[twelve]

yellow temperance - part two

Yellow Temperance's Stand had gotten a hold of us long before we even realised it: a small pulsating dollop of gold had attached itself onto Jotaro, gripping his right pinky. It matched the squirming mass on the shoulders of Yellow Temperance.

There was a familiar twitch in Jotaro's jaw. It told me that this little glob, whatever it was, caused him a considerable amount of pain.

So I did what was natural to me: I reached out and tried to heal him.

The glob wiggled, latching onto me immediately. It took hold of my palm, searing the skin like fire. I doubled forward, letting out a gasp and quickly sinking my teeth into my lip to hold back a louder shriek.

Jotaro called out, "Juniper!"

I tried to heal it. It was a wound, after all. But the glob only grew larger, like it reacted to the healing.

"Silly girl," Yellow Temperance tutted. "Don't you realise my Stand is invincible? You'll never get it off. It's a slow eater. The more it eats, the bigger it gets. It can't be torn off. It can't be healed. But it can spread."

"I can't heal it," I bit out to Jotaro.

I had been a fool to grab Jotaro like that. I should have waited, watched and figured out what it could do.

"Damn you," Jotaro grunted at Yellow Temperance. His Stand emerged from his chest. "Ora!"

Yellow Temperance's grin grew even wider.

"What do you mean, 'ora'? Still not getting it?"

I yelled, "Don't touch him, Jotaro!"

Star Platinum's armour-plated fist was swallowed up first by the mass which swelled around Yellow, launching itself at Jotaro. It travelled along his forearm, rippling and taking hold.

Sweat broke out across Jotaro's brow. The pain was immense. I wished that I could have helped him. To touch him, though, was to make Yellow Temperance even stronger.

"Juniper," Jotaro said suddenly. "Get ready."

"For what?"

Star Platinum burst from Jotaro's chest, shattering the glass window behind me. Without waiting another beat, it then knocked me hard in the chest, throwing me through the window with the sheer force of its hit.

I had such little time to think that I only let out a scream as I fell, dropping hard onto a concrete tower. I rolled thrice against the cold ground, skidding, shredding skin.

Jotaro was a blur of colour as he leapt from the cable car and reached for the edge of the tower. He almost missed, but Star Platinum reappeared to hoist himself up.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" I screamed.

"Pitch."

"What?"

"Lower the pitch. Gonna shatter my eardrums."

Tremors ran through me. I could not settle my heart.

"It'd serve you right."

"Next time, I'll try to give you a heads-up."

My eyes darted up to his face. "Next time?!"

"Quit whining. We need to focus on this Stand. It fuses with flesh. What matters now is getting it off."

I stood from the ground, brushing off the dirt on my legs and elbows. I had a few minor scrapes. But so did Jotaro.

"No healing," I grumbled. "How about burning it off?"

Jotaro pulled a lighter from his pocket. The tip of its flame licked at the glob. And the glob grew faster, taking up one half of his hand.

"That was a bad idea," he muttered. "Damn."

"He wasn't kidding. His Stand is powerful."

"Juniper."

I swept some pebbles off my shoulders, noticing that a hole had ripped in the skirt of my dress. Likely from being dragged along the ground until I had rolled to a halt.

"You ruined it," I huffed.

"Juniper."

With a whole lot of bite, I snapped, "What?"

"This is your heads-up."

"Huh?"

Star Platinum once again tackled me, launching us both from the edge of the concrete pillar. Its arm swung out. I heard glass shatter. Shards glittered, raining over me.

The clouds soared overhead. I lost all sense of ground and sky; my stomach dropped, my mouth opened to scream, but the landing came too fast.

It was not concrete this time around but the floor of another cable car. It still knocked the wind out of me.

Jotaro landed in front of me, causing the cable car to rock heavily back and forth from his weight.

"Jotaro! I swear, if you don't - …."

"Pitch."

Rage burned through me more than anything Yellow Temperance could place on me.

I was distracted by a furry bundle that leaped into my lap. It was a small dog, yipping and licking at my face. It was held by a leash, itself limply wrapped around the wrist of a snoring man. His son sat beside him; an ice-cream melted in his hand.

On the opposite seat, a portly woman in heavy make-up sat, a hand tapping at her lap. She glanced at us apathetically.

"Pardon the intrusion," Jotaro said.

"My, my," the woman drawled. "That's certainly a bizarre entrance."

The dog hopped from my lap and circled the floor.

"Don't mind us," Jotaro replied. "Kid, I'm gonna need to borrow that popsicle for a second."

"Excuse me, young man!" the woman called. "What do you think you're doing with that child?"

Jotaro shot her a glare. "This your kid?"

"No, he's not, but -..."

"Then shut up and enjoy the ride."

Tears welled in the little boy's eyes as soon as Jotaro took the ice-cream from him. I kneeled on the ground, my attention drawn to Jotaro as he held the ice-cream against his hand; the glob spiked.

Blood shot from his hand.

"Jotaro! Are you okay?"

Pain blistered through his expression. He heaved a deep breath, steadying himself.

"Yeah. I can take the pain," he said finally. "But this thing isn't budging."

"Can't burn it off. Can't freeze it off."

"Sorry, kid," Jotaro sighed. "When we get to the bottom, I'll buy you another one."

The kid whimpered. But he nodded, staring at Jotaro in awe. It astounded me that his father had not woken, his snores still echoing through the cable car.

"Now what?" I asked. "Hack off our hands?"

The lady cackled. "Come now! Nothing will work!"

We whirled around to face her. She could see the Stand. Her eyes glittered as she looked at the yellow lump on my hand. She blew nosily into a handkerchief. She had called our entrance bizarre.

Yet she squeezed her left breast, and laughed at us again.

"I told you before, didn't I? You won't find a single weakness."

There was a yelp, ringing through the cable car.

Our eyes fell to her high-heeled feet, which had melted into an amorphous blob, bubbling as it consumed the dog.

I jolted forward, hand outstretched to grab it.

Jotaro snatched my wrist, tugging me back. I fell into him.

"We have to help him!" I hissed, pulling away from him.

But his hold was tight. "It'll latch onto you."

"Papa! The puppy! It got our puppy!"

"Bastard," Jotaro hissed. "You were waiting for us in this cable car, weren't you?"

The dog writhed and fought. The Stand only ballooned around its small body. The father of the little boy finally stirred from sleep, wiping drool from his mouth. He saw what was happening to his dog and tried to pull it from the glob by yanking the leash.

"Pocky!" the man yelled.

"Watch out! Don't pull him!" Jotaro warned.

Blood splattered me and Jotaro.

The dog was dead; the leash dragged uselessly over the ground. I pushed off the ground, nauseated, staring at the body of the dog as it was consumed.

"I've come to put an end to you!" Yellow Temperance screamed.

"If we could hurt him," I said lowly to Jotaro, "I could try to make that pain worse - make him vulnerable -..."

The disguise that he wore burst into his Stand, flowing around him. An arm-like appendage shot out, aiming for me. I ducked only at the last second.

Glass broke, another window of this car shattered and sprinkling shards to the ground.

In retaliation, Star Platinum lashed out at Yellow by ripping a bar from the car to hit him; Yellow's Stand hardened like a shield to protect him.

"Are you even listening?" he barked. "My Stand is armour that can also absorb power! A defensive wall that can also attack! No matter how fast or strong you are, against Yellow Temperance, you are helpless!"

Another appendage broke from the body. This time, I was not fast enough to dodge it. It wrapped around my left wrist; another arm shot from Yellow to grab my waist, hoisting me into the air. He purposefully bashed me into the roof of the cable car.

"Juniper!"

Echoing his words back to Jotaro, I said, "I can take it!"

"You can't defeat me!" Yellow laughed. "You can't survive unless you take a cleaver to your right hand! Do you understand?!"

More arm-like blobs latched onto Jotaro, moving like tentacles around his body and dragging him closer to Yellow Temperance, whose face was glowing in the sickly hue of his Stand.

He showed a dark pleasure in how much pain he was causing.

"Good grief," Jotaro sighed.

Yellow Temperance faltered.

"You're right," Jotaro continued calmly. "You really have no you are the world's strongest, and that's terrifying. But I'll tell ya - we Kujos - no, we Joestars - we use strategy to fight our way past any obstacle. I still have one strategy left. And that's to run away!"

I pushed at the wriggling tentacle slithering around my waist, eyes flashing to Jotaro.

I said, "Wait, what?"

Star Platinum flashed through the car, its armoured fist opening a wide gash in the floor. A sudden gush of wind ripped through the car, causing it to swing madly.

Yellow dropped through the floor.

His Stand was still wrapped around me and Jotaro.

So we were pulled with him, through the opening.

The world spun. Flashes of buildings and cable cars and wires whipped by. Then there was only water, swelling up around me.

I swallowed a mouthful. I surfaced quickly, choking and spluttering.

Jotaro hadn't surfaced.

We were still strung together by Yellow's Stand. I was already so covered in its yellow globs that I dared to grab hold of one and tug hard, trying to pull him toward me.

It was not Jotaro who emerged from the water first.

It was Yellow Temperance.

Like me, he had swallowed water. He spat it out, gasping and shaking off the water which soaked his hair.

Jotaro appeared. He was more calm than he had been in this entire fight, and smirked at Yellow Temperance.

"Make him vulnerable. That's what Juniper said earlier," Jotaro drawled. "Your Stand may be invincible. But you're not. If I butcher you, your Stand dies, too."

Star Platinum gripped Yellow, pinning him in place.

Jotaro asked, "Do you understand?"

Yellow struggled against Star. It was obvious that Star had more strength, as it remained unmoved by the pushes and kicks that Yellow tried to land.

"Listen, I've had it up to here with that cocky-ass mouth of yours," Jotaro grumbled, glaring at Yellow. "You should know, I'm the kind of guy who takes these things to heart."

Jotaro punched Yellow clean in the mouth. Teeth flew. A stream of thick blood shot from Yellow's mouth. I was a little stunned by how easily he crumpled. If it had not been for Star, Yellow would have slumped into the water.

Star released him as soon as Jotaro punched him for the second time. Yellow hit the water hard, splashing us in the force of his fall. Jotaro pushed through the water, curling his fist as he sought a hat-trick.

"Wait a second, Jotaro."

He paused, looking at me from underneath his hat.

"My turn," I said.

Yellow had likely not known that I could do anything to him. After all, the team had only just learned that my Stand was not simply for healing.

It was pain manipulation.

And based on his whimpering, Yellow was in a whole lot of pain.

He tensed, eyeing me warily as I waded over to him.

"This isn't just for us," I told him. "It's for Pocky, and Kakyoin, and Anne."

All that hatred that I had felt for the ape returned to me. I loathed Yellow for using Kakyoin's appearance like he had, and causing us so much pain, and frightening Anne.

His eyes were a shade of hazel. I hoped that the pain in his gums worsened; that the swelling of his tongue grew more pronounced; that his jaw ached ten times more than it already did.

Yellow wailed, tumbling back into the water.

"Please! Stop! I can't take anymore, I'm through! Dio paid me to do this!"

Jotaro tensed up at the mere sound of Dio's name.

"I want something from you," he said. "The other Stand users. I want all the info you got."

As soon as Jotaro raised his fist, Yellow Temperance was quick to answer him.

"Death, the Empress, the Hanged Man, and the Emperor are after you!"

"Thank you," I smiled, leaning close to him. "Sugarplum."

Rising Sun engulfed Yellow in another round of brutal pain. He flopped back into the water, screeching loudly.

I looked at Jotaro. "How's that for pitch?"

He tugged at the rim of his hat and sighed.

x

As we walked back to the hotel, I healed us both. Avdol had already taught me so much in the short time that I had known him. My Stand was growing more powerful each day. Jotaro was silent, likely stewing over the names of other Stand users Yellow had listed.

"Centerfold," I said. "Polnareff will be happy to know his name at last."

Jotaro grunted.

"Yellow Temperance had some nerve trying to get one over on us again," I added.

Jotaro grunted again.

"And what will Kakyoin think when he finds out -..."

"Let's eat," Jotaro said suddenly.

I turned, finding that he had stopped a few steps back in front of a restaurant. It had lush red awnings and a pretty set-up of shrubs around its dining area, sealing it from sight of any passers-by.

I walked back and fell into place beside him.

"You're hungry?"

"Beating up a jerk like Yellow Temperance does that to me," he said shortly.

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"What about Anne? She could still be at the station. And we need to buys tickets -..."

"Anne will be back at the hotel by now. I made her memorise the number of the old man's hotel room, and gave her enough money to make it back there if we ever got separated."

"...You did?"

A waiter approached Jotaro, who signalled that he wanted a table for two.

Once seated, I said, "This place looks a little expensive."

"It's on the old man's dime," Jotaro replied.

I studied him suspiciously. Daring myself, I reached out to poke his cheek.

What felt like a lifetime ago, I had tried to poke him like that and he had stopped me. This time, he was still, though his glare was dark enough that I wondered if he would let me touch him at all.

To my surprise, he didn't do anything.

I jabbed him twice.

He asked, "What the Hell are you doing?"

"Checking you're not Yellow Temperance."

"What made you think I might be?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just thought you'd want to return to the hotel and leave for India as soon as possible."

"We likely won't get a train until tomorrow morning."

"Well, I won't complain," I said, flipping open the menu. "We used to eat together all the time in Japan, just us."

Jotaro was quiet. We ordered, and I found I was hungrier than I had realised. Once our dishes were placed in front of us, I ate quickly. Though a couple of other guests in the restaurant glanced at us, I was unable to care, which was unlike me.

I supposed that came from falling out of a cable car and thinking I might die.

"Your Stand does a lot of damage," Jotaro said.

I slurped a noodle into my mouth, eyes wide as I looked at him.

"You think so?"

"You're talking with your mouth full."

I swallowed the noodle, blushing slightly.

"You need the user to already be wounded," Jotaro continued. "Your self-defence has gotten better, but you'll still struggle to land a blow sometimes. Yellow was an ass, but he was strong. That's a downside. If we work together, though -..."

"You and me?"

His deadpan stare bore through me.

"Yes," he said finally. "You and me. Who'd you think I meant?"

The noodles warmed my stomach; so too did the little swoop that came from the thought of pairing up with Jotaro like that.

Shyly, I said, "I'd like that. Working with you, I mean. We could make a good pair. Well, fighting-wise, that is. You could do the punching, I'll back you up. Kind of like those cop shows, and -..."

Jotaro called the waiter. "Another bowl of noodles," he said.

"You're still hungry?"

"They're for you," he said flatly. "So you'll quit talking again."

Underneath the table, I kicked at him. "Jackass."

x

The night was breezy. The hotel bobbed into view between a cluster of other buildings. Colourful lights were strung along the street. There was a beautiful park that reminded me of one in our town.

I spotted a bench and nudged Jotaro. "Do you want to sit for a little while?"

His eyes roamed toward the bench. His brows were flat, and his mouth showed neither a smile nor a grimace. I was a little worried that he was tired of me, that he wanted to be alone.

Yet I had had so much fun with him at the restaurant that I wanted it to last a little longer.

"I don't want to go back yet," I told him. "Please, Jotaro?"

"Fine."

The bench creaked beneath us. The breeze was deliciously warm, rolling over us and ruffling our clothes. I watched other strangers in the park, arms linked or holding onto leashes for small dogs.

Briefly I thought of the dog on that cable car, wishing that we had been able to save him. And I remembered those days in Japan, skipping school with Jotaro, whose arm pressed against mine.

"I'm glad we met," I said, glancing at him.

Jotaro's gaze drifted past the lights overhead, as if he counted each fuzzing bulb. I heaved a contented sigh.

It was such a beautiful night. I wished we could have been here for any reason other than Mrs. Kujo's illness. Dio was always on the edge of my peripheral, a horrid blot that I couldn't wipe away.

"Quit thinking about Dio," Jotaro said. "I told you already."

I snorted. "You always know what I'm thinking about."

"You make it easy."

"And you make it hard."

Jotaro shrugged carelessly. He tipped back his hat, a rare sight.

From the street, motorcycles and cars beeped and burbled, a soft ambience filling up the space around us.

Surprising me, Jotaro took the Polaroid of me and his mother from his pocket. He looked it over, just once, and then returned it.

"Come on, June. Time to go."

Jotaro stood. I remained seated. I recalled that he had told Yellow Temperance he was the only one to call me Juniper.

And he was the only one to call me June, too.

He had also said it was easy for him to know what I was thinking about. So when our eyes met, I had no doubt that he understood what passed through my mind right then.

I was questioning what that little nickname meant to him.

If he knew what it meant to me, as well.

I wished I could read him so easily. I had been trying, from the first day we met, to know what he was thinking.

"A canal," he said. "Breadcrumbs. Some loud ducks. That's what I'm thinking about."

I smiled. "Me, too."

He held out his hand.

Again, he said, "Time to go, June."

x