Chapter 1: The Normal Day of a TOTALLY Normal Teen in Morioh

It was a bright, cheerful day in Morioh, with very few clouds in the sky. It was earlier in the morning, a bit before the time high schoolers actually had to head to school. Which was what a particular teen was doing as she walked along the sidewalk.

The young woman had a head of dark brown hair that flowed down to just past her shoulders. Her mahogany colored eyes stared into the space in front of her as her school uniform, a dark colored sailor fuku with long sleeves and a longer skirt reaching down to just past her knees, moved in the slight breeze. Clutched in her hands was the handle of her school bag, full of her necessities for school. Her knee-high, black boots thumped lightly against the pavement, as the girl hummed a song to herself.

"Ah, hello, Murasaki!"

At the sound of someone calling her name, the young woman, who we now know to be Murasaki Fujimoto, the main character of this story, turned to an elderly woman who was watering the flowers on her porch.

"Hello, Mrs. Itou," Murasaki greeted the lady with a smile.

"Off to school already?" The lady, Mrs. Itou, inquired, "You don't usually leave at this time."

"Well, I woke up, and just couldn't fall back asleep. So, I decided to get a head start on my day," Murasaki explained to the kind older woman who she had known for quite some time.

Mrs. Itou nodded her head in understanding, giving a good-natured smile. "Well, I won't keep you from doing so. Besides, I have to tend to the other flowers in the backyard."

"Wouldn't want to keep them waiting," Murasaki said, starting to turn around. "I'll see you later today, Mrs. Itou!"

"Take care, dear!" Mrs. Itou called after the retreating girl, waving and smiling.

Murasaki sighed after having walked a few paces away from the house. Her days almost always started like this; walking to school, talking with Mrs. Itou for a bit, then continuing on her way until she reached her school. The only other times where this wouldn't happen were in the case that she was either late, and her mother drove her to school, or Mrs. Itou was attending to the flowers in her backyard before the ones on her porch.

All in all, an average, uneventful day, even on those types of days.

Though Mura was grateful for her danger-free life, there was also a side of her that yearned for than just this mundane life every single day. Nothing much really happened in Morioh. The only time something had happened was when the people of Morioh had discovered a killer hiding amongst them, but that had been dealt with a long time ago; 19 years, in fact. Since then, nothing of that magnitude had occurred. And, even though Mura wanted a more interesting life, she was definitely more than happy that the killer was no more, having died in an accident with, ironically, an Ambulance.

Murasaki stopped for a moment. She looked around, making sure nobody was there (even though it didn't really matter), then closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she looked to her side and, as expected, her Stand was hovering there.

Her body, covered in indigo metal, shined in the sunlight, her headscarf shaking slightly in the small whirl of wind caused by her appearance. Murasaki felt the gaze of her Stand on her, even though she never saw her eyes move, due to them lacking any pupils. As usual, she held her crystal ball in between her clawed hands, with the contents swirling around in there like Mura's thoughts were currently doing in her head.

She would've thought that her Stand would've caused some big ripple in her life, but no. As far as she knew, no one else could see it, other than her mom and dad. In fact, the only reason she knew anything about Stands was because of her father, who had told her what Stands were after she had told him of the strange feeling she had felt inside of her for as long as she could remember, and the figure that had once appeared next to her sometime when she was ten; her parents were the only ones who knew about her stand.

He had explained that Stands were a person's fighting spirit manifested as an actual being in the world, and that they had different strengths and weaknesses, as well as special abilities that could aid them.

And therein lay the problem: as far as Mura knew, her Stand had no abilities.

Her Stand seemed to recognize that something was wrong. She took her hands off her crystal ball, and it floated up into the air until it was just past the height of her head. She stretched her arms out to her sides and started moving forward in what was obviously a gesture to commence a hug.

Murasaki smiled at her Stand, and accepted the hug, moving forward so that her Stand could wrap its arms around her. Though Mura was upset her Stand, whom she unfortunately had yet to name (she currently called it S), didn't have any abilities, she soon came to realize that it didn't matter; her Stand had become so much more to her than a creature that should have awesome powers. It had become one of her best friends, and a member of her family. Whenever Mura was bored, S would try her hardest to entertain her; whenever Mura was sad or upset in any way, S was always there to comfort her (along with her parents, or course); whenever Mura was excited or had accomplished something, S would be right next to her, being excited as well or congratulating her in her own special way; whenever Mura was anywhere or doing anything, her Stand was right behind her, and ever present being that stuck by Murasaki no matter what. She couldn't imagine her life without S in it.

Mura, after a few seconds longer, pulled out of the hug.

"Thanks, S," Mura said to her Stand, smiling at it. "Your hugs are always the best."

S nodded her flat-faced head, the circuit-like markings on her armor glowing to signify to Mura that she was happy, a fact she had learned from her many interactions with her Stand.

Content with her user's mood, Mura's Stand disappeared back into Mura.

…

Murasaki had made it to school, where she had kind of just wandered around for a bit until school actually started; Mura had a habit of waking up earlier then she needed to.

The first half of the day had gone by as usual, and now she was in an empty room, eating her lunch, while her Stand sat next to her, casually reading a book Murasaki had brought to school with her.

Murasaki was waiting for her other best friend to arrive, and it seemed that she wouldn't have to wait for much longer, as S lifted her head towards the entrance to the room. She swiftly put the book back in Murasaki's bag and disappeared just as someone opened the door and stepped in.

The new person was a girl with light pink hair that flowed down to her lower back and was currently kept in a high ponytail. Her sailor fuku had elbow-length sleeves and a skirt similar to Mura's own. A black choker was wrapped around her neck, with a small red pendant hanging from it. She spotted Murasaki sitting in the room and gave a gentle smile.

"Hey, Noriko," Murasaki said as one of her best friends, Noriko, slipped into the seat S had previously been occupying.

"Salutations, fellow school-mate," Noriko said humorously. "How has your day fared?"

Mura sighed. "Boring. How 'bout you?"

"Boring, as usual." Noriko also sighed, laughing a little towards the end. "I swear, if I have to hear another one of my teachers drone on, I may just have to give myself a concussion."

"I know right?!" Mura exclaimed. "The things us girls are forced to do in order to entertain ourselves!" Mura dramatically flopped back into her chair as Noriko chuckled lightly.

Mura looked towards her best friend. Noriko often acted so much older than she really was, so it was hard for Mura to remember how they even became the best of buds in the first place. But she was always glad for the other girl's company, for Noriko had been with her through thick and thin, staying as loyal a friend as S.

Noriko, like Murasaki, had moved to Morioh from some other place in Japan, and for pretty much the same reason: both of their families had wanted to have a fresh start. Perhaps that was what had caused them to become such good friends, the fact that they had both been relatively new to Morioh. Or maybe it hadn't. She really didn't know. Something had just drawn Murasaki to Noriko the very first day she met her.

The two friends enjoyed their respective meals quietly for a few minutes, Noriko sharing the tea she had brought with her in a thermos with Mura via two small cups she poured the tea into. The atmosphere between them was one of relaxed silence. Then, Murasaki spoke up.

"Hey, Noriko… have you ever heard of Ghost Girl's Alley?"

At that, Noriko, who had been taking a sip of her tea, choked.

…

The number 11 bus finally stopped at the Kotodai shopping district, and Murasaki and Noriko hopped off.

After school, the two had headed to their respective homes to get changed into more casual clothing, told their parents they were going to hang out and would be back soon, then reconvened at the Morioh Station to take the aforementioned number 11 bus to the aforementioned shopping district, which was where Ghost Girl's Alley was located. Mura was now wearing a purple hoody and a black skirt similar in length to her school uniform one, along with the same knee-high boots as before, and Noriko was wearing a casual red dress with a white scarf hanging off her shoulders.

The reason for them going there? Well, as Mura had been walking to the room she and Noriko spent lunch in, she had overheard someone talking about Ghost Girl's Alley and had immediately become curious. Mura had found out more about it from Noriko, who had told her that it was some kind of purgatory and that the ghost of a girl and her dog used to reside there, before they had passed on after their deaths had been avenged in the form of the death of their killer, which turned out to be the same killer that had caused trouble 19 years ago. Mura was impressed and a little spooked; despite the peaceful times now, Morioh had a dark side to it.

Murasaki and Noriko were currently walking on the sidewalk, Noriko leading the way. The sun had passed its high point not too long ago, and it was now slowly making its descent to the horizon. There weren't any people around, but cars passed by here and there, so it wasn't all that creepy.

After a few more minutes of walking, Noriko stopped in front of an alley. No doubt Ghost Girl's Alley. It was flanked on both sides by stores, and Mura could see that the path split into two pathways further down.

"Well," Noriko began, "here it is. I suggest we not go in there; I heard that if you're not careful, you can get lost in there."

"How?" Mura inquired.

"From what I've heard, space acts differently in there," Noriko explained. "Also, there's a certain area there that, if you turn around, ghost hands will grab you and drag you away."

"… Where?" Mura asked uneasily, shuddering at the unsettling thought.

"No one knows," Noriko finished simply.

Murasaki looked on at the alleyway, letting the gears in her mind turn. To think that two poor victims of a killer had resided there for who knew how long, silently waiting for someone to avenge them, was so sad. She was happy they had finally moved on to a better place, their soul's restless no more.

The mood became solemn in a way, as the two friends were deep in thought. Then, Noriko's phone rang.

Noriko took out the device from a pocket in her dress and answered the incoming call.

"Hello… yeah… okay… okay, love you."

Noriko hung up, and turned to Mura, who was already looking at her curiously.

"My mom just called. She wants me back home."

Mura nodded. "Alright. I think I'm going to stay here for a little bit more." She turned her head to the alleyway one again.

Noriko titled her head to the side slightly. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"You sure you aren't going to go in there as soon as my back is turned?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Mura replied, holding her hands up in surrender, "I don't want to get lost and possibly killed today, thank you very much!"

Noriko chuckled lightly. "Alright, you've convinced me. I have to go know. Bye!"

"Bye!" Mura said as Noriko began walking back in the direction they had come from. Mura watched her friend go until she could no longer see her. Then, she turned back to the alleyway, thinking some more. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in her head, and looking forward to the prospect that her other best friend could be here and keep her company, she closed her eyes and summoned her Stand.

S materialized next to Mura, and almost immediately turned towards the alley. Mura grinned.

"What do you think? Pretty spooky, huh? Two ghosts used to live there," Mura said to her Stand. S turned to her momentarily, before turning back towards the alley. Mura tilted her head; S didn't usually ignore her like this, but Mura shrugged it off as her Stand simply feeling weird.

The two stood there, looking at the alley. Mura was deep in thought again, pondering what the ghost girl and her dog's lives might have been like before their deaths, and didn't even seem to notice her Stand slowly inching its way towards the alley.

Mura finally noticed when her Stand stretched her arms out in front of her and let go of her crystal ball, letting it float in between her hands. Mura looked curiously towards S, confused as to what her Stand was doing. If fact, she was just about to ask S that exact question, when she gasped.

A few paces away from where Mura and S were, a black and purple torrent of energy was slowly moving towards them. Something seemed to be martializing inside of the cloud, but Mura couldn't quite make out what. But as the thing got closer, Mura could see bright red eyes shining through the black and violet waves, along with the outline of a humanoid body and the glint of multiple gold and iron pieces on the creature's body. Mura stepped back at the sight, looking to her side to see S still calmly hovering there. Mura wanted to say something to her Stand, but then S turned towards her, and she saw the circuit markings on S's body glow slightly. It seemed to be a reassuring gesture towards her, so Mura, still pretty scared but trusting her Stand, stood her ground as the thing came ever closer.

When it finally came close enough that it crossed the threshold between Ghost Girl's Alley and the rest of the area, the black and purple energy finally dissipated, revealing to Mura a pink, muscular humanoid, with triangles on its head like a cat's ears, red and blue slitted eyes like a cat, studded gear on its lower arms, waist, and feet, and gold emblems of a strange skull not unlike the creature's own head on different parts of its body. It's face slowly turned from straight in front of it, then to S, then, finally, to Murasaki herself. Mura gulped at the creature's unblinking gaze and was finally able to identify what exactly the creature was.

It – or rather, he, from what she could tell - was a Stand.

And that is a wrap on Chapter 1! Just giving you guys a feel of some characters, and the resurrection of a certain Stand I'm sure you are all familiar with ^_^ Things will hopefully get a little more interesting in the next chapter ^_^

Now onto the Reviews! :D

Akarenger: Don't worry, I know full well the difference between criticism and rude comments ^_^ And yes, Stone Ocean does not happen in this universe.

Guest: I would say it's basically the second option you presented, though that's not all she can do ^_^

And that is all of the reviews! Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day! ^_^ Criticism is welcome, but flames will be manipulated into harmless ones by Magician's Red. Peace! (:-)

-LunaRose2468