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Akemi's Bizarre Adventure
Chapter 4: Tower of Grey
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The faint rumbling of the plane was enough to put Akemi at ease while they traveled to Egypt. Her face was pressed against her fist, leaning away from Mo, who sat next to her. She was warm in her leather jacket, grateful she had it to defend from the coolness of the plane.
The clouds and the city lights below her made her feel like she was floating. It was an odd, ethereal feeling. One she hadn't felt since the day she had come back to Italy from Japan after the... accident. However, a weird buzzing sound that felt like it was coming from everywhere denied her peace.
That, and of course, the nagging feeling that they wouldn't make it out of this plane.
She didn't say anything, however, since she had departed in the middle of her swim season, she assumed it was just another ear infection from not properly clearing her ears of water after exiting the pool. She'd probably get it checked out once they arrived in Cairo.
However, she came to the conclusion that an ear infection wasn't the source of the buzzing when Jotaro stood up, his expression and aura paranoid. Akemi lifted her head, looking up at Jotaro, then followed his gaze to a sporadic speck of black. She frowned, trying to make out its shape as it came closer…
"A... a rhinoceros beetle?" Guessed Jotaro, confused. "No... a stag beetle." Akemi's eyes widened, straightening in her seat. When she sensed a dark crimson aura surrounding the bug, she fearfully pressed her back to the wall of the plane. Mo turned and looked at Akemi, a bit concerned.
"Aki, are you okay?" He asked. Akemi clenched her jaw.
"Either that bug is murderously angry, or it's definitely a Stand." She responded, not taking her eyes off the bug. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mo's expression intensify.
"Avdol, is that a Stand?" Asked Joseph, leaning on front of him. "Are we already encountering another Stand user?"
"I believe so," Mo confirmed. "Aki is saying she's sensing a murderous aura about the bug."
Now paranoid, Akemi's eyes glowered with a mix of fear and disgust when she saw it dart behind a seat in front of them. She stood up suddenly, closing up her form.
"W- where did it go?" Akemi said lowly, her voice quivering.
"It hid in the shadow of the seats..." Muttered Joseph, annoyed. Jotaro walked out of his aisle, looking around. The five of them scanned the area, their eyesight heightened with fear, looking for just a flinch of movement.
"Jojo! It's on the side of your head!" Exclaimed Kakyoin. Akemi followed his gaze to see that it was, indeed, right next to his ear. Akemi swallowed a squeal of panic. It must've been the size of her palm.
"I- it's huge! It has to be a Stand!" Said Kakyoin.
"That bug is a Stand!" Exclaimed Mo.
"How many times do we need to say it?!" Akemi cried incredulously.
"It's disgusting... but leave this to me." Jotaro said calmly.
"I've heard there is a user of a bug Stand that likes to rip out the tongues of its victims." Akemi shuddered at Mo's words, letting out a sound of disgust.
"Star Platinum!" Exclaimed Jotaro, extending his hand with his Stand's to attempt to swat the beetle out of the air. It darted out of sight right in time. Akemi's expression contorted with panic, clutching her leather jacket.
God, I hate this. Why was there ever a bug Stand? What kind of vile person has to produce a Stand so disgusting? Ugh, oh god, I hate this. Akemi thought.
Deciding to be useful, she looked around at the sleeping people, looking around for someone that lacked an aura. However, it was difficult to do so quickly, as a lot of people had very faint auras, and required Akemi to look a little harder to see if there was an aura present, and under pressure, she couldn't be sure of anything.
"It dodged!" Kakyoin said disbelievingly. Akemi was distracted from her search to look at the battle.
"I- I can't believe it! It's faster than Star Platinum, whose speed and precision are such that it can grasp bullets!" Mo cried, his eyes wide. Akemi was pressed against the window, wishing she weren't in the plane.
She hated big metal tanks like planes. She was thousands of meters away from any way of being able to defend herself. Of course, there were Empress's gauntlets- but there was no way her plants were any match for a Stand faster than Star Platinum. She began her search for the user again.
"One of these sleeping bastards is faking! Where is he? Where is he hiding?! Where is the one who's controlling it?!" Kakyoin near-shouted, his panic matching that of Akemi's.
"I'm working on it, give me a moment!" Akemi shouted back. Kakyoin gave her a look through his panic. Her eyes locked on the Stand suddenly, just as it excreted an odd green substance. "I- it's attacking!" Akemi called, pointing upward. Everyone's eyes followed her gaze up to the beetle, where, from it, a metal needle shot from its body- and straight into Star Platinum's hand. Him and Jotaro cried out, and while his mouth was open, the needle shot toward his mouth. Luckily, Star Platinum shut his teeth just in time.
"Kujo!" Akemi shouted. There was blood falling from his lip and palm.
"Luckily, he could stop the spirit beetle's mouth needle with his teeth, but..." Joseph trailed off.
"Since he tried to bite off Star Platinum's tongue... it must be him!" Proclaimed Mo. "The Tower card of the Tarot, the one that depicts a Stand suggesting destruction, calamity, and the end of a journey: Tower of Gray. He commits mass murders, making them look like accidents. The airplane crash that happened last year in England causing three hundred deaths is thought to have been its work. I had heard rumors, but it seems he's working with Dio!"
Jotaro cried out, frustrated, and Star Platinum suddenly started beating the air with his fists at lightning speed. While the needle was in shards, the Stand was fine.
"I- it dodged again! I- it's so fast..." Akemi said breathlessly. She knew her Stand wasn't suited for this in the least, so she was forced to stay out of it, but it was so difficult to keep her eyes off the Stand long enough to keep looking for the Stand user, afraid it'll come too close to her.
"Not just the single hand, but it also dodged a two-fisted rush of blows." Mo commented under his breath, wary.
"Even if you were to have ten guns shoot bullets from one centimeter away, they would not be able to touch my Stand! And you couldn't kill my Stand with a bullet anyway." Boasted a high-pitched voice. Akemi's eyes widened, surprised and disgusted. He opened his mouth, and another needle was there.
"Did that thing just talk?!" Akemi exclaimed. It dashed away again.
Shit... I have to focus. I can't find the user, though... Akemi thought. But... ugh, it's so nasty. I hate this, but I really have no choice. Akemi's eyes darted around. She spotted the Stand above the other aisle.
"It's over there!" Akemi hissed to Jotaro. He glanced at her then followed her gaze. Her heart sank when she saw it hover over a passenger, who was sleeping peacefully.
The five watched in horror when the bug dug through 4 seats, emerging through holding four tongues. Akemi covered her mouth, her eyes wide.
"Got their tongues!" Teased Tower of Gray. "And my objective..." It slapped the wall in front of the middle section with the tongues, and began writing with the blood. After a few terrifying moments, he finished and what came out was... some word in English? It was very badly written.
"Massacre!" Tower of Gray cackled. Akemi grimaced, a mix of disgust, anger and fear boiling inside her.
"What does that mean?" Asked Kakyoin, who seemingly didn't know what the word in English meant in Japanese.
"It means massacre in English." Explained Akemi, her tone hard. Kakyoin could speak English, but he wasn't familiar with every word, according to him.
"I will burn it to death!" Shouted Mo angrily. "Magician's Red!" At his call, Magician's Red stood obediently behind Mo, prepared to fight.
"Wait! Wait a moment, Avdol!" Akemi looked, confused, at Kakyoin as Magician's Red faded away. She noticed, however, that he wasn't looking at Mo, but somewhere else. After following his gaze, she realized he was being reasonable. An old man at the back of the plane had woken up. Her eyes hadn't scanned him yet. His aura... it was gone. Completely gone.
"It's so noisy..." He groaned. "I wonder what all the ruckus is..." He's... acting so normal. What a disgusting man. However, she dropped it all when Tower of Gray approached him.
"S- sir, watch out!" She called frantically. The man ignored her and sat up. The bug... didn't do anything to him. That had to confirm it.
"I guess I'll go to the bathroom." He said. When he turned around, he put a hand in the blood and inspected it. "What's this slimy stuff? M... A..." He tasted his hand, and suddenly it came to him. He cried out in fear, backing away.
"I- is it blood?! Blood!" He exclaimed. Faker. Kakyoin stepped up behind him and straightened his hand.
"Atemi." He said calmly, hitting him in the back of the neck. Knocked out, the old man fell forward.
He turned. "We have to defeat it before the other passengers panic. But, Avdol," Said Kakyoin, turning to the man in question. "an active Stand like your Magician's Red could make the plane explode. And Jojo, if your power were to put a hold in the fuselage, it'd be a catastrophe. Akemi-san, you have enough control over your plants so as to not do much damage to the plane, but-"
"You're right, it's too fast for me to be able to do anything. But wait, I need to tell you something-" Akemi was interrupted when Tower of Grey appeared behind Kakyoin.
"Noriaki Kakyoin, eh? I've heard all about you from Dio-sama. Stop. If you know your Stand is quiet, there's no point in challenging me. You cannot catch me with your speed, and there's nothing you can do with your possession." Tower of Gray mocked.
"You think so?" Teased Kakyoin, summoning Hierophant Green. "Emerald Splash!" He suddenly shouted. It seemed that the beetle could dodge every emerald flung its way. Akemi got more anxious the closer the beetle got to him.
"Kakyoin, was this really the best idea?" Akemi muttered to herself. Quiet Stand, huh? Then Akemi caught some movement below her.
Hierophant's tentacles..? Suddenly it hit her.
"You seem to think you can hit me if you fire enough shots, but you haven't hit me at all!" It cackled.
"This isn't good. It's still dodging with its speed!" Mo exclaimed, clearly as anxious as Akemi felt on the inside. She cringed when the beetle sent out its mouth needle, and shot toward Hierophant's mouth, breaking his mouth guard and causing blood to spurt from Kakyoin's mouth. He slumped over, his Stand doing so with him.
"Kakyoin!" Akemi exclaimed, concerned. She'll heal him later, but he needed to hurry up with his plan. Tower of Gray cackled, flying around erratically.
"My speed is on an entirely different level! You're way too slow to get a bingo." Kakyoin stared furiously up at the bug as it spoke. "And Kakyoin... with my next attack, I'll stab your Stand's tongue with this Tower Needle and rip it out!" He proclaimed.
"Emerald Splash!" Called out Kakyoin once again, almost desperately, the barrage of emeralds flying upward toward the bug once more.
"Kujo." Akemi put a hand on Jotaro's elbow. She was going to go crazy if she didn't tell someone. Jotaro looked down at her, confused. Akemi's expression was intense as she looked up at him. "I know who the Stand user is." His eyes widened and he turned halfway.
"How? Where?" Jotaro asked, keeping his voice down. Akemi pointed at the old man.
"It's the old man Kakyoin knocked out. I sensed his aura when he moved. I can probably take him out from here, but I think Kakyoin has a plan already." Akemi told him.
"What do you mean?" He asked her. She averted her gaze to the area under the seats, and Jotaro followed her gaze. His lips formed a 'o' as his aura grew with realization.
"Don't you get it?" Tower of Gray laughed triumphantly.
"Th- this isn't good! It dodged Emerald Splash again!" Mo noticed. Akemi watched the tentacles on the floor slowly move into place…
"Once this rips your tongue out, you'll go mad from the pain!" Tower of Gray exclaimed malevolently.
"What, if his tongue is ripped out, he'll go mad from the pain?" Kakyoin said mockingly. The Tower Needle shot out. Akemi felt dread build up in her chest rapidly. "My Hierophant Green?" Akemi gritted her teeth, her eyes wide, when several tentacles shot out from nearby seats and stabbed the Tower of Gray from several directions.
He finally caught him. Jotaro and Akemi shared ghostly smirks.
"Yes!" Akemi hissed, the anxiousness from before lifted now that the Stand was defeated.
"What?!" Choked Tower of Gray, obviously shocked that he was caught.
"If he rips you apart, he'll go mad, alright. From joy!" Kakyoin said smugly. While he kept his eyes on the bug, he stood, his body turned in the direction of his friends. "Hierophant's appendages had already slipped beneath the seats. Didn't you realize I was trapping you there with Emerald Splash?" Kakyoin explained in a mocking tone. Tower of Gray wasn't able to respond, because seconds later, Hierophant Green's tentacles pulled apart- splitting the bug into shreds with it.
The user was, indeed, the old man that laid in front of Kakyoin. She cringed when his tongue ripped itself in two, and blood spurted from his forehead.
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"So that geezer was the user?" Kakyoin muttered. "A repulsive Stand usually has a repulsive user." Kakyoin propped him up in a nearby seat, and the others joined him. There, standing in between Jotaro and Joseph, she got a better look at his face. It was covered in blood, and his long, bisected tongue was lolled out of his mouth. His expression was frozen in a scream of horror. It irked Akemi, but she'd already seen it in the past and she figured she'd be seeing a lot more of that in the future.
"I tried to tell you, but I guess you were busy fighting." Akemi replied, her arms crossed tightly.
"Sorry about that..." Kakyoin said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. When Akemi waved her hand, Kakyoin distracted himself with the Stand user again. "It doesn't appear that he has Dio's flesh bud on his forehead..." He noted. Akemi looked down at the old man with disgust, her squeamishness disintegrated into nothing.
"So he chose to do all this… how disgusting." Akemi commented, voice laced with disgust. She began to feel a little off balance, however. She hoped it wasn't an after-effect from healing Kakyoin and Jotaro. Their injuries weren't that bad.
"From the start, Tower of Gray was an evil Stand that killed tourists, making it look like an accident only in return for pay." Said Mo from behind the old man. He took a blanket and threw it over him, successfully covering the body from sight. "I'm sure Dio was able to use him because he was easily bought and blinded by greed." They were distracted from the discussion when they heard a cup fall to the ground. Akemi had to bend a knee to keep her balance. An odd feeling of dread filled her stomach.
"...Something's wrong." Akemi said, her tone grim. She knew the plane wasn't supposed to be tilting. She turned to the rest of the boys. "It could be a side effect from my healing, but I think the plane's crooked."
"I was just thinking the same thing." Akemi turned to Joseph as he agreed with her. His gaze went from hers to the cup that laid on the ground, and watched it roll in another direction. "...It is crooked." He confirmed. Akemi's eyes widened.
"Shit..." Akemi cursed.
"I- it can't be!" Joseph suddenly exclaimed. He ran toward the cockpit, and Akemi caught on, dread pouring through her veins. Her and the boys exchanged glances, and seeing Akemi's pinched eyebrows, they seemed to catch on, too. They all went after him, and saw the flight attendants trying to stop Joseph- unsuccessfully. Akemi went in after Joseph, giving the girls a polite smile.
"Scusi, bellas!" She asked brightly in Italian, masking her dread with ease. They blushed, stunned, unable to stop her. Jotaro approached them, and Akemi got that weird feeling in her stomach that she hated when she saw them smiling and blushing at the sight of him. He shoved right past them.
"Outta the way, bitches." He said flatly. Akemi grimaced at the fact that he was so rude. What a dick, she scoffed. However, that weird feeling disappeared.
They fell into Kakyoin's chest next. "Pardon," He said, "It is inexcusable of him to treat women in such a cruel manner- but it's an emergency. Please forgive him." Kakyoin requested of them. An 'okay' breathlessly fell from their mouths.
Akemi took a moment to admire how he treated them with an eyebrow raised, and she caught a bewildered look on Mo's face that amused her. However, Joseph's cry brought her back to the situation. She barely stopped herself in time to avoid bumping into Joseph's back. "This is awful!" He exclaimed.
Akemi leaned past Joseph and gasped when she saw the gruesome sight of the pilots' tongues cut off and their lives along with it. Jotaro walked in behind her, standing just over her.
"Their tongues..." Akemi breathed, distressed.
"They've been ripped out..." Jotaro finished, the tiniest hint of his perturbed emotion evident in his voice. "That stag beetle bastard! He'd already killed the pilots?" He growled. Kakyoin and Mo joined them, taking in the image with grimaces. Joseph approached the seat, bending over to look at the dash. His dissatisfied grunt obviously brought bad news.
"It's falling." He stated, afflicted. "The autopilot's been destroyed, as well. This plane's going to crash!" Joseph yelled. Akemi squeaked in fear when she heard a growl from behind the boys.
Turning around, it was the old Stand user. Reflexively, she used her Stand to tie him up securely in an excessively large amount of vines. He roared in retaliation, but he was too weak to fight back. She recoiled as she watched him struggle in his cocoon-like prison, his bisected tongue wiggling erratically. She absolutely despised the feeling of her vines soaking up the blood that he seemed to constantly excrete.
"I am the Stand that holds the Tower card which suggests accidents and the end of a journey! You will not reach Dio-sama!" The Stand user threatened, regardless of his position. "Even if you survive this crash, you are ten thousand kilometers from Egypt! Those who swore loyalty to Dio-sama will pursue you every hour of every day! There are Stands in this world that you can't even imagine. Dio-sama is the master of Stands! Dio-sama has the power to reign over all of them. There's no way you'll reach him! You bastards will never reach Egypt!" His monologue was cut off when Akemi accidentally squeezed the vines too tight. He was already close to death, so a few shattered bones probably killed him.
Joseph put a hand on her shoulder, and she yelped in surprise. The touch made her realize how tense she was. She let herself calm down, and retracted her vines. He fell down, and the poor flight attendants gasped, panicked. They didn't scream, however, and that was something Akemi was thankful for.
"You're definitely professionals. It's a good thing you didn't scream. That would've been annoying. The old man is now going to emergency land this plane-" Stated Jotaro. He was cut off when Akemi hit him lightly on the chest, giving him a look. "What?" He asked, annoyed. Akemi didn't reply, just kept on staring at him. He got the message, and scoffed, turning to his grandfather and sitting down in the co-pilot's cockpit.
Akemi softened her expression when she laid her eyes on the two women. They were terrified- the dark indigo of their auras showed it. She slowly approached the flight attendants, stepping over the old man's body, and put a hand on both of their shoulders, offering them a sympathetic smile, the look in her eyes seemingly calming them down.
"You two bellas must be so scared. But don't worry, we're the good guys. That old man was trying to kill the passengers and crash the plane, so we stopped him. We're going to land this plane, and we're going to get out of this alive. I promise." She ended the reassurance with a wider smile. The flight attendants seemed much calmer, their faces dusted pink. "So please, if you feel up to helping us, calm the passengers down and carry out the normal safety protocols. We'll handle the rest."
The flight attendants straightened and put on a brave face, nodding. The fear was still there, but it echoed with the golden-yellow of courage. She gave them an affirming smile.
"Okay!" They both said determinedly before turning and running back into the seating area. Akemi turned back to the boys. Kakyoin and Avdol sent her approving smiles. Jotaro stared at her with slightly widened eyes, as if he were impressed. He tugged his hat down and then turned to Joseph.
"Grandpa?" He prompted.
"Well... I have experience with propeller planes, but..." He trailed off.
"Propeller?" Questioned Kakyoin as Akemi joined the boys.
"But, Jotaro... this is my third time. Have you ever heard of someone being in a crashing plane three times?" Joseph questioned. Akemi and everyone around her seemed more stressed from that statement.
"I'm never... I'm never riding in a plane with you again." Jotaro told him, indignant. Akemi sighed angrily, slamming her hand on the back of his seat. Joseph glanced at her, alarmed.
"When this is over with, I guess you can gloat that you're the first to survive three crashed planes, then." Akemi said with an uneasy glare.
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Tower of Grey
||Power: E || Speed: A || Range: A || Durability: C ||
||Precision: B || Potential: E ||
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It was past sunrise when the rescue helicopter found them. The plane had landed thirty-five kilometers off the Hong Kong coast. Akemi and the others had no choice but to head to Hong Kong.
"Right. That's fine." Said Joseph, on the phone with the captain of a ship they planned on riding. "Please make sure the only ones aboard are us and the crew. Right, we don't want any more victims..." Joseph's dialect faded away when she heard someone call out to her.
"Hey, pretty girl!" Akemi turned her glare to the source, not appreciating being catcalled. It was a man who she noticed was rather sweaty standing behind a food cart. She could see he didn't mean any ill intentions and only wanted to capture her attention from what she could tell in his aura, however, so she let her gaze fall into a passive expression. "Are you guys tourists? Want some rice porridge?" he prompted. "If you're in Hong Kong, you gotta try dim sum or rice porridge. We have hot cola, too." She could practically see Jotaro giving the man a side glare from beside her.
"Rice porridge, eh? Not bad." Kakyoin said with a light smile. He turned behind him. "Did you know? Unlike in Japan, rice porridge is a staple food in Hong Kong." Akemi looked at him with wide eyes.
"My, my." She hummed. "Interesting. I can't say I'm a fan of the texture of porridge, though." She commented. Kakyoin turned back around to face the man.
"I'll have it the popular way, with pork and a century egg." He ordered.
"Coming right up!" Said the man cheerfully.
"Ooh! Can I have a chicken dumpling dim sum, please?" Asked Akemi brightly.
"Sure thing! Coming right up!" Answered the man.
"Then I'll have-"
"Oi! What are you guys trying to eat?" Joseph interrupted Jotaro, walking across the street toward them. "We're going to go to my friend's shop."
"Hey, dandy guy. Want to try some Hong Kong hot cola?" Asked the cart man. Joseph seemed irked by his question.
"Hot?!" Exclaimed Joseph incredulously, shaking his fists. "Everybody knows that cola's supposed to be cold!" He accused angrily.
"Old man, who were you calling?" Interrupted Jotaro.
"Hm? Oh, I'll explain everything once we get to the shop. We need to work out a plan that'll get us to Egypt as safely and as quickly as possible." Joseph answered.
"A plan?" Echoed Kakyoin, putting a hand on his chin.
"Joseph, we cannot allow any more innocent civilians to be hurt. The quickest way would be by plane, but..." Mo trailed off, referring to the events that had taken place in the past twenty-four hours. Akemi shuddered. There was no way she would be getting the image of that bisected tongue out of her mind.
"Indeed. It has now become impossible for us to fly to Egypt." Said Joseph grimly as they arrived at the shop.
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"If we encounter another Stand user like the last one on a commercial flight, we're sure to cause a disaster that will harm many people." Said Joseph, staring intensely from across the table. Akemi stared attentively from her place between Jotaro and Kakyoin. "We'll have to get to Egypt by either land or sea."
"But if we fail to meet Dio within fifty days..." Mo trailed off, bringing down the mood as a pang of stress hit Akemi.
"If we had stayed on that plane, we'd probably be in Cairo by now." Kakyoin said. Akemi gritted her teeth, clenching her fists in her lap.
"I'm aware of that." Said Joseph. "But it's too soon to worry about it." He said with a smile. Akemi looked up with a frown, confused, loosening her jaw and fists.
"A hundred years ago, Jules Verne wrote a story in which the protagonist traveled around the world in eighty days, traveling forty thousand kilometers. That was in the age of trains and steamboats. Even without a plane, in fifty days, we'll be able to travel the ten thousand kilometers to Egypt." Joseph said with confidence. Akemi's expression brightened, thankful he was being positive. Joseph took a map out of his jacket's pocket.
"As for the route..." He said, placing the map flat on the table. All eyes leaned forward to look down at it. Joseph put a finger on their location and traced the route he planned them to go on. "I say we go by sea. We'll charter a suitably-sized boat, go around the Malay peninsula, and cross the Indian Ocean. It'll be the Silk Road of the sea." Akemi nodded, understanding.
"I believe that is best, as well. If we go by land, borders will be a hassle. Akemi would probably be unsafe in most of those countries as a single woman, especially as a minor." Mo said with a shudder.
"I'm gonna be eighteen in two months..." Akemi pouted under her breath. Mo continued, rolling his eyes.
"And we'd have to cross the Himalayas and a desert. If we ran into trouble, we'd lose a great deal of time. There are too many dangers." He finished.
"I haven't been to any of those places using either route, so I can't say anything." Said Kakyoin, "I'll leave it up to you two."
"Same." Said Jotaro. Akemi took a sip of her tea.
"Ditto." Agreed Akemi. "The only places I've been outside of Japan are America and Italy. And Greece, once."
"Then it's decided." Confirmed Joseph, folding the map and replacing it in his jacket. "The greatest danger will be the Stand users that Dio sends against us. We'll have to do our best to get to Egypt without being spotted."
Akemi turned to Kakyoin when she heard the clinking of dishes beside her. Kakyoin had placed the top of the teapot slightly ajar. Jotaro and Akemi gave him a questioning look.
"This is a sign to let them know we want more tea. If you do this in Hong Kong, they'll bring us seconds." Kakyoin explained with a smile.
"You sure know a lot about Chinese culture, Kakyoin." Said Akemi, an eyebrow raised. Kakyoin let out a small laugh.
"I lived here for a few years, and I have family here, so I visit quite frequently." He answered. Akemi raised her eyebrows. A cute waitress with space buns under tied cloths poured more tea into his cup.
"Also, when they pour tea into your cup..." Kakyoin tapped the table by the cup twice. "This means 'thank you'." He said. The waitress gave him a smile before pouring tea into her cup as well. She copied Kakyoin and tapped the table by the cup twice. With another polite smile toward her, the cute waitress walked away.
"Excuse me, do you have a moment?" Asked a man with a very prevalent French accent. Akemi looked up toward the source of the voice with wide eyes. The man's face was hidden behind a menu, but his stick-straight hair was visible. "I'm a tourist from France, and I'm having a hard time with the kanji on the menu. Would you please help me out?" He explained, shutting the menu.
The second they made eye contact, a piercing foreboding feeling struck her chest. Something felt... off about him. His aura felt hidden, like Kakyoin's before his flesh bud was taken out.
"You're annoying. Go away." Jotaro said flatly. Akemi would normally object, but something about him made her want him to go away. Maybe this was another Stand user..?
The man's face morphed into one of distress at Jotaro's statement.
"Come now, Jotaro, it's fine." Said Joseph, holding his hand out. The man gave Joseph a relieved look and handed the menu to him. "I've been to Hong Kong many times, so I can at least read the kanji on the menu. Why don't you join us?" Akemi froze at that, her eyes wide, staring at Joseph as if he were insane.
"So, what did you want to order?" Asked Joseph, opening up the menu. "Food with shrimp, duck, shark fin and mushrooms?" Joseph summoned a waiter with a raise of his hand. "We'll have this, this, this... and this, too. Oh, and this." Akemi desperately hoped he was ordering chicken dumplings, because she was seriously craving them.
"So, what brings you to Hong Kong?" Asked Mo amicably. The French tourist seemed to freeze for a split second.
"Uh- well, I've wanted to go to China for a long time, and I finally saved up the money for it a few weeks ago." He sounded uncertain at first, but his confidence rose with each passing word. It was strange, though, that she couldn't really tell what he was thinking. His aura was strange, almost muted... "What about you guys?" He asked, catching most of them off-guard, as they hadn't even considered a reason for being there.
"I used to live here." Kakyoin spoke up, taking the reins. "I wanted to show my friends from school my old home. Jojo's grandfather agreed to accompany us," the salmon-haired teen lied smoothly, "and a family friend." Wanting to build on this, Akemi leaned forward excitedly.
"I have family in Macau, which is our next stop." Akemi added. "When Nori asked if Jojo and I were down to go see China with him, I literally exploded! I totally think Jojo was just looking for an excuse to get out of schoolwork." She giggled. Jotaro scoffed.
"Knock it off, Ake." Jotaro grunted, drawing only more giggles from his companion.
"That sounds like... such a pleasant vacation to be on." The French tourist said. He opened his mouth, but the waiter arrived with the food.
"This looks like food with beef, fish, clams, dumplings and frog, but..." Mo trailed off.
"Indeed. This is rather different. It looks like Akemi got something normal, at least." Kakyoin said. Akemi smiled, satisfied, and she could see Jotaro pout.
"I knew this would happen." Jotaro said disdainfully.
"Yeah, I'm a bit picky..." She admitted shyly. "Dumplings are my favorite." Jotaro turned to her with a side-glare.
"You mean gyoza?" He corrected her. Akemi half-didn't take him seriously, so she gave him an exaggerated look of disgust, looking him up and down.
"Um, actually," She responded in an overly high-pitched voice, mimicking some of the girls that went to their school, "this is a Chinese restaurant, so it's dumplings, here." For a moment, they stared at each other in silence, looks of equal disgust on their faces, before Akemi burst out in a fit of snorts and giggles, causing Kakyoin to laugh into his mouth, and Jotaro to scoff and look away, albeit with a faraway look in his face and a touch of nostalgia in his aura.
Joseph cackled at their reactions.
"Well, it doesn't matter. It's on me! It doesn't matter what you order. It's all delicious!" Joseph said fruitfully. "Alright, everyone, dig in." Akemi picked up her chopsticks and poked a hole in her dumpling before taking a bite out of the side. It was like she'd just eaten ambrosia.
"Wow, this is..." Kakyoin said, amazed.
"Perfect." Said Akemi, close to tears.
"Well? It's pretty good, isn't it?" Joseph asked his grandson with a laugh.
"Well, they've certainly taken a lot of time to prepare this." Said the man. He used his chopsticks to pick up a star-shaped carrot. "Look, these carrots..." He said, holding it up for everyone to see before admiring it himself. "They're shaped like stars."
"Wow, that's pretty cool." Said Akemi absentmindedly before taking another bite from her dumpling.
"It reminds me of something..." That quote made Akemi freeze, her chewing paused.
"That's right." His tone fell from its cheerful mask, giving way to a dark, threatening intention. "Someone I know has this exact mark on their neck..."
"I swear, if you're about to interrupt my eating..." Akemi muttered, her dark tone dripping with venom.
"You... are you another..?" Kakyoin trailed off, not wanting to reveal too much in case he was wrong. The silver-haired man smirked. As soon as he placed the carrot on his neck, a blade burst out of the rice porridge and swung toward Joseph.
"Joseph, look out!" Cried Avdol. Joseph was barely able to stop the sword in time with his artificial hand. He flipped the table over, and Akemi's amazing dumplings went with it. She cried out, feeling physical pain in her chest when her bowl of dumplings crashed on the floor. "Magician's Red!" Shouted Mo. His Stand squawked loudly and spat an inferno in his direction. The fire swirled around the rapier like cotton candy, and as it did so, the Stand revealed itself. It was a knight Stand with blue eyes.
"Another Stand user..." Said Mo, anger and shock in his gravelly tone.
"I knew it!" Akemi hissed angrily. "Empress Gaea! You son of a bitch! I didn't get to finish my dumplings!" She summoned her Stand as well, watching it hover angrily beside her, equally angry about the dumplings. The only thing keeping the two of them from lunging was Joseph's firm hand on her shoulder. Mo's fire was thrown from the rapier to a nearby table, where it exploded and cooled down into the image of a clock. Akemi frowned, slightly disturbed.
His speed... he was able to catch the fire?
"H- his sword is so fast..." Said Kakyoin.
"My Stand holds the Chariot card. Silver Chariot!" Announced the man. "Mohammed Avdol, it appears that you want to die first. I've made a fire clock on that table! I will kill you by the time that clock burns to twelve!"
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personally i love flying on planes so this is not a self insert just saying
facts
-akemi used to enjoy planes, but since she started using her stand for combat, she realized the best place she can be is on solid earth. now, being off the ground makes her uneasy.
-akemi is on the swim team in her school and constantly gets ear infections from the lack of ear protection, so she keeps eardrops on her. (this is a self insert fact i literally can never hear anything because of how much chlorine (and my lack of care) fucked up my ears lmaoo)
-chicken is akemi's favorite food. (and mine)
anyways see yall later!
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word count: 6,396