Hello readers and welcome back to another chapter! ヾ( ▽ )
I hope all of your are doing well during these tough times, I know its not easy especially now that it has gotten worse ((My state decided to reopen a couple months ago and there has been a high rise of COVID again ever since))
So I hope you're all doing great!
Enjoy! ～('▽^人)
High Priestess, Part 2
Inside the submarine, Noriko was helping Joseph put on his scuba gear. Then the submarine quaked violently once again like before.
"T-This is bad!" Polnareff exclaimed.
"Everyone stay calm." Joseph said while Noriko put on his BC Jacket. "It's times like this when a man has to stay calm and collected." Noriko then put the belt together and stepped away once she was done.
"Thank you, Noriko. It would've been a lot harder if I just did it on my own without my prosthetic hand." He remarked.
"You're welcome, Mr. Joestar." Noriko smiled.
Joseph turned to face everyone, "Anyone in here has ever scuba dived before?"
"No."
"Nope."
"I haven't." Noriko said lastly.
"High Priestess is still attacking in the next room! Quickly, teach us how to scuba dive!" Avdol exclaimed.
Joseph turned his head to the side to look over his shoulder at Avdol, "Don't panic, Avdol. Above all, never panic. That's the most important part of scuba diving."
He then glanced back at everyone else, "When you're underwater, for every ten meters you go below the surface, the pressure increases by one atmosphere. There's one atmosphere of pressure on the surface." He informed. "We're forty-meters below the surface right now, so we'll endure five atmospheres of pressure. If we try to surface right away, our lungs and blood vessels will burst. We'll have to ascend slowly to adjust. Right now we're near the Egyptian coast, so we'll go along the seafloor."
"Now…" Joseph turned around and grabbed a crank, turning it to let water come in. "...I'm gonna let the water in."
Water was rapidly rising inside the tiny room, already going past their knees.
"This is a regulator." Joseph continued, holding his regulator in hand. "There's a valve inside that only lets in air from the tank when you inhale. When you exhale, your breath will come out of the left side."
"What about our spit?" Polnareff queried. "What happens if we get spit or phlegm in our mouths?"
"All of that will come out of the other side." Joseph replied.
"By the way," Joseph raised a hand. "This should be obvious but we can't talk underwater. So we'll use hand signals instead."
"Mr. Joestar, given our abilities, why not simply use our Stands to communicate?" Avdol suggested.
The elder Joestar shook his head, almost having forgotten about their ability to communicate with one another with their Stands.
"Good point…" Joseph muttered.
"Damn it, I had the perfect hand sign I wanted to use." Polnareff said.
The Frenchman clapped his hands together, formed a peace sign with his fingers, then a circle with his index and thumb, then lastly placed a hand above his eyes.
"I can see your underwear," Noriko said, understanding the message as she appeared beside Polnareff.
"YEAAAH!" Polnareff cheered from the answer.
Both Polnareff and Noriko fist bumped each other.
"The enemy is right behind us and we could die at any moment!" Joseph yelled. "Stop fucking around and let's go!"
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The cold water was now up to their chest level.
"Soon this room will be filled with water." Joseph said and put on his mask. "Put on your mask and regulator."
The Crusaders put on their mask and regulator as they were told, once they did that the water already rose above their heights. The room was now filled with water.
Swimming up, Joseph grabbed the handle of the exit, turning the crank and opening the hatch. He peeked over before looking down at the group, giving them an 'okay sign' that the coast was clear.
Everyone returns the same gesture except Polnareff, who was flailing his arms and legs around with his back arched struggling to breathe.
The Crusaders widened their eyes in shock.
"P-Polnareff!" Joseph cried.
They all shook their heads when they spotted Polnareff's regulator had transformed into High Priestess. Its small arms and hands extended out, holding onto the Frenchman's face as it bit his lip.
"When did it get in here?!" Avdol asked in shock.
"I-It had already transformed into a regulator!" Noriko pointed out.
"A-Asshole…" Jotaro muttered under his breath with a frown on his face.
In an instant, High Priestess started crawling inside Polnareff's mouth.
"That thing's gonna tear his internal organs apart! This is bad! Hurry up and drain the room, Old Man!" Jotaro yelled.
"It's already too late for that!" Avdol objected. "It must have been waiting for this moment!"
"ORA!" Star Platinum tried to reach over and grab High Priestess but it missed as the enemy Stand successfully entered inside Polnareff's mouth.
"F-Fuck!"
The Frenchman's eyes rolled back, he was close to passing out from the lack of oxygen.
"It went inside Polnareff! He'll be torn to shred!" Avdol warned.
They could see High Priestess's outline from Polnareff's throat, trying to go down his esophagus.
"HIEROPHANT GREEN!"
"HERMIT PURPLE!"
Both Stands appeared. Hierophant Green extended her arm and Hermit Purple's vine went inside Polnareff through his nostrils.
"H-Hey!" Polnareff tried to object since three Stands were now inside of him.
"I caught it before it went down his throat, Noriko!" Joseph stated.
"Likewise!" Noriko said. "Let's get it out before it transforms again!"
With their Stands, they were able to pull High Priestess out of Polnareff.
"We did it!" Noriko cheered, but it was too soon to celebrate since they still had to defeat it.
"All right, keep that motherfucker restrained." Jotaro said with his Stand manifesting behind him.
"L-Look! It's transforming again!" Avdol warned.
High Priestess transformed into a speargun.
"It became a speargun!" Joseph pointed out.
Noriko grunted under her breath, "Emerald Splash!"
"Silver Chariot!"
The speargun High Priestess dodged the emerald projectiles and charged to Silver Chariot. Both the speargun and Silver Chariot fought each other.
"Now!" Polnareff shouted, looking back at his friends.
Noriko widened her eyes, "It's reloading!"
"This is bad!" Avdol added.
"We need to hurry!" Noriko advised as the speargun pointed directly at the Crusaders.
Jotaro was the first to exit out of the hatch, giving everyone a small pull to help them get out quickly.
"Hurry up, Gramps." Jotaro said.
"I know, I know." Joseph said as he swimmed out.
Jotaro closed the hatch and the moment he did, the speargun shot once again but hitting the closed hatch, missing its chance to hit the Crusaders.
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"T-That was close…" Noriko said in relief.
"Don't relax just yet." Joseph reminded her. "That bitch knows how to hit us where it hurts."
"Polnareff, are you alright?" Avdol asked, concerned.
Jotaro gave Polnareff an extra regulator he had on him.
The Frenchman gladly accepted it and placed it on his mouth. He looked over at Avdol, "I-I'm fine. Everything's okay thanks to you guys. You guys saved me. Merci beaucoup."
The Crusaders slowly swam along the seafloor of the Red Sea. It was rather much a different experience seeing the different kinds of fishes and beautiful coral reefs up close than behind a window of a submarine.
"The seafloor sure is beautiful here…" Polnareff complimented. "It would be nice to spend some leisure time here."
"This is no time to be taking it easy." Joseph said. "We have to surface before we run out of oxygen."
"Do you think it will still come after us?" Noriko asked Avdol with concern.
"I do not foresee that happening." Avdol assured. "High Priestess can only transform into metal and glass, but it cannot become a fish, water, nor sea form."
"Keep your eyes peeled, everyone." Joseph said. "If it follows us, it'll probably transform into a screw on our gear or something. Watch out for any moving stones and pebbles, too."
As they swam further, Avdol raised his brows and pointed at two tunnels ahead.
"Look! A sea tunnel!" Avdol pointed out.
"That means our depth is seven meters below the surface." Joseph stated.
"We're finally at the Egyptian shore!" Avdol said happily. "We need to swim along the rocks to the surface!"
They were so close to their destination. Their little celebration of making it to the Egyptian shore soon ended when they realized the sea tunnels were the shape of nostrils and below them was an actual face. The eyes opened and the mouth turned into a smile revealing its teeth, chuckling at the Crusaders.
They all shook their heads in shock.
Then the mouth opened, sucking in the water and the Crusaders.
"WHAT?!"
"T-This is…"
"T-The Stand disguised itself as the seabed!" Avdol realized. "It is enormous!"
"We're being sucked into its mouth!" Joseph yelled while they all desperately tried to swim away but were too late when the mouth shut once inside.
"N-No way!" Noriko shouted in disbelief as she and everyone else violently spun around at a fast pace as if they were inside a whirlpool.
"How is it so damn enormous?!" Avdol asked.
The Stand, High Priestess chuckled.
"How is this thing so fucking huge?! What kind of Stand power is this?!" Polnareff shouted. "It was small earlier!"
"All of you are stupid!" A female voice echoed in the Crusaders ears. "How can you not realize that the entire seabed is full of minerals?!"
"Her Stand is much more powerful than before! That means the user must be close by!" Noriko realized.
"That's correct!" Midler confirmed. "I'm on the shore seven meters above you bastards! But my Stand, High Priestess will chew you to bits! You will never see my face! Ever!"
High Priestess expelled the water from its mouth, making the Crusaders fall hard on the ground.
They all slowly stood up and looked around. Surrounding them were giant walls of teeths.
"I wonder where inside the Stand we're in." Noriko asked, staying on guard as she scanned the area carefully.
"We're still in its mouth." Joseph answered. "It didn't suck us down the throat."
"Hey, Jotaro!" Midler called out the delinquent, making him glance up. "Why Jotaro, you're my type of man so this is really hard on me, okay? It's quite a shame that my High Priestess will digest you."
An idea popped in the Frenchman's head after hearing what Midler said. He turned to Jotaro and started whispering to him.
"If only we had met in different circumstances, such a pity…" Midler continued. "But then again, Lord Dio will praise me if I kill you! No hard feelings."
Jotaro grunted under his breath, not happy with the idea Polnareff told him to do. "Gimme a damn break, do I have to?" He whispered harshly to Polnareff.
"Say it! Come on, just hurry up and say it!" Polnareff whispered back, poking his arm with his shoulder, urging him to do it.
"Say what?" Avdol raised a brow.
Noriko let out a tch under breath, she badly wanted to protest Polnareff's idea but she knew that it could be a possibility that it'll work after what Midler said about Jotaro being her type.
"I see…" Joseph said, realizing what Polnareff had in mind.
Jotaro sighed, "Midler…" He began, he really didn't wanna say it. "I would like to see your face just once. You could possibly be my type of girl. I might even fall for you…" He refused to look at Noriko for what he's saying and wanted to cringe at himself for saying those words to the enemy.
The red-haired teen had her hands formed into a tight fist, she wasn't sure if she should attack Polnareff with her Hierophant Green instead of the enemy for this stupid idea.
The plan seemed to work since High Priestess's mouth turned into a bright shade of pink, indicating that Midler is blushing on the shore.
"I-I bet she's a real babe!" Polnareff added. "I can tell just from the sound of her voice!"
"I agree!" Avdol joined in. "I envision her being an elegant woman. I say this as a fortune-teller."
"If only I was thirty years younger…" Joseph said, crossing his arms.
They waited and hoped the males' praising and compliments might've worked but that quickly backfired since the whole Stand started to quake, making the Crusaders lose their balance.
"YOU FUCKING LIARS! NONE OF YOU BASTARDS MEAN OF THAT! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Midler screamed and threw the Crusaders up in the air with High Priestess tongue.
"HOLY SHIT!" Joseph screamed.
"Everyone, watch out!" Noriko warned.
Everyone turned their heads at an incoming tongue heading their way.
"JOTARO!" Midler screamed, enraged.
The tongue struck the delinquent from the back, making Jotaro cough out blood and was thrown in one of High Priestess molars. The Crusaders watched in horror as the teeth started descending.
"Jotaro, run!" Polnareff yelled.
"You'll be crushed, JoJo!" Noriko shouted.
Jotaro summoned Star Platinum, the warrior-like Stand used its fist to prevent the teeth from closing in on him.
"Ohhh? What's this?" Midler asked, humming in amusement. "You wish to put your strength against mine?"
"S-So strong…" Jotaro groaned.
"Jotaro! Just to let you know that these teeth are as hard as diamonds!" Midler informed the teen. "You'll never break them! I'll kill you first!"
"Everyone save Jotaro!" Joseph demanded.
The rest of the Crusaders quickly manifested their Stands and charged directly to Jotaro to save him.
"STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!" Midler yelled and used High Priestess' tongue to block their path and attack them.
"It's the tongue again!" Polnareff shouted.
With Noriko's quick thinking, Hierophant Green's tendril wrapped around the Crusaders and were lifted up in the air, saving them from the incoming attack.
"Magician's Red!" Avdol shouted, having his Stand shoot a fire projectile at the tongue.
The fire projectile struck the tongue, hearing a painful cry from Midler. But because they were too busy fighting back against High Priestess's tongue that they failed to notice the molars were still descending on Jotaro.
"No! This is bad!" Joseph shouted.
The molars were already crushing the oxygen tank.
"Pull him out!" Joseph cried out with his purple-viney Stand and Noriko's Hierophant Green quickly rushing towards Jotaro.
But they were too late when the oxygen tank popped then exploded when High Priestess' teeth fully closed.
"JOTARO!" The Crusaders screamed.
"J-Jotaro was crushed by its teeth…" Polnareff said, his voice cracking at the end.
"Jotaro…" Joseph removed his mask, struggling to believe what had just happened.
Avdol's hands were formed into fists, "Tch! Is it too late?" He was angry and upset.
Noriko didn't say a word as she stood there speechless with a shocked expression. Like Joseph, she couldn't believe what had just happened. She felt as if she was stabbed in the heart. She felt a tight knot in her throat and her chest. She placed a hand on her chest from the immense pain she is feeling right now. Her eyes were swelling up, tears ready to stream down her cheeks. She wanted to scream and punch everything right now.
It wasn't fair, she was realizing just now how happy, warm and safe she felt around him, enjoying his company even if it was silent between the two or the conversations were short. His simple actions always brought a smile to her face and blushes from his touch. He protected, saved and helped her from any harm even if he's risking himself.
He is her first real friend. He is someone who also has a Stand just like her. Her life has gone much better ever since she met Jotaro and the others.
And now that he's gone, she is starting to realize what her feelings meant towards the delinquent while they ran down the hallway in the submarine.
Kakyoin, Noriko is in love with Kujo, Jotaro.
On the verge of breaking down in front of everyone with tears, Joseph broke the silence.
"Wait a minute, I hear something…" Joseph said, placing a hand behind his ear.
Their attention turned to the elder Joestar. They could hear a muffled sound from a distance.
"It sounds rather distant." Avdol said.
"It's getting closer…" Noriko smiled, she recognized the muffled ora ora sounds.
"T-That voice…!" Polnareff exclaimed with a grin. "It's coming from inside the teeth!"
As the sound was getting closer, Joseph crouched down. "Everyone! Brace yourselves!"
"ORA!" The warrior-like Stand punched a hole through the molar tooth and punched its way out of it.
"ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!"
"Even though the teeths are as hard as diamonds he managed to break out!" Polnareff shouted.
"OH MY GOD! AND HE'S NOT DONE EITHER!" Joseph screamed. "HE'S SMASHING ALL THE OTHER TEETH AS WELL!"
"Talk about overkill…" Noriko smirked, her heart was racing and her eyes sparkled from seeing the man that she loves alive and well.
"As usual, his Stand demonstrates immense power!" Avdol complimented.
"Hey!" Jotaro called out his friends, grabbing their attention. "We're getting the hell out of here!"
He continued to punch the teeth until they all broke out with blood gushing out. The broken pieces of teeth scattered everywhere along with its blood.
Swimming out of the mouth, Jotaro looked back at High Priestess, "Good grief, well, those were some pretty strong teeth, but I busted through. I guess your diamonds were a little low on calcium." He remarked with Noriko beside him.
Noriko chuckled at the remark, making the delinquent look back at her while the enemy Stand started to disappear. The red-haired girl was blushing despite trying to cover it with a hand on her face. The young Joestar gave the girl a tiny smile as they swam together up the shore.
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It took longer than they expected it to but the Crusaders finally made it to Egypt.
"That was awful…" Joseph panted as he was behind Jotaro and Noriko but he was able to spot a woman wearing a purple dress between the two figures lying on the ground, trembling.
"Hey, there's a woman passed out over there." Joseph pointed out.
"It's most likely Midler, the user of High Priestess." Avdol replied.
"What should we do? Is she incapacitated?" Noriko asked, pretending to sound worried about her well-being.
"Let's see if she really is a hot babe!" Polnareff said and began walking over to her.
Noriko let out a sigh as she looked away and started removing her scuba gear, with the help of Jotaro of course who approached her the moment Polnareff stepped away from her.
"I like her style." Polnareff commented, moving closer to the woman. "Let's see…" He leaned forward to have a better look at her face but widened his eyes in horror from seeing her face.
"What is it, Polnareff?" Joseph asked.
"N-No comment!" Polnareff quickly replied, covering his face from what he just witnessed. "There's no point in looking at her! All her teeth are fucked up!"
The Crusaders lined up next to each other and gazed at the horizon of the Red Sea, watching the beautiful bright sun that had just risen with a smile on their faces.
"We finally made it to Egypt…" Avdol stated.
"Indeed." Joseph agreed. "In a jet, this trip would've taken twenty hours but it took us thirty days."
"We visited so many places on the way here." Noriko added. "Inside a brain, and then inside a dream."
"A dream?" Jotaro raised a brow and looked over at Noriko, who's standing next to him. "What are you talking about, Noriko?"
"Hey, now! It's morning, wake up already!" Polnareff interjected.
"Ah, right. You guys don't know about that…" Noriko chuckled. She had forgotten that they don't remember their battle against Death Thirteen.
"Well, it's whatever. Let's go." Jotaro said and turned around, his fingers brushing against Noriko's.
Noriko followed delinquent, walking next to him while the others followed as well. They're all ready to face their next opponent that'll be heading their way soon.
Over the past thirty-days, the Crusaders have been fighting enemy Stands one after another. As Joseph describes their trip, 'Around The World In Eighty-Days', every country they had gone to they'd been attacked.
They fought Tower of Gray, Dark Blue Moon, Strength, The Devil, Yellow Temperance, The Hanged Man, The Emperor, The Empress, Wheel Of Fortune, Justice, The Lovers, The Sun, Death Thirteen, Judgement, and lastly, High Priestess.
The Crusaders have defeated fifteen Stand user's from Dio and none of them have been able to stop them from reaching Egypt!
Now, there's only two tarot cards remaining. However, the Joestar group are still unaware of the dangers that await them.
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Late at night in a certain city in Egypt, inside a tall building was a man using binoculars. The man worked for the Speedwagon Foundation and was spying at a certain threatening looking building down the street.
He narrowed his eyes when he spotted individuals walking out of the building. "That's…" The individuals were covered with a long hooded cloak, hiding their identities. "One, two, three...nine?! Nine of them? Men and women?!" The man whispered to himself.
"Hm?" He turned around after hearing what sounded like water dripping.
But something quickly dashed towards him that he didn't have a chance to see before it disappeared.
"Eh?" His eyes were wide-eyed, he didn't know what had just happened. "What...was that?"
Those were his last words before a red line appeared across his neck. His head slowly fell off his body to the floor. Before the body could also fall, a hand with sharp nails was placed on the headless man's shoulder.
"Have the flies swarming nearby been eliminated?" Dio asked, flipping the pages of a book. "Those pathetic Speedwagon Foundation... I can't let my guard down for even a moment, I swear…" He muttered and placed the book back on its shelf.
He turned around, seeing the headless man and another man who was crouched down holding a cane.
The vampire chuckled, walking down the three step-stair, passing by the headless corpse. He placed a hand on his shoulder, where the Joestar birthmark is.
"I've grown quite used to this body…" Dio said. "Do you feel it Jonathan? Your descendants are approaching!" A devious smirk appeared on his face. "It's so very cruel… This would of ours…"
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"Ah! Is that so?" Suzie Q said while on the phone sitting on a couch. "So Jotaro is helping you with work then? How marvelous!"
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"Hmph!" Joseph scoffed, leaning against the payphone. "This kid still has a long way to go compared to me."
Jotaro stood a few feet away with his hands holstered in his pockets, listening to his grandfather.
"Is your work that important?" Suzie Q asked.
"Yes," Joseph replied. "This is a really important job that there's no room for error. But if we're working together, we'll get it done."
"Hmm, say Joseph, could I speak with Jotaro?"
Joseph silently shook his head, "S-Sure but what about?"
"It's nothing much." Suzie Q answered. "Is it wrong for me to want to hear my darling grandson's voice?"
"W-Well, no…" Joseph turned to his grandson, "Jotaro." He said and handed him the phone.
"It's me." Jotaro said.
"I have high hopes for you, Jotaro!" Suzie Q said. "Do your best and take care of your grandfather for me, okay?"
"Sure." Jotaro replied.
"I'm sure if you Joestar men worked together, you can overcome anything. I'm absolutely sure of it."
At her words, Jotaro's expression softened and raised his brows from his grandmother's praise.
"Grandma Suzie, you…" Jotaro was speechless and didn't know what to say back.
"Hmm? What's the matter? You sound serious all of a sudden…" Suzie Q said.
Even Joseph was confused and wanted to know what his wife and grandson were talking about.
"It's nothing." Jotaro answered.
"All right! I'm hanging up now, I look forward to hearing good news. Ciao!"
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With a smile on her face, Suzie Q hung up the phone.
"Madam…" Rosas approached the woman. "It has been thirty years since I've worked with the Joestar family. B-But this is the first time something like this has-"
"Oh, you're overreacting, Rosas." Suzie Q said as she stood up from her seat and crossed her arms, brushing his worries away. "It's just a business trip, isn't it?"
She then walked over to a table, where there were multiple picture frames of the family.
"W-Well…" Rosas tried to object.
"It's so troublesome when men act selfish." Suzie Q remarked. She stopped in front of the small table and picked up a picture frame in the middle.
It was a photo of Holly next to a young Jotaro.
A warm smile spread across her face, "But I'm used to it by now." Her delicate wrinkly fingers gracing over the glass. "The Joestar family has been like this for a century."
"I'm sure she'd agree and laugh it off."
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Back in Tokyo, Japan at the Kujo residence, a Speedwagon Foundation doctor is monitoring a sleeping Holly. Writing down on her clipboard, failing to notice the blonde woman smile in her sleep.
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Jotaro stood there, his hand still on the phone despite already hanging up.
"Hm? What's the matter, Jotaro?" Joseph asked his grandson.
Jotaro glanced at his grandfather before holstering his hands in pockets, looking away. "It's nothing." He reassured him.
"Well all right then." Joseph dismissed it, "Let's get going! The ties our family has held to Dio for a century will finally be brought to an end by us Joestars!"
"It won't be just us." Jotaro reminded the elder Joestar with a smirk.
A honk caught their attention. It was Noriko, Polnareff and Avdol in a dune buggy parked across the street.
Noriko was in the back seat waving her arm, "Hey, Mr. Joestar! Jotaro! We got a dune buggy!" She yelled, sitting on top of the back seats while Polnareff and Avdol sat in the front.
"Let's get a move on!" Polnareff said, honking a couple more times.
"We need to leave before it gets dark!" Noriko shouted with a smile on her face.
"Gramps…" Jotaro muttered to his grandfather.
"If you don't hurry we'll leave you two behind!"
"For sure, we're pretty lucky…" Joseph remarked with a chuckle, smiling.
"All right! We're coming!" The two Crusaders began walking over to the dune buggy.
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While the Crusaders traveled through the desert, a Speedwagon Foundation helicopter was also heading their way with a certain someone that has bright blue-eyes sitting in the back seat covered in a blanket…
To Be Continued...
The Crusaders finally stepped foot in Egypt but their journey is still far from over! And Noriko finally knows her feelings for Jotaro, but when will there be a confession? (≖ ͜ʖ≖)
What did you all think?
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, have a great weekend! Cya next time! ～('▽^人)