Weeks ago

Naples

"Hey, Viale! How's your day?"

"Yeah! Anything interesting happen?"

"What are you doing later?"

There was a group of schoolgirls following Viale, as was common for the tall blond. Over the years, Viale made it a habit to take the longest path home after school, just in case he saw someone to talk to or hang out with on the way back. Not that he had any long-lasting friendships to rely on.

"Ha! Are you talking about school?" Viale asked, "Well, nothing really interesting happened, but the day is still young. You three want to come over to my place?"

"What? Really?" The three chorused. They swooned, which Viale found amusing. Viale was popular at school - his good looks and grades, as well as his mischievous demeanour contributing to his status.

Naples was lovely this time of year. Although it was Winter, there were plenty of tourists seeing the sights. Whilst the ice-cream shops were closed, the diners and restaurants were still open for business and providing warmth to those caught outside without a jacket. Viale had lived here all his life. Well, that's not true. He was born in Florida, but that was the furthest he had ever gotten away from Italy.

School was running strong, too. Viale, despite acting like a buffoon during classes, kept up top ten students academically. The teachers hated him for it. All of his goofing off in class and they still get tests and assignments back that are nearly perfect.

"Of course," Viale continued, "It's so cold; I wouldn't want three lovely ladies like yourselves to stay out here in this freezing cold."

Viale enjoyed acting like a posh jerk sometimes. His background certainly supported him fraternising with the upper class. He had attended many galas and parties with his father for that very reason. He didn't, however, actually mean half of the things he did. His mother always told him that 'money isn't everything in this world, but it sure does help,' after all.

Then there was his father, ever observant, ever pensive. He was a mystery to his son. Viale loved him, as any son would his father, but Giorno Giovanna perplexed him in ways he thought weren't possible.

Viale fancied himself a good judge of character. One of the main reasons that Viale didn't pay attention during class was because he saw how toxic his school was to people that weren't in its community. The only fundraiser the school ever did was to raise money for a lawsuit they were facing.

"I'd be happy to show you three what goes on in the Giovanna household."

4/02/2029

Master's Academy Dorm 52

Afternoon

𝅘𝅥𝅮 - Vita

Viale was in a state of shock. He couldn't breathe, the world was dark, the only things he could feel were his clothes and the edges to the desk he had somehow fallen into. With his left hand holding an edge, his legs sliding down the front of the desk, desperately trying to get himself caught on something, and his right arm moving slowly into the desk as he tries to grasp something, anything else to help him regain his balance and get out of this situation.

But then something yanked him by his free arm. From what he could feel, it wasn't human, as it was cold as steel. The person(?) was pulling Viale out of the desk. Viale assisted the person by pulling up with his left hand.

When Viale surfaced and was flung on the floor, he found no one there. No person, no hands. Was it a dream? He thought. He got up to look at the desk again.

"What the hell is going on?" Viale said aloud, "Did I just manage to fall into a desk?"

He approached the desk. Rather unsure, he slowly placed his palm onto the surface as a desk and…

…nothing.

It seemed like nothing really happened. But Viale wasn't convinced. His scepticism prevailed over his defeat, and with that spirit, the surface became intangible again. This time, Viale was ready. He wasn't leaning on his hand, he just let it move around freely.

Retracting his hand, he wondered if it was the desk that was intangible, or him? To test this, he approached the wall to the right of the desk. He willed his hand to pass through it, and…

…it did.

𝅘𝅥𝅮 - Cavaliere

"About time, kid,"

Viale whipped around to see a turtle– no a tortoise laying down on his bed. Interestingly, this tortoise had a fancy gold key jammed in a slot in the shell, this key holding a large red gem in the head. Also interestingly, a Frenchman was protruding from the red gem.

"What the hell is that? Is that a fucking turtle? How did that get in my room? Did it just talk?" All relevant questions Viale asked, but the Frenchman in the key only had one thing to say.

"Put your hand on this red gem," he asked, as he retracted back into the key. Viale was perplexed. A man just came out of a key in a turtle and told him to touch a key lodged inside of said turtle. Hesitantly, Viale did so, shivering as he reached over to the turtle.

Inside the tortoise

Viale hit the ground too hard. Groaning, Viale sat up from his fetal position to see a man with a few too many scars and a grey chef's hat sitting on a couch. Now that he thought about it, where was he?

"You are in the tortoise," the man answered Viale's thoughts, "by the way, yes, it's a tortoise, not a turtle. Turtles are sea creatures."

Said tortoise was rather lavishly decorated. Two couch armchairs next to each other and a corner couch were all surrounding a coffee table atop a green rug. In the corner adjacent to the large couch was a cabinet. In the other corners was a small table with a flower vase on it, and what looked to be a closet door.

That made sense, Viale thought. Except it doesn't make sense, he thought subsequently. "How are we in a turt–tortoise?"

"This tortoise has what's known as a Stand, Gioviale. As did I." That didn't answer any of Viale's questions but rather created more.

"What the bloody hell is a Stand?" Viale asked the obvious successive question.

"Ahem," the man cleared his throat, "a Stand is the manifestation of one's fighting spirit. That being said, I don't, however, know how this tortoise has a fighting spirit. Coco Jumbo's Stand is called ｢Mr. President｣."

Right. Ok. He was asleep. That was the only thing that made sense in Viale's mind. Turtles didn't have rooms inside them, they had organs and blood. Maybe he had been hit with some drug.

"This isn't real, Mr Chef's Hat," Viale stated, "and I'm dreaming."

"I have a name, you know. And that's my hair, not a chef's hat."

"..."

"Right. My name is Jean-Pierre Polnareff." Polnareff answered Viale's implicit question. Polnareff continued with the niceties, "Do you remember being cut with an arrow, Gioviale?"

Of course, he did. It hurt like a bitch, in his words. "An arrow? Yeah, in the car trip. I didn't know it was an arrow, though - I thought it was just a sharp bit of steel."

"No no, my boy, that," Polnareff paused for effect, "was a Stand Arrow. It gives people with the potential a Stand. II wish I could demonstrate, but I don't currently have a Stand."

"So, what, do I have a Stand now?" Viale asked Polnareff.

"Yes, you do," he answered, "Every Stand has an ability. As you just experienced, yours has the ability to enter surfaces, which carried over to your person."

To test if this was true, Viale went over to the wall of Coco Jumbo, but was interrupted by Polnareff, "it probably won't work in here, as that isn't actually a surface. It's a Stand."

Right then. Polareff continued, "There are certain rules to Stands. First, only Stand Users, like yourself, can see other Stands (barring special exceptions). Second, only Stands can harm other Stands, which brings me to the third rule. Third, all damage that a Stand sustains is reflected onto its User (barring special exceptions again)."

Viale sat back down on the couch, making sure to not shake himself too badly as to knock himself out. His brain was running on fumes right now. "Ok, ok. I get it. Can I leave now?"

Polnareff nodded, "If you want," as Viale was about to ask how to leave, Polnareff spoke again, "Oh, one more thing you might need to know."

"What is it?"

"All Stand Users are bound to meet each other at some point. It's fate that they do. Don't be surprised if you start seeing other Stand Users popping out of the woodwork." With that warning, Polnareff told Viale that, to leave, you simply raise your hand and Mr President ejects you from the room.

Master's Academy Dorm 52

Evening

𝅘𝅥𝅮 - Morioh in the Early Afternoon

Viale tumbled onto the floor at the foot of his bed, he knocked over his suitcase. He scrambled to get up as he saw what he now knew was the Stand Arrow on the floor outside of his case. He rushed over to grab it, but just as he was putting it back in his case, the door flung open. In came a large teenage boy - bigger than Viale - with black hair and a piercing in one ear. His jeans had holes in them, and his zebra-striped T-shirt was more monochrome giraffe rather than zebra. Judging by the mountains of clothes on the floor, Viale thought it was safe to assume this student was his roommate.

"Hey, man," he said with a boisterous voice, "I heard you're my new roommate! I'm Nemico. Anicio Nemico." He did a once-over on Viale, "Woah, what is that arrow? That's so cool! Can I see it?" Anicio all but flung himself at Viale but didn't manage to get the arrow, as it was now locked in its case. "Aww, c'mon, man," Anicio complained, "at least tell me your name. The teacher didn't tell me."

"Alright," Viale accepted, lowering his guard a smidgen, "I'm Gioviale Giovanna, but I go by Viale."

"Ok, then," Anicio looked over the room and spotted Coco Jumbo on Viale's newly acquired bed, "Woah, is that a tortoise? I didn't know we were allowed pets!"

Viale picked up Coco Jumbo, "His name is Coco Jumbo, and he's a tortoise, not a turtle." Viale neglected to mention that he didn't know if they were allowed pets or not and that the tortoise was a stowaway.

"Well, anyway, the teacher told me to tell you to come downstairs for dinner, so, y'know, do that." With that eloquent instruction, Amicio left the room.

Viale just wanted to go to bed.

Dorm Cafeteria

Evening

𝅘𝅥𝅮 - Italian Restaurant

There certainly were people in the cafeteria. By Viale's quick count judging by how many there were per table, there were about 300 students having dinner. The downstairs part of the dorm featured the cafeteria, male, female, and universal bathrooms and showers, and the teacher's rooms.

The cafeteria itself housed twelve tables, six on each side of the room, all forming an aisle to the kitchen that, once a student had gotten their food, they could either walk to the left or right, depending on where they wanted to sit.

Seeing that the whole school was in this room, most of the tables were filled. As Viale walked down the middle of the aisle, he caught a few glances his way. He decided now would be a good time to make a first impression. He straightened his back, ran his hands through his hair, and donned a confident smile.

As Viale reached the kitchen, he noticed that the people in the kitchen weren't staff, but rather students, much like himself. The girl that greeted him from across the counter spoke, "Hi, what would you like?"

Now, Viale fancied himself quite the ladies' man. At his old school, girls would flock to him, not just because of his looks, but because of how much interest he showed in them, individually. Gioviale Giovanna respected everyone. However, despite the school's female population's best efforts, he never once reciprocated their feelings. He now got an understanding of what it felt like to be on the receiving end of this.

𝅘𝅥𝅮 - Setting Off

The girl standing in front of him was quite beautiful. She had auburn hair pushing being considered a redhead down to her shoulders. Her face was perfectly constructed, with beautiful brown eyes, a cute nose, and amazing lips. She was on the shorter side, but that was expected. Viale was caught in amazement, his cool face slipped away as he looked at this girl. She had on an apron, as was common in a kitchen, but underneath, she had a tacky print t-shirt that said "Find X" with a red circle around the 'X'. As she leaned on the counter, she cleared her throat.

"Oh, uhm, sorry," Viale stammered, "what do you have? I'm new, so I don't know how this works."

"Right," she listed the menu, which was clearly displayed above the pass-through. Somehow, Viale had completely missed it.

"I'll have some lasagne, then," Viale finally answered. Viale fancied himself a good judge of character. He didn't judge only based on looks. From the extremely limited interaction he had with her, Viale understood the gist of what she was about.

"Great," she responded, leaving her leaning position, "If you need someone to help you out if you get lost, come see me, ok?"

Viale nodded dumbly as a plate of greens and lasagne was put in his hands. He went left around the perimeter of the cafeteria until he saw someone he knew, Amicio. He was late to dinner as he had to give Viale instructions.

As Viale sat down next to him, Amicio asked, "Have you met Mr Zepelli yet, Viale? He's the new maths teacher. Everyone loves him."

Dismissing the question, Viale responded, "Hey, who is that in the kitchen?"

"Oh, her?" Amicio smiled, "that's Sana Rossi. Everyone had a crush on her in first year. Guess you're catching it now?"

Viale sputtered, and waved him off. "Nah man, too much effort."

Sana Rossi. That was her name. Viale rather liked it.

Master's Academy Dorm 52

Nighttime

Viale lay awake, still thinking of the girl in the kitchen, with the maths pun on her shirt and that cheeky glint in her eye. He couldn't stop thinking of her! The lasagne in his stomach was doing backflips just picturing her.

Ask he was about to pass out, he heard a quiet "ouch" coming from the foot of his bed. Viale had asked Amicio to help clean up the room from the mess, but ultimately refused cleaning his part of the room for only that it was "his half".

𝅘𝅥𝅮 - Anyaku

Viale sat up, slightly mad that his roommate stopped him from nodding off. He turned on his bedside lamp to see Amicio facing the opposite wall. Amicio turned to face Viale, showing that he was holding a pried open case, the same one that held the Stand Arrow. Amicio was shocked, seeing that the cut he obtained from the arrow had already healed.

"Amicio?" Viale approached him, still dressed only in his boxers, "What are you doing?"

"He said this would happen. He said I would get one." Amicio responded ominously. Viale looked around the room to see that the clothes and wrappers on the floor started rising. The shirts went on top of the pants, the pants on top of the shoes, and the wrappers filled in where the body parts should be.

"｢Innervisions｣!"

To Be Continued ===