**KURO'S POV**

My eyes peeled open, seeing Josuke above me with Crazy Diamond over his shoulder trying to heal me.

"Thank God you're alright," he squeezed my waist, right at the spot of my injury, causing me to grunt in pain.

"Josuke," I mumbled as I tried to pull his weight off me. "Stop. You're hurting me." He released his arms and looked at my waist and his arms, which are now lightly covered in blood. He summoned Crazy Diamond once more and tried to heal me again. "A girl named Yuki stole Okuyasu's stand and erased parts of my uniform and skin." I explained. "There were a couple of close calls, but I'll be fine. Thanks for trying though." As I was about to stand up, Josuke grabbed my hand. His head hangs low, not even making an attempt to look at me. I've gone through this situation too many times. His caring nature, when strong, can give overprotective vibes. It's understandable, since Crazy Diamond can't revive the deceased. I let out a soft sigh. "Josuke, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. We need to focus on catching Yuki, and check if Okuyasu is ok." I pulled on his hand to lift him off the ground.

He bit his lip and proceeded to unbutton his school uniform jacket and throw it at me. "Here. You can use this." His muscular arms twitched from the cold.

"But aren't you co-"

"Just put it on. Please," he pleaded in a soft tone, not even looking at me.

"Fine," I reluctantly took the jacket and put it on. The sleeves went past my hands and below my knees, almost making it a dress. It's way too big, but Josuke mint and cider cologne is so warm and comfortable, I don't think I'll want to give it back to him. "Let's go back."

When we got back to the bench I sat at, Okuyasu was taking a nap on the same bench. Okuyasu used his book bag as a pillow and positioned himself in a fetal position. I crouched down and whispered into his ear to wake him up. "Okuyasu…" No response. I poked at his sides. Nothing. I looked back at Josuke, who was zoning out. "Any idea on how to wake him up?"

Higashikata looked away and placed his hands into his pocket. "I don't know?" He mumbled.

An idea struck me. I grabbed my school bag and pulled out a small tube of rose scented hand cream. Then, I squeezed a small portion on my index finger and wrapped it around evenly. Usually this is done with saliva, but that's unsanitary. I gently pushed my finger into my sleeping friend's ear. The results were positive. He shrieked, shot up on his back and rubbed his ear like a dog with fleas. "Kuro! What the hell did you do?"

"I woke you up, that's what I did," I giggled, but my giggling turned into pain as the muscles on my torso contracted. I covered my stomach with the jacket even more, hoping that the blocking the breeze from the wind would stop the sensation of a thousand needles pricking at my raw wound. I feel Josuke's strong grip on my shoulder.

Okuyasu's expression went gloom and stared at me with his sorrowful orbs "The Hand hurt you, didn't it?"

I rubbed his shoulder "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, ok? I just need some bandages and I'll be fine." I gave him a soft smile, hoping that he'll cheer up.

"Besides, we have more important issues at hand."

A familiar voice suddenly spawned behind me like a jumpscare. The three of us looked at the marine biologist behind us. "Jotaro?!" I spoke, surprised by his presence. "When did you get here?"

"I just got here." He responded monotony as usual.

"I told Okuyasu to call him." Josuke added, while pointing to his nephew with his thumb.

"I'm already filled in with all the details," Jotaro pointed his thumb behind him towards a taxi. "Let's get out of here. If she plans to only kill Okuyasu, we need to head out as soon as possible. Which means now."

The three of us followed his directions, and walked towards the car. Josuke opened the car door for Okuyasu and I. I struggled to bend my head down with the wounds I had. "Oww."

"What's wrong," Jotaro turned around and questioned. He was already in the front seat with the driver.

"I'm fine," I gave him a smile while lying through my teeth. "I just got hurt a little, that's all."

"Do we need to take you to the hospital?"

"No! I'm fine," I shook my hands out and waved them. Josuke snatched my wrist and shoved it towards Jotaro's window, showing a thin covering of blood coating my palm. I gave him a glare. "Josuke, what are you doing?" He returned the glare and eyed me down. What's wrong with him? I bear with the pain and moved into the seat on the left as Okuyasu and Josuke got in.

"Where are we going?" I asked Jotaro.

"As far away from here as possible. All stands have a range. Once we get out of range, there's a chance that Okuyasu will get his stand back."

"Then we can go to Kuro's house," Josuke added. "She lives the farthest away from here.

"Would Dr. Izumi be ok with that?" Josuke asked.

"It's fine," I answered. "My mom is out of town for a few weeks in Hokkaido giving medical lectures."

I explained everything that happened to Jotaro on the way to my house. Everything about Yuki Agawa and how she stole Okuyasu's stand.

Once we got there, I welcomed the three boys into my house. The fresh fragrance of cherry blossoms still lingered from the candle I lit this morning. I've had Josuke and Okuyasu over my house multiple times, but inviting Jotaro is just...weird. I feel like I should've dressed up for a teacher and student meeting, which would make sense considering the age difference. "So, make yourself at home. I need to go grocery shopping, but there's instant ramen in the cupboards along with tea and dried snacks." I suggested, trying my best to be a decent host. Usually my mom is the one to do this. Her charisma is something I definitely did not inherit. Okuyasu went straight to the couch and laid down, ready to take a nap while Josuke headed to the fridge and took out a pitcher of water and some cups to fill them with.

Right before I moved to put a blanket over Okuyasu, Jotaro put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me. "You should bandage your wound first."

"Right," I said, while my eyes focused on a napping Okuyasu. "I almost forgot," I slipped off Josuke's jacket, folded it up and placed it on the table. "I'll be right back." I moved into my room, grabbed a new shirt and lounge pants and went into my mom's office, the location of all the first aid supplies. In the side drawer of her desk held first aid supplies such as large bandages, large disinfectant wipes, hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, tape, bandage wraps, alcohol, tweezers, and other medical utilities. I striped off my top, and went to work on my body.

I began by using a medical while to clean off the raw tissue on my stomach as my side with ease. I grabbed some alcohol wipes and started to clean the small section of my skin, forgetting that alcohol burns when you apply it to a raw wound. I yelped out loud a girly cry, leading to my face turning red. I knew the boys in the other room heard me,

"Kuro?" Josuke called out. "Are you ok? Do you need help?

Right before I answered, I remembered something Okuyasu said to me

"Josuke might see you as a woman, rather than a girl."

"No thanks," I replied. "I'm fine! I don't want to imagine a similar scenario of the last time he saw me in my underwear. What if he saw my body before and was aroused by it? Does he actually see me as a woman?

I need to focus on wrapping my wound instead of the trivial teenage romance you would see in those terrible late night tv dramas.

I stuffed my ruined school shirt into my mouth to prevent any other kind of embarrassing outburst from leaving my lips again and gently applied disinfectant to said areas.

As I left the office, Okuyasu passed out with a blanket I'm assuming Josuke put over him. Josuke and Jotaro sat on the couch. "So…what's the plan?"

"I need to borrow your house phone Kuroko," Jotaro said as he got up. "We need to alert all of the stand users in Morioh about this stand user."

"I understand." I lead him to my mothers office, where the house phone was located. When I left the office once more, Josuke was standing in the doorway, glaring down at me. "Um…can I help you?" His eyes went to my hand and grabbed my wrist and started pulling me out of the room and into the hallway. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

My friend stayed silent until he pulled me into my room and pushed me onto my bed, making me wince in pain. "Rest!"

"Josuke, I told you I'm fine," I replied in a stern voice.

"You don't get it do you?" Josuke mumbled in frustration, the palm of his hand was in front of his face "The Hand makes anything it touches disappear! I can't protect you from a stand like that!" My brain started making the connections as he lowered his head, his pompadour covering his eyes. "I just can't."

I sighed as I wrapped my hand around his cheeks, lifting his head up. I smiled "Josuke, you don't need to protect me all the time. I'm strong enough to take care of myself." His expression doesn't change from my reassurance. I then grab his hand and place it under my left collarbone, pressing his fingers into me. "Here. What do you feel?"

His cheeks flushed. "Um…soft?"

I rolled my eyes. "What else?"

"A heartbeat."

"Correct. And as long as I have that, I'm ok." I pulled his hand down into my lap and held them with both of my hands. His hands were soft and warm. "As long as I have that, I'm ok. You don't have to worry about me too much."

His worried expression lightened up as he took a deep breath. It looked like it was as if the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. "Ok. I get it."

I then remembered what Okuyasu said to me a few hours before.

"Josuke might see you as a woman, rather than a girl."

My cheeks flushed as I panicked and pushed Josuke's hand away from my chest and used my hands to cover my face. Oh god. I can't believe I just did that. If his hand was any further down, he hand would've touched my-

"What's wrong?" Josuke questioned with a raised eyebrow. I'm so embarrassed I can't even look at him.

"Josuke," I said between my fingers. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

"I always do these weird things. I don't want you to think I'm…you know."

"Kuro," Josuke mumbled. He wrapped both hands around mind and pulled them from my face. I looked away from his deep blue eyes, still blushing red. "I've known you for long enough that you don't mean anything bad whenever you do anything." I still keep my eyes glued to the wall. "Kuroko look at me." My eyes slowly move towards him.

He's smiling.

"Kuro, I know you didn't mean anything bad when you do things like that. It shows that you care about me. And I'm sorry that I've been overprotective recently. I'm…I'm just worried about you."

I returned his smile with one of my own. "It's ok Josuke. I understand."

The two of us leave my room. Okuyasu's position changed. He cuddled himself towards the top of the couch. I squatted down next to him and placed two fingers below the palm of his hand, checking his pulse. I put my hand over his chest, feeling it moving up and down. I then moved my hand towards the side of his neck to check his temperature. Everything seemed normal.

"A stand is part of a person's soul," Jotaro said as he came into the living room. "By removing one's stand, you basically drained someone's life force "

"Will he be Okay though?" I asked.

"He should be as long as we get his stand back. But the sooner the better." Jotaro then sat back on the couch.

"But he had enough energy to run back to where I was." Josuke added while scratching his head.

"Maybe it doesn't steal all of the soul, but part of it." I question.

Jotaro kneels down next to Okuyasu as well "Don't worry, we'll get him back."

Okuyasu's eyes peeled open slowly. He rubbed his eyes with his first as he sat up and mumbled. "Is it morning?"

"No you dummy," Josuke said. "It's still the afternoon. Do you feel any better."

Nijimura looked around and smiled. "Yea actually. I feel good as new."

"Try summoning your stand." I suggested.

Okuyasu follows my instructions. A blue and white figure appears behind him. "I got my stand back!" He yelled as he jumped up like a child.

I give a sigh of relief. "That solves one problem. Now we just need to find Yuki."

Suddenly, the house phone rang. I struggle to stand up but Jotaro puts his hand on my shoulder. "I'll get it." He gets the phone and puts it up to his face. His eyes widen as seconds pass. He then slams the phone into the charger and starts running to the door. I've never seen him move this quick

"Wait Jotaro!" Josuke called out. "What's wrong?"

Jotaro stopped in his steps and turned around to face us. "Yuki got to Hazamada."