Chapter 3: 1881, Do Not Come Back
Author's Note: I moved the Joestar Mansion from Liverpool to, uh, somewhere around London. Mainly, because I had no idea where exactly it was before writing this…
Jonathan Joestar was a boy of 12 years old. He lived in his family's mansion with his father and his dog. It was a very normal life for people of his class. Nothing bad ever happened.
It all changed that day.
The day began normally. He ate breakfast, walked with Danny, had lunch and then went to search for frogs that he could place in the little pond he was putting together.
Then, as he got home, a carriage arrived. He stopped to watch as the carriage rolled to a halt before the door swung open and a suitcase was flung out.
Jonathan had only a moment to think about how odd that was before a blond boy flung himself after the suitcase, landing in a dramatic crouch before rising.
After a moment's hesitation, Jonathan stepped forward, "You must be Dio Brando, my father told me you would come to live with us."
Ignoring the boy's disinterested look, he continued, "I'm Jonathan Joestar but please, call me JoJo."
Dio looked at the boy in disinterest.
Then, suddenly, the sound of barking was heard as Danny came prancing towards them.
"Oh, that's my dog, Danny," Jonathan explained, "Don't worry, he won't bite."
As the dog came close, the blond shot forward.
Only, instead of Dio kicking the dog, as he had planned, another blonde was now enthusiastically petting the dog.
"Dog!" Rainy exclaimed–she had only recently learned this word after Robby had caught her referring to all dogs as "mongrels", courtesy of Dio.
"Ah, I wasn't aware there were two of you," Jonathan gave an embarrassed laugh.
Dio, still taken aback by the appearance of the now blonde hobbit, cleared his throat, "Yes, this is an unforeseen circumstance."
Jonathan's eyebrows furrowed as he looked between Rainy (still petting the dog) and Dio (glaring daggers at the small blonde). "Unforeseen? How so?"
"Well, you see," Dio hesitated for only a moment before quickly explaining, "This is my cousin. On my mother's side."
"Oh, really? Will he be staying with us as well?"
"No," Dio said, almost too hastily, "He… well, he was kicked in the head by a horse as a child. That's why he's so small. It impacted his growth. And his brain. He's quite slow."
"Oh, my condolences," Jonathan said with utmost sincerity.
"Yes, it is quite tragic," Dio said drily, "But you needn't worry. His mother takes care of him, God bless her. She would have taken me in too, after my father's death, but you must understand that my family is not very wealthy. She couldn't afford raising two children," he put on a sad expression.
"Of course!" Jonathan nodded, his voice full of understanding pity, "And he's welcome to visit anytime. You two seem very close, it would be a pity to separate you."
"Yes. Quite," Dio ground out.
Just then, the Lord of the mansion exited its doors.
"Ah, Dio, you have arrived," George Joestar greeted. Then his eyes fell on the hobbit, who was now trying to shake the dog fur off of their clothes, "And who is this young fellow?"
"Rainy!" Rainy supplied with a bow.
"Randal!" Dio quickly corrected. "This is my cousin, Randal. I'm terribly sorry about him, sir. He must have climbed on the back of the carriage without me noticing." He quickly recounted what he had told Jonathan.
"I see," George said, "And will he be joining us for dinner tonight."
"No," Dio spoke quickly before Rainy could say anything, "His mother is going to be terribly worried about him if he's not home soon."
"Very well then, I shall have my driver bring him home. It was nice meeting you, Randal."
Rainy looked at him without a single thought in her mind. George nodded in understanding and motioned towards the carriage. Then he began to motion Jonathan inside.
"JoJo and I will wait inside while you say your goodbyes."
"Thank you, sir," Dio nodded as they watched them leave.
As soon as the Joestars were gone, he spun towards the hobbit.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" he hissed.
Rainy grinned, "Cat."
Dio looked at her in confusion before realizing, "You were curious?"
The hobbit nodded.
"Well, I hope you're satisfied. Now leave and don't come back here," he warned, "I have bigger goals to pursue now and no time for you."
Rainy nodded again, "I come back."
"No. I said, do not come back."
The hobbit ignored him as they walked towards the waiting carriage and climbed inside.
"Goodbye, Dio," they waved through the carriage window.
"Did you understand me? Don't come back here!"
"Bye-bye!"
"You imbecile!" he yelled after them. Going by the cackling he could hear, he had been understood quite well. And all evidence pointed towards the fact that they would most definitely be back.