looked at each member of the club, then chuckled. "Damn," he said. "It's the crusaders all over again."

Natsuki looked at each one of them. "Will… Will all of us be enough to do this? I mean, who are we fighting in the first place?"

MC looked down at her. "Monika, mostly," he said. "But there are other Stand users as well. We've met a few across time, but they're all still alive. We have Yowaida and Rockabye, then-"

"Sakimoto, the Hall Monitor, with Stupid Deep," Yuri interrupted. "He's the one who attacked me last time."

"Okay," MC replied.

"We already took care of Hoketsu and Broken String," JoJo added.

"Hoketsu?" MC asked, then widened his eyes as he remembered. "Oh wow, it's been so long since we faced him, I forgot all about him!"

JoJo shook his head. "We really don't need to worry about him anymore. Now, we need to decide how we're going to do this tomorrow with our numbers."

MC nodded. "As of now, we only know about these two, but not Monika. We've already taken care of them before, it's just Monika who we have to be careful about. So, I think the best thing to do would be to defeat them as soon as possible, so that Monika won't have anyone supporting her."

JoJo frowned. "Would that be a good idea? We'd just be alerting them of us."

MC shook his head. "Let them know were coming," MC gritted his teeth as he balled his fists. "I've been waiting to defeat Monika for a very long time. She's had this coming for a while. I'm not going to let her go so easily."

Sayori gently clasped MC's shoulder. "MC, are you sure about this?" she asked. "Monika… I hate to say it, but maybe we should try talking to her first?"

"What?!" MC burst out at her, making her take a wary step away from her boyfriend. "Why?! Don't you remember everything she's done to you? To us?!"

Sayori quickly nodded. "Of course, I do!" she exclaimed. "But even then, we have no clue why she's doing this, right? Why don't we try asking her first?"

Natsuki stepped up to the both of them. "Will she even be willing to respond in the first place? I mean, I've never seen her like that, but it sounds like she'd be more willing to scrub us in the dirt than give us answers."

"Why can't we just try?!" Sayori asked, looking at the others. "Guys, this is Monika we're talking about! Our friend! Our president! She has to have some reason why she did all this!"

"I'm sorry, Sayori," MC grabbed her shoulder to make her turn to him. "But I don't see her as my president anymore. Now, she's our enemy."

Sayori's expression took a slightly horrified turn, as she turned to the floor and let tears fall from her eyes. "Why…" she mumbled. "Why would she do this? W-Why can't the club be as it once w-was? A place where we can all have fun. W-What happened to that?!"

MC paused as he turned to the floor as well, not knowing what to say to her. Neither did Yuri nor Natsuki, who looked at each other instead.

JoJo interrupted the silence instead. "That's stupid," he said. "Seriously, you've got Stands now. You've lost your happiness forever. You'll be fighting for your life wherever you go."

MC shot a dirty look at him, while Sayori seemed to sink deeper within herself. JoJo, seeing MC's reaction, widened his eyes.

"Oh, not the time?" he asked. "Well, sorry, then. I'm not a social butterfly, you know."

MC sighed as he shook his head. "Let's not think about stuff like that for now," he said. "We have a job to do, so we've got to do it. Can we do that?"

Natsuki quickly nodded. "I'm in."

Sayori slowly brushed the tears from her eyes, but then turned back to MC and grimly nodded. "I-I'll do everything I can."

Yuri, however, took a deep breath. As the rest of the club looked at her, she seemed to shrink into herself under their gazes.

"Yuri?" MC asked. "Is everything alright?"

"I-It's just…" Yuri closed her eyes and took a heavy breath. "Will I be of any use in the end? The Knife, all it can do is make portals. Nothing else. What can that do other than help us run away?"

JoJo, however, simply chuckled. "You'd be surprised with everything your Stand can do," he said. "Portals may be a simple ability, but it can be fearfully powerful. I don't even need to see your Stand in action to know that it is incredibly strong."

"B-But how?" she asked. "I couldn't save anyone in the last run! I just…"

MC sighed as he quickly interrupted whatever she was going to say. "Can we worry about that later? Right now, we need to plan out everything we need to defeat Monika."

"MC!" Sayori quickly chided him. "We have to let Yuri speak! She just died! We can't forget about that!"

"Look, I know that as well," MC sighed as he balled his fists again. "But we have no choice but to swallow our issues for now, and get the job done. I'm sorry, Yuri, but can you please set your issues aside for now? After we stop Monika, then we'll finally be free. We can talk about anything you need to then."

Yuri sighed, but then closed her eyes and hesitantly nodded. "I will… try," she muttered.

"Thank you, Yuri," MC said. "When did Monika meet you in the last run?"

"Around lunchtime," Yuri confessed, looking back at MC.

"Okay, so we can assume that Monika would come to Natsuki's home after that," he said, now turning to Mitsuki. "Mrs. Sakurai, could you please stay out of the house tomorrow? I don't want Monika to get to you as well."

She slowly nodded. "Well," she said, looking around at her house. "I would still love to fix the house before I go, but if I have to, then I can go to work tomorrow for the whole day."

MC smiled. "That's good to hear. Thank you."

"Oh yeah, about that," Natsuki turned to MC. "How the hell did you guys know about Noboru?"

MC widened his eyes, but then sighed. "Look, Natsuki," he started. "I'm sorry to say this, but when I went back in time with you, I ended up seeing your memories. I have no clue how, and honestly if I could have stopped it, I would have."

"W-Wait, what?!" Natsuki reacted. "D-Did you see all of them?"

MC shook his head. "Only the important ones. Well, mainly your mom and aunt dying."

"My aunt?" Natsuki raised her brows in surprise. "Oh, you're talking about Auntie Nikki. You've actually seen into my head, huh?"

Grimly, MC nodded, looking at Mitsuki for a moment.

"I've already told you about it," he told her, to which Mitsuki nodded as well.

"But if I can ask," MC continued, still looking at Mitsuki. "Who's her father now?"

"Oh, it's Noboru."

"Wait, the rapist?!"

"And my ex-boyfriend."

"When the hell did that happen?!"

"A long time ago when I joined his gang, and when I was so very stupid."

MC sighed. "Alright, well, none of that's important now," he said as he turned to the rest of the club. "Does everyone know what they're supposed to do?"

They all nodded at him, with JoJo smiling at him from a distance.

"That's good," MC replied. "We can celebrate once we've defeated Monika, alright? We can lick our wounds then." Revealing the determination in his face, he held a fist up. "However, right now, Monika's in our sights. I'm not letting her go so quickly."

In about an hour, the cleanup crew had gathered the rest of the bodies and went away with them. No one knew what would happen to them, but they chose not to think too much of it. However, the house was still trashed, and the door was still busted. Mitsuki sighed as she saw the numerous things she was supposed to fix, slowly crunching the numbers in her head.

Natsuki, however, was catching her breath on the nearby couch. She had just gone through JoJo's Stand crash course, leaving him infuriated that he had to do it twice that day.

"Umm, Natsuki," she turned to her daughter, now that her friends were gone to prepare for the next day. "Had Yuri made those scratches?"

Natsuki groaned out loud on the couch. "Yes, she did, Mama," she said with an exasperated tone, sitting up. "Seriously, do you want everyone to stay here to help with all this?"

Quickly, Mitsuki turned to her daughter, bearing that same gleam in her eyes. "That would be wonderful!"

Natsuki sighed. "Sorry, Mama," she said, making Mitsuki pout. "But they've got stuff to do. To prepare for tomorrow."

Mitsuki frowned at the mention of that. "Well, that's fine. But aside from that, Natsuki," she murmured, letting her worry show. "Now that no one is here, I want to know this for sure. Do you really not remember anything?"

"Yeah, I don't," she said, looking off to the side. "I'm probably not the Natsuki you know, Mama."

Mitsuki kept her frown for a moment as she took a seat on the couch opposite her, but the showed off a small smile to her daughter. "Do you like manga?"

Natsuki widened her eyes, but then nodded.

"What about baking?" she continued. "And your ballet classes?"

"Well, yeah – BALLET?!" Natsuki recoiled away from her mother in fear.

Mitsuki, however, laughed out loud. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, Natsuki. No, you've never liked ballet. You always called it too girly. I'd always thought you'd become a tomboy, honestly."

Natsuki pouted at her mother. "That was mean," she said.

"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't resist," Mitsuki chuckled.

Natsuki huffed in response, but then let her expression fall. "Umm, Mama?" she said. "Do you really believe it? About Pa – sorry, Naoko?"

Mitsuki grimaced as well, then walked up to her daughter and leaned down to grip her shoulder. "Natsuki," she said. "I do believe it. I have proof, after all."

"Proof?" she asked, quirking a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since I was young, I would think about my future. More specifically, what I would do if I got any kids," Mitsuki retold her. "One thing I really wanted was to name them after a combination of mine and my husband's name. Obviously, I didn't want that to be the case for Noboru. However, the moment I had you, I just felt that the name Natsuki was right for you. But now that you've told me this, I see why I named you that in the first place."

"You're Naoko's and Mitsuki's daughter," she said, getting off her couch and walking to her to wrap her arms around her small frame. "You're Natsuki. And no matter what, I want that name to remind you of how much we love you. Enough to give you a part of what we are."

"Mama," Natsuki softly replied, hugging her back. "I've… I've missed you so much."

Mitsuki tears were falling on Natsuki's pink scalp. "And I'd love to get to know you once again, Natsuki."

"Won't you miss me?" Natsuki asked. "I mean, who I was? The Natsuki who got lost after I came here?"

Mitsuki shook her head. "I don't care," she said. "I know you're both safe. That's what matters the most to me."

"Umm, Mama," Natsuki said, slowly pulling away from their embrace. "I don't think I'm going to be safe. Not ever."

Mitsuki sighed as she let her hands release from her, but still squatting in front of her. "You're right. Stands still exist," she said looking down at the floor with her hands clasped. "Natsuki, I don't think I can help you out of this one, only you can. But as I said before, stay safe. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Natsuki smiled at her mother. "Mama," she said. "What's my Stand's name?"

Mitsuki blinked, taken aback. "Umm… Sweet Victory?"

In response, Natsuki's pink and silver Stand emerged from behind her, invisible to her mother.

"Exactly," Natsuki said as she took her mother's hand, Sweet Victory placing its hand over her arm as well, making Mitsuki flinch at the extra feeling. "Sweet Victory. That's what I'm going to get. Every single time. Papa may have abused me, but I will never let anyone else hurt either you, me or my friends like he did ever again. And now, I'm pretty sure all my threats actually mean something, because I can certainly punch the shit out of people."

"Natsuki, language!" Mitsuki rebuked, but with a grin on her face.

Natsuki just chuckled as she let go of her mother's hand and Sweet Victory withdrew into her. "Alright, I've got work to do," she said, getting up from the couch. "The only manga I've read from that shelf in my room is Parfait Girls, so I'll be taking my time to read through everything else!"

Mitsuki widened her eyes as she rose as well. "Oh dear," she bemoaned. "Why did that have to be a change? Can't you at least help me fix the door?"

Looking back at the busted door, Natsuki smirked. Walking up to it, she lifted it up and positioned it in the doorframe. Using Sweet Victory, she quickly suspended it right there by freezing its gravity, making it seem like it was closed.

"That'll make things easier, right?" she said as she walked back up the stairs. "Just call me down if you need anything else!" Mitsuki chuckled as she saw the suspended door again, then turned back to Natsuki.

"Hey, Natsuki!" she called out, making Natsuki lean back down. "You've always said that your second favorite was this manga about Janken of all things. A boy trying to win back his lover from someone who can hypnotize someone by beating them in the game. You can start with that one."

Beaming back at her mom, Natsuki quickly scampered back into her room. Mitsuki looked at the hall around her one more time, and sighed at the amount of work she would had to postpone.

A/N: This chapter was... so so. This is one of my intermediary chapters, after all. Real stuff happens in the next chapter.

I'm definitely going to have Mess is Mine show in the next chapter, but I'm planning on extending this arc a little instead of making the next chapter the Mess is Mine exclusive. However, I haven't yet thought of a good Stand, so I'll be taking my time there.

The entire club is falling down the rabbithole of madness, and it's wonderful. MC and Natsuki have become bloodthirsty, Sayori's depression has kicked up to the max and Yuri's self-worth is all but non-existent. Obviously, these developments conflict with each other, which is why MC was slightly OOC in this chapter. However, I believe I've built up his rising anger issues well throughout the story, so that's good.

And if you're wondering why I'd say that their mental anguish is a good thing, then you're stupid. This gives them so much room to grow, to get better as they learn more and more about everything about themselves and the related parties.

I also know I've taken longer to upload this chapter. I've decided that I won't shit out chapters so soon, and actually take some more time with them from now. This is something I've tried to implement for a while now, but sometimes I just get too excited for anything else. A good example is the last few chapters.

Review!

IzuOchaShipper99: I personally prefer Sweet Victory. I wanted to name it after who Natsuki was as a whole, instead of her one crippling moment. And for that, Sweet Victory fits the bill. Natsuki wants to feel victorious as much as she can, as determined by her tsundere nature and her aggressiveness. 'Sweet' is rather obvious, despite its hilarity. Also, I have a tendency to feel if something is good for a character I work on, like how I made JoJo socially inept and Mitsuki stingy. Just like that, I felt that Sweet Victory would be the best name for her. If you're asking this because of how I've named Yuri's Stand, you should know that The Knife also pays homage to her love for fantasy and horror. Also, a knife can be used for conventional matters, but even for more dangerous acts. People are also wary around knives for the same reason. Yuri is similarly wary about how people would handle her, and worried that she could do something wrong at any point. So, The Knife fits her. Just like this, everyone's Stands have a reason for their name.

That's all!

I've decided upon a new addition to this story. A much more valuable one that adds to the lore of this story, enough to change the whole future of it. If you focus, there is also a tiny reference to it in this chapter, even though it doesn't really mean much. However, I'll be mentioning it for the first time in the next chapter.

And don't worry about MC's Stand not showing up. If you're confused about it, go back to his Stand description in the end of chapter 2 and read up on the cooldowns for Load Save.

Thanks for hearing the ramblings of a mad, unsociable writer! I'll see you all next chapter!