Having chewed his fingernails down to the quick, Yoshikage forced himself to keep moving on, avoiding the gaze of anyone who might have been searching for him. Father had stayed behind, wanting to know just who it was that had invaded Yoshikage's home and taken Yoshiko-chan from them, while he had left his old life behind in an effort to escape them. He hated it, but he'd been making a plan that would allow him to escape even in a situation such as this.
Making his way back through the city, back in the direction of the shop he'd previously found, Yoshikage searched for the shop where he'd first met up with that woman. He would need to make use of the powers he had observed her using, replacing his own face with that of someone who had not been sighted by the invaders into his home. He'd a few candidates in mind, those whose lives seemed to match his own preferences well enough that Yoshikage would have little trouble fitting himself into them.
It only remained to see which of them he would encounter first, as he made his way to the shop where the woman he needed for this contingency plan of his worked.
=DiU=
Making his way into cousin Tenmei's room, Gio bit his lower lip as he caught sight of his oldest cousin sitting up in bed, seeming to be thinking about something. Sure, it didn't seem like he was actually worried about what had happened to him, but Gio was still determined to give his cousin some company after everything that had happened to him.
"Hey," he called, making his way over to the bed where cousin Tenmei was sitting. "How are you doing, cousin Tenmei?"
"Things have been a bit strange, but I'm all right, cousin Gio," Tenmei said, offering the kind of smile that Aunt Alice always seemed to wear when she thought people were being silly. "I don't remember much of what happened, anyway."
"Yeah, because you were drugged for the whole thing," he grumbled, reaching over to grab one of the pillows on cousin Tenmei's bed, then using Gold Experience to turn it into a fluffy bunny that cousin Tenmei could hold while the pair of them talked.
"Yeah, but that means that I didn't actually get hurt by anything," cousin Tenmei said, looking down at the bunny Gio had handed to him, before cuddling it to his chest with a concerned look on his face. "It was everyone else who got hurt, really."
The sound of someone else making their way into the room distracted him, before Gio could tell him just how dumb he was being. Bruno Buccellati made his way into cousin Tenmei's room with the pair of them, looking like there was something on his mind.
"It's good that you're so concerned about how your family was affected by you being kidnapped by that man, Tenmei," Bruno said, making his way over to sit in a chair near the head of cousin Tenmei's bed.
"Yeah, it's nice that you're so worried about everyone else, but you should also worry about yourself, too," Gio said, giving Bruno a disapproving look; he didn't know how the other boy had been raised, but Gio didn't like the thought of cousin Tenmei thinking that his feelings weren't important.
In this or any other case, really.
"I know, but it's…" cousin Tenmei paused for a long moment, chewing his lower lip and looking like he was thinking deeply about something or other. "I mean, the only thing that really happened to me was that I ended up falling asleep in that weird guy's house. He didn't really hurt me, or anything."
Sighing, Gio shook his head; it looked like cousin Tenmei was determine not to see the ways that he had suffered during his kidnapping by that man who had kidnapped him earlier this same day. It wasn't a good thing, but it was clearly what Gio was going to have to work with.
=DiU=
After Yoshikage had dragged away the man whose life he had chosen to be his own after the loss of his home and everything he had owned, he quickly had the woman who worked their exchange his face for the man's, and then quickly disposed of her. Though he did keep one of her hands, since he'd been fond of them ever since he'd first caught a glimpse of them while familiarizing himself with the shop and the capabilities of the woman who had worked there.
Leaving the empty shop behind, Yoshikage quickly blended back into the crowds, watching for some place where he would be able to check the address on the ID documents that had come with the new face he had been forced to find; he would need that if he was going to be able to find a way to the house where he could start his new life.
Once he'd managed to find an out of the way alcove that none of the crowd was paying attention to, Yoshikage leaned lightly against the wall so that he could see just where it was that he was going to be living; what new name he was going to need to use. Once he'd determined just where it was that Kosaku Kawajiri lived, where he was going to have to go to fit himself into the man's life, Yoshikage turned his path in that direction.
On the one hand, it was good that he lived so far away from where he'd been attacked, and on the other being so far away from where he might be able to find Yoshiko-chan again was troublesome; he was still going to find his way back to her, of course, since fate had to have led them together for a reason, but it would clearly take time.
=DiU=
Narrowing his eyes as he looked at the house that bastard Yoshikage Kira and his bastard father both used as their base – he couldn't actually say the both of them lived there, since the old bastard was a ghost clinging to a Stand that allowed him to use something uncomfortably like the Spirit Photography the Old Man could use – he turned to Stardust.
"Thanks," he said, knowing that it would be best to keep the bastard from learning any more of their names than he might have already known; particularly Aunt Alice, since she was already such a public figure.
Stardust nodded, and quickly reached out to teleport the both of them back to Josuke's house so that they could rest and recover before anything else happened.
Stardust's teleportation might very well have been the only thing that'd got them out of the house, since Kira's bastard father had been able to seal off individual rooms with that Stand he had; the one that had probably kept him from dying once his body had worn out. Still, Jotaro had yet to meet the Stand that could hold Stardust in place, since Aunt Alice's Stand could phase through any solid obstacle in its path, in addition to being able to teleport across greater and greater distances. Someone else might have worried, about a Stand that couldn't be held and was basically impossible to escape, but given how well he knew Aunt Alice, Jotaro found that he couldn't worry about it.
There were plenty of other things he had to think about, considering the fact that they hadn't managed to pin down that kidnapping bastard after he'd escaped from his house with that damned explosive Stand of his.
=DiU=
The next morning, after he'd gotten a full night's sleep, Tenmei sat up in his bed and stretched for a long moment. Climbing up and out of the bed he'd been given by big cousin Josuke's Mom when he, Dad, and Uncle Jotaro had come to this place on… Well, it was a vacation for him, Ichigo, and Jolyne, but it was just more work for Dad and Uncle Jotaro. The both of them had been searching for the Stand users that had been reported as living in and around the city, and according to what Mr. Avdol had said, the more Stand users that gathered together in an area, the more Stand users who would be drawn to them.
It was kind of weird to think about, but it still seemed to be true, at least as far as he could tell.
Dad wasn't particularly eager for him to go back to work so soon after what had happened to him, of course, and the pair of them were eventually able to talk Rohan-sensei into staying around the house while Dad fussed over him and Jolyne tried to act like she hadn't missed him while he'd been gone. That was the same kind of thing that Uncle Jotaro did when someone he liked had gone missing, though, so Tenmei didn't take it personally or anything.
Sitting in Dad's lap, since his father had wanted to be close ever since he'd gotten back from being kidnapped, Tenmei listened as Rohan-sensei talked to Dad about Stands, the Speedwagon Foundation, and all of the people he'd met during the course of his and Uncle Jotaro's work with the Foundation. Rohan-sensei was interested in all of it, which fit with everything that Tenmei had learned about the manga-ka ever since the pair of them had met for the first time.
The day Tenmei had come to search for him.
=DiU=
It was troublesome, but it seemed as though the man whose life he had chosen to make his own apparently possessed family of his own, and while his wife was tolerable enough and she did possess rather beautiful hands, the child Yoshikage found himself forced to cohabitate with was far more troublesome than his cute little Yoshiko had ever been. As well, since the pair of them were already familiar with each other, he could hardly expect to be able to handle the child the same way he'd handled little Yoshiko-chan.
He wanted her back, his little Yoshiko-chan, but he also knew that it would take time before he was settled enough into this new life of his to make contact with her again.
The life that Kosaku Kawajiri-san had built for himself was similar enough to his own in enough ways for Yoshikage to settle in at least somewhat comfortably, at least, and as he made his way to the place where Kawajiri had once worked, Yoshikage kept an eye out for someplace where he might be able to make contact with his sweet little Yoshiko-chan. There was the same park where the pair of them had first met, of course, but he didn't truly know if he would have the chance to meet up with her there again.
He would have to see what happened, once he had settled into Kawajiri's life as well as he truly could.
=DiU=
The sound of someone knocking at cousin Josuke's door brought Dad out of the kitchen where all of them had been having lunch together, and Jolyne followed Dad as he made his way up to the front door, watching from behind cousin Josuke's Mom as she opened the door. Dad probably had that Stand of his out, since someone had already kidnapped Cousin Tenmei once, and they might be stupid enough to try again, even when Cousin Tenmei was here with so much of their family to protect him. It would be dumb, but there was still a chance that the kidnapper might try it.
"Hey, you're that rocker guy," she said, once the front door was open and all of them could see the guy on the other side.
"Glad to see I managed to find the right house," the rocker guy with the cool, long, purple hair said, grinning at her, Dad, and cousin Josuke's mom.
"Otoishi," Dad said, and Jolyne covered her mouth; Dad really hadn't been happy to know that Granddad's weird fan lived in the same town as cousin Josuke. "What're you doing here?"
"I heard your kids weren't doing too well, missing their friend and all," the rocker guy said, holding up his guitar and grinning. "So, I thought I'd come over. See what I could do to help."
"We've already got our kid back," Dad said, not looking particularly pleased to have the rocker guy standing in the door of cousin Josuke's Mom's house, making his way over to the door and looking like he was just about to slam it shut.
"That's great!" the rocker guy exclaimed, jamming a foot in the door so Dad couldn't slam it shut on him; not without smashing his foot, at least. "Why don't we celebrate you guys getting your kid back?"
"You're not going to leave, are you?" Dad grumbled, folding his arms across his chest, still glaring at the rocker guy as he stood in the door
"Come on!" the rocker guy said, adjusting the strap of his guitar case. "You have to admit that this is a great time to celebrate! You guys got your kid back! This is a great day for all of you!"
Laughing, even as Dad turned that annoyed glare on her, Jolyne grinned right back at him.
"You guys are weird," she said, grinning right back at the both of them.
=DiU=
Looking over at cousin Gio, as the pair of them continued through the park with all of the ladybugs that the pair of them had had such fun in the last time they'd been here, Tenmei raised an eyebrow.
"So, we're looking for crop circles?" he asked, as the pair of them continued on their way through the field.
"Yeah, I saw it yesterday, but I didn't have enough time to get a look at what was in the middle of it," cousin Gio said, pushing his way through the long grasses all around them, clearly looking for whatever it was that he'd seen yesterday.
"What was it?" he asked, then reconsidered. "I mean, what did it look like?"
"It was buried under all the grass, so I didn't really see what it was, but it looked big enough to be about the size of a person," cousin Gio said, narrowing his eyes as the both of them continued on their way through the long grass in front of them.
"That's weird," Tenmei said, just as he began hearing the sounds of someone else making their own way through the grass all around them.
Whoever it was nearly ended up walking right into cousin Gio, and it almost seemed as though they'd been focused just as much on getting out as cousin Gio was at getting in, so it was kind of funny.
"You're rather tiny, for humans," the new guy – who had long, nearly white-blond hair, pointed ears that were just that much larger than anyone Tenmei had seen before, and bright, pale green eyes, with a gold nose ring attached by a chain to a ring through his left ear – said, kneeling down in front of him and cousin Gio. "Have I truly made it to Earth?"
"Why do you ask, mister? Did you come here from the Moon base, or something?" Tenmei asked, tilting his head and blinking.
"No. My space ship is currently on standby, 1,500,000 kilometers away," the new guy said, and Tenmei wondered just what was out that far; his right hand twitched toward his pocket, where he kept his sketchbook, wanting to write that number down so that he could ask Aunt Alice about it later.
Still, it might be rude to ignore someone who was actively talking to them, just because something they'd said might be interesting to know for later.
"I saw your Moon base on my way here," the man said, smiling at the pair of them. "However, I wished to explore the planet itself, before I set foot on such an outpost."
"So, you're from outer space?" cousin Gio asked, tilting his head as he looked over the man with all the piercings.
"My own world was destroyed, so in essence, yes I am," the man said, the smile he'd been wearing turning more than a little sad.
Before any of them could say anything else, though, some kind of loud siren started going off, and the guy they'd been talking to dropped to the grassy ground. He was screaming almost as loud as the siren going off, and Tenmei quickly jumped forward to cover their pointed ears, looking over at cousin Gio as he felt another pair of hands settling over his own. Looking back over his right shoulder, Tenmei saw the lights accompanying the siren.
They were only flashing red, so he didn't think the Police were out doing anything; it could have been a fire, or someone needing an ambulance, or something like that.
Looking back down at the guy they were trying to help, Tenmei saw that he seemed to be doing a lot better than he had been when he'd been able to hear the siren. Breathing easier once the maybe-ambulance maybe-fire truck had passed, and the siren was far enough away not to bother any of them, Tenmei looked down at the guy he and cousin Gio were trying to help.
He looked better, though he still seemed a bit pale.
"Thank you, little humans," the guy said, smiling at them as he and cousin Gio let go of his ears, wrapping his arms around both of them and lifting them up as he stood again, setting him and cousin Gio back down as he dug into the square bag the guy had been carrying when he and cousin Gio had first met up with him. "Here, you can have these as thanks," he said, handing over what looked like a pair of plastic-wrapped ice cream cones.
"Thank you, mister," he said, as cousin Gio added his own thanks.
"Is this mint flavored?" cousin Gio asked, looking down at the speckled, white ice cream he was currently holding.
"Would you like it to be?" the guy they'd just helped asked.
"I'd actually prefer a strawberry cone," cousin Gio said seriously. "Cousin Tenmei is the one who likes mint chocolate chip ice cream."
"I apologize, then," the guy said, reaching down to gently pluck the ice cream cones out of their hands, putting the both of them back into the bag he'd been carrying, and then taking out a mint chocolate chip cone, and a strawberry cone for cousin Gio.
"Thanks again, mister," he said, smiling.
"Yes, this is much better," cousin Gio said, opening up the cone even as Tenmei did the same. "So, what did you come here for?"
"I came here to explore this planet," the guy said, as the three of them began making their way out and away from the grass cousin Gio had lead them into to begin with.
"Were you hoping to find anything? Or did you just come here to play tourist?" Tenmei asked, wondering just what kinds of things an alien tourist would want to do in the first place.
"Tourist? What do you mean by that?"
"A tourist is someone who goes to different places because they're interested in seeing what's there," cousin Gio said, as the three of them made their way out of the grassy field at last.
"Then yes, I suppose that is what I am," the guy said, as they made their way back out onto the sidewalk bordering the park where they'd found him. "I am a space alien, and I am a tourist, as well."
"Mikitaka! Mikitaka, where are you?" a woman called, and Tenmei turned to see a woman making her way over to where the three of them were standing. "Mikitaka, have you been making up stories again?" the woman asked, a disapproving look on her face as she made her way over to the three of them. "I'm sorry, children; my son likes to make things up, and he sometimes takes things too far."
"I've brainwashed this woman into thinking I'm her son," the alien guy, whose name may or may not have been Mikitaka, said, crouching down so he could whisper to the both of them. "I've been staying at her house ever since."
"You aren't hurting her, are you?" cousin Gio asked, looking back at the woman wearing the plaid scarf on her head.
"Of course not," the alien said, a slight smile on his face; he either approved of the question, or else he just liked talking to them. "She's just a bit confused, sometimes."
"As long as she's all right. Enjoy the rest of your stay here," cousin Gio said, as Tenmei continued eating his mint chocolate chip ice cream cone, watching as the woman and maybe-Mikitaka both left.
"That was interesting," he said, once he'd finished enough of his ice cream that it wouldn't drip onto his hand as it started melting.
"Yes," cousin Gio said, as the pair of them started walking again. "We should try to keep in contact with him; I know Aunt Alice would be curious about him, at least."
"Rohan-sensei would probably really enjoy meeting him, too," Tenmei said, biting into his ice cream cone as he and cousin Gio continued on their way down the sidewalk.
"Yeah, he does sound like the kind of person who'd enjoy that," cousin Gio said, licking his own ice cream cone as the pair of them made their way back to cousin Josuke's house again.
=DiU=
Narrowing his eyes as he kept watching the videos he'd recorded of the man he'd begun suspecting wasn't his father at all, Hayato listened to what the man had been saying. It sounded like he'd been fighting people who'd invaded their house and tried to hurt him, but no one had invaded their house. And no one would go out of their way to attack someone as boring as Mom's husband in the first place.
It didn't make sense, and really it was just one more reason that Mom's husband couldn't have been the man who'd first married her at all.
Given all of that, it was up to Hayato to find out who had taken the place of Mom's husband, since t wasn't like Mom was going to study him as closely as Hayato would. It looked like she was actually starting to like him, which was weird, but then she wasn't seeing what he'd seen. She didn't know what he knew.
There was also something else that Mom's husband seemed to be doing, but Hayato didn't quite know what it was. He'd been looking through the house when he clearly didn't think anyone was watching him, even going down into the basement and up into the attic. Hayato didn't know just what Mom's husband was looking for, but he was going to find out.
He was going to check those rooms once Mom's husband had left the house, to see what Mom's husband might have left in them, or what he might be looking for.
=DiU=
Laughing as the rocker guy set up, though mostly at the way Dad was still glaring at him even as he pulled out a microphone and hooked it up to the TV speakers in the living room of cousin Josuke's Mom's house, Jolyne stepped over to watch him more closely. Dad left to get the door with cousin Josuke's Mom, and Jolyne looked up for a little bit, before turning back to the rocker guy as he kept setting up.
"Is this karaoke?" she asked, smiling as she looked from the rocker guy to the stuff he was setting up and then back again.
"Yeah, kiddo," the rocker guy said, turning to look at her again. "What's so funny?"
"Dad hates karaoke," she said, grinning. "Do you know Journey?" she asked, smiling wider as Dad and cousin Josuke's Mom came back into the room, leading cousin Tenmei and cousin Gio.
"Yeah!" the rocker guy exclaimed, playing on his guitar. "You like them, too?"
"They do have a lot of great songs," cousin Tenmei said, smiling as he came up to where the rocker guy was working.