Chapter 4: Sleep on the Floor

Daichi Bushida's day was alright up until that moment.

Like most days, he'd woken up by Azumi's side. Despite their constant fighting, Daichi knew that he would easily kill for her. He even had the rapport to prove it, although for the sake of his class he didn't care to remember those days.

He and Azumi had quickly gotten up and went for their regular morning run. There wasn't much that they did apart, after all. Unfortunately, due to their different physical practices, they couldn't coordinate very well with their post-warmup training.

Azumi had always preferred to practice her katas outdoors; something about the fresh air helped her concentrate better. Bushida, however, was a boxer by practice. Even though he would go to his gym in the evening after school, he still wanted to keep at his training.

He couldn't let himself go weak, after all. He would not permit himself that weakness.

Regardless, he could only do physical strength exercises. Continually doing something that he was already very experienced in was a drag to him, however. That's why he mostly stretched himself to a cooldown while his girlfriend practised her motions. She always insisted that he followed along, but he could hardly ever do so. He always felt that his movements were unnatural whenever he tried.

That was possibly why Azumi was so much stronger than him.

"Oi, Zumi," he called out to his girlfriend who was still working on her katas. "I'm gonna get us some water."

"Go - for it," Azumi replied, her speech stifled from the hitches in her breath during her workout. Not wanting to break her breathing routine further, Daichi left the park they were in to enter the nearest store.

On the way there, he walked past a children's park. He didn't particularly care for weak little brats and whatever they did, ignoring how the world would come for them soon enough. So, he hardly regarded the park as he crossed the road to enter the convenience store.

He bought a large bottle of water for the two of them to share and left the store. The moment he left, however, he was greeted with a prime view of the children's park.

Most of the brats had already left by then, but there was one boy who had stumbled and fallen, immediately wailing for his missing mommy as he gripped his knee. Daichi couldn't help but snort at the sight; the kid was truly weak. Hopefully, he would learn better when he grew up.

In response, two teenagers who were in that park for some reason rushed up to the boy to take care of him. It was a boy and a girl, making Daichi wonder if a park like that one was a good dating spot. The girl had medium length sunlight blonde hair, while the boy had brown hair in a dual bun. In fact, something about the boy was rather familiar…

'Right! That's the new kid in our class! Wait, what is he doing here? Don't tell me…'

To his frustration, the blonde girl knelt down in front of the boy and manifested a green light from her hands, healing the boy's injury. The other boy even acted surprised to see her do such a thing.

Daichi hissed upon seeing that display, unknowingly crushing the bottle in his hand. 'We tried so hard,' his thoughts screamed in his head. 'We tried so hard! Why the hell won't this damn Fate leave us behind!'

Nodding to himself, Daichi set down his newly bought, yet now destroyed water bottle at the side of the road and crossed to the other side, determined to cut the actions of Fate at the nib before it catches their entire class.


It was coming. The blue ghost that emerged from Daichi Bushida's body moved in front of him, aiming a fist at him. Issei noticed that it wasn't moving very quickly, but that did not change anything. He could not move in the slightest.

There was a vortex of wind originating from right beneath him, ensconcing the rest of him within its whirlwind. The wind was constantly pulling his body into its base, and he couldn't free himself from it. He was managing to keep his body and head upright, however, fighting against the wind current pulling him down. The constant whirring of the wind was pushing against his ears as well.

'How is this happening? Why is the wind acting like this? Is this his doing?'

Issei couldn't think of it any further due to the incoming blue fist. Deciding that even a little movement to dodge it would be useful, he ducked his head with the vortex's pull just as the fist came at him. However, the motion combined with the downward current made Issei lose his footing and thud his head on the soiled ground, making him hiss in pain.

Daichi tsked once he found that he missed his first hit. "Well, no matter. My Stand, Sleep on the Floor will keep you down for as long as I need!"

The next punch was a downwards hook with the spirit's left hand, once again headed straight for Issei's face. For that, Issei dragged against the current to angle his head to the side, letting him barely dodge the hit.

"Face it, weakling. There's no way you can escape!"

As if to spite him, the next hit came in as a right haymaker, once again aimed for his head. Issei knew that he couldn't move his body enough to dodge that, meaning that he had no choice but to take the attack. He understood that the attack will be greatly dangerous, especially since it was being delivered by a blue ghost of all things, but he had no choice.

Putting all his power into his arms, Issei held them up, bracing his skull with his forearms. The blue fist shaved straight through the vortex and impacted Issei's forearms.

Issei felt as if those moments went far slower than they should have been. Its fist cleaved straight through the ulna and radius of his forearms, then straight through his shoulder joints, even pushing back on his skull enough to crack it. Issei couldn't help but yell out in agony as pain blossomed from the region of impact, making him lose feeling across his entire body despite tanking only one hit.

That attack was not something a human could deliver. If anything, it helped Issei understand how dangerous taking one of those hits head-on was. But he had no choice; he had to tank it, no matter what. He couldn't move at all due to that vortex that formed.

Issei had already reasoned that the vortex had formed due to Bushida as well. That combination of the vortex and the ghost's ridiculous strength proved to be an incredibly powerful pair. Issei stood zero chance against someone like him.

The carry-over of the punch sent Issei away into the opposite end of the park right before the beginning of the forest, making him stumble and roll over and over and intensifying the pain in his arms as they rattled in his flesh as he rolled. Issei screamed in agony, not knowing how to handle such pain. He had never felt anything like that before. Sure, his brother had put him through the wringer, but never anything such as that.

Finally slowing to a stop, Issei found that his vision was blurred. Tears were emerging from his eyes. He couldn't scream anymore; his throat was bleeding with every cough. If anyone had seen his arms, they would have thought that he had three elbows; that was how cleanly his bones were snapped.

"I hate doing this," he heard Bushida saying over the ringing in his ears. "But I have no choice. That is the kind of world we both are in."

Issei wanted to get up, but he couldn't move. All his strength was drained from him.

He wanted to laugh at that situation. Just the day before, he'd barely survived an attack from a Fallen Angel of all things. Now he was being nearly killed by some guy who could summon a ghost and mini-tornadoes.

'Aniki, I seriously get why you asked me not to mingle with Alliance right now.'

Just then, Issei felt a warmth seep into his bones. He thought that it was his blood seeping through his internal wounds, but that wasn't it. For some reason, the pain was fading. Once again, Issei thought that was his mind inhibiting his pain, but he found the truth upon opening his eyes.

A green glow was washing over him, penetrating into his injured regions. Issei could literally feel his own bones correcting themselves, recombining together. He could feel the damage to his skull retreating and he found that his throat was fresh once again.

"Asia…" Issei said, looking at the focused blonde girl that was busy healing him.

"Ah, you're there too," he now heard Bushida say even more properly. Lifting his head up, he watched him clench his fists as he looked right at him. "Do you even realise how dangerous it is to use that ability in public? Well, let me show you the consequences!"

"No, don't you dare hurt her!" Issei yelled out, immediately kicking up to a stand, mentally conveying a thank you to Asia. As he watched Bushida run up to him with his ghost emerging from his side, Issei remembered how he'd felt the previous night. How he'd felt upon seeing Yuuma/Raynare breaking his heart like it was nothing.

His rage at how she tried to unjustly kill him. His wrath at how his supposed classmate was so ready to hurt someone for absolutely no reason that could make sense.

That wrath bubbled within him once more, making him once again feel the uncomfortable crawling within himself. The crawling creatures that he'd once called out to attack that winged being from the previous night were his to command.

And so, he pulled on them, calling them forth.

Black Insects shot out of Issei's skin, quickly surrounding him. He mentally commanded them to avoid Asia, but instead focus on the person before him.

"So, this is your Stand?" Bushida said. "Insects? That's it?"

That remark made Issei freeze on spot. From what he remembered, Raynare hadn't been able to see the insects attacking her. But now, Bushida was able to do so. What was different about both cases?

'No matter, I can think on that later. For now, I need to fight back!'

Issei willed the insects to move forward to surround Bushida's entire body. With another mental command, he sent them in to bite him just as he'd done to Raynare.

Bushida winced as he felt the first insect bite him, then groaned as more followed. After futilely attempting to swat them away, he called out for Sleep on the Floor. The blue ghost's hand swept across the wave of insects, knocking them out of the air.

Issei hissed as soon as he saw some of his insects get knocked out of the air. Looking down at himself, he found that random pores had opened across his body, all leaking some amount of blood. It was as if he'd been pricked in random spots across his body.

However, what was unusual was that the injury happened in the first place. Nothing had attacked him there, after all. There was no reason for those injuries to appear on him.

'Then how the hell did I get injured…?'

"Heh, you fight like a rookie," Bushida commented. "You act as if you don't know that a Stand can damage another Stand and that the damage is reflected onto their user."

Issei blinked in shock upon hearing that. If that were the case, then his injuries would make sense after Bushida damaged his insects. His Stand certainly was a weak one. They were insects, the creatures commonly known to be swatted out of the air like nothing. If Bushida's Stand was capable of smashing them all up, then Issei was truly vulnerable in his presence.

"You see why you're a weakling now?" Bushida chided. "There's nothing some little insects can do to a trained boxer like me!"

Issei gritted his teeth in frustration; he was right. His Stand was a weak one, it couldn't do a whole lot other than bite people.

But he couldn't simply give up. Looking back, he found Asia staring at the two, incredibly confused. Issei felt for her; she probably had never seen such a display before then. Moreover, she couldn't understand it at all due to the foreign language they were speaking in.

Nodding to himself, Issei summoned his Stand once again, letting the black insects originate only from his right arm. If he was right about one of the theories he had about his ability, then his current action would prove it. Moreover, he was okay with his right arm going out of commission for a while; he needed his legs for the option of running away and he needed his left hand as it was his dominant one.

Using the insects from his right arm, he willed them to approach Bushida. As soon as Sleep on the Floor emerged once again, Issei willed the swarm to dispel right before he could keep contact, instead of swirling around his body to surround him. Under Issei's command, they started to focus on Sleep on the Floor instead of Bushida himself.

"Ack!" Bushida yelped as he found small flecks of his own flesh chewed off via his Stand's damage. "Annoying!"

With a mental command from Bushida, Sleep on the Floor swung its arm around and swatted its own skin, swatting away any flies that it could find, even though it could not catch all of them. Issei winced as he felt those familiar pinpricks on his right arm, but the right arm alone.

'My guess was right, then,' Issei surmised. 'The different insects of my Stand come from specific parts of my body. Maybe I can use them like I use certain limbs? Who knows?'

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sudden appearance of a blue fist before his face.

Issei narrowly slipped away from the Stand's right hook by leaning to the side but had no choice but to deflect the follow-up cross from Bushida's normal fist with a rapidly formed cross guard. He winced as he was pushed back from the impact; Bushida's own punches were considerably strong, although they were nowhere near as strong as his Stand.

In retaliation, Issei thrust out yet another swarm of insects, hoping to stall Bushida enough to be able to at least run.

Upon seeing that, however, Bushida only smirked.

"You realize that this won't work against me, right?" Bushida said. "They're insects. Can you name something that all insects are vulnerable to?"

Issei stayed quiet, still focusing on his attack as it closed in.

"The wind."

Bushida put his arms to the sides and revealed two vortexes that were already being formed within them. Issei paled upon seeing that the insects that he was controlling were suddenly drawn in by the powerful wind currents, isolating them all to Bushida's palms.

Summoning his Stand once more, it extended its two fists to hit every insect in the vortexes' dead centre.

Yet again, Issei was forced to know pain. He felt his body collapsing and bruising as if every pore of his body was made to face the same strength as Bushida's first attack.

Finding himself out of strength, Issei collapsed onto the floor, retching out the flood of blood that filled him. His eyes were not only watering but even going dark.

'Ah shit, I'm going to die.'

Issei winced at the thought, even though he already had that expression before due to the agony. His strength was rapidly waning, and he quickly found himself succumbing to his fate.

'Asia…'

Just as that thought entered his head, the same warmth he'd felt earlier filled him once again. His wishes were granted, after all.

Once his vision returned, he looked back to see Asia healing him once again.

"A-Asia…" Issei muttered, quickly feeling himself being reknit. "Thank you…"

Asia nodded, her eyes watering as she did so. Issei could see the fear and confusion on her face. She had no idea what was going on, just like him.

'I was actually going to die there, goddamit!' Issei yelled in his head. 'I need to be careful about how I use my Stand!'

"Ah, that girl's Stand is truly annoying," Bushida said. "No matter. How long are you gonna be healed by her, weakling? If you can't even beat me, you don't deserve to exist in this world! Just drop dead already!"

As much as he hated to admit it, Issei had to agree. He thought that those insects could have defended him properly, but he hadn't known that they had such a terrible weakness.

Those insects were as vulnerable as he was. Whatever injuries they sustained would be reflected onto him as well. Moreover, Bushida had already mentioned the rule of Stands reflecting damage onto their users and that only a Stand could interact with another Stand.

'Is that why he's the only one who can see it? Because he has a Stand as well?'

In any case, he knew that he stood no chance. His Stand was made up of insects alone, and insects were notoriously known for being fragile. Remembering how powerful Bushida's Stand was from the time it hit his body, it wasn't surprising that he nearly died from it crushing those insects into a pulp. Luckily, the Stand faded away just as he was about to lose consciousness, so it was no longer in Bushida's grasp.

That was why he had no choice but to resort once more to his brother's reliable words.

Issei picked up Asia in a fireman carry the moment he could feel his legs once again and jumped away from Bushida, taking the chance to hightail it out of there.

"Running won't get you anywhere, weakling!" Bushida yelled out, kicking off into a sprint behind him as well. "I've still got my vortexes!"

Issei knew that what he was going to do would be a gamble, but he had no choice. Summoning his Stand once more, he allowed the insects to wrap around his and Asia's bodies. Barely registering the fact that Asia did not react to the cover around her, Issei had the rest of his flies spread out behind him, forming a wall that kept on expanding wider and wider, yet tall enough to cover his entire body.

Bushida grunted as the boy concealed himself with his own Stand. Still running after him, Bushida brought out Sleep on the Floor yet again, ready to summon another vortex beneath him. He knew that the boy was standing beyond the wall of insects, so he knew exactly where to project the vortex.

However, Bushida knew of the weakness of his Stand's vortexes. They always took some time to form. Bushida's Stand was weaker than some of the others at 2-E only because of how slow it was. The vortexes themselves took about 3 seconds to gain full power, time that could easily change the tides of a battle.

Despite that, Bushida still aimed his vortex at the spot underneath the insects, hoping that he could inflict some damage to him at least.

Bushida had found it a good plan, until the wall collapsed, revealing 6 silhouettes of Issei and Asia behind it.

They weren't the real bodies of his victims; they were swarms of Issei's Stand that took on the shape of the two. All 6 of them had been hiding behind the wall that Issei had formed with his Stand, meaning that Bushida couldn't determine which of those swarms contained Issei's true body.

Immediately understanding Issei's plan, Bushida unleashed his Stand's ability beneath the 6. However, Issei had already seen the weakness of Sleep on the Floor's vortex ability when he'd used it last. When he'd already had the vortexes prepared in his palms

'Shit!' Bushida thought. 'He knows my vortexes' weakness!'

Sending a mental command, Issei had all 6 bodies travel in completely different directions, jumping as far away as possible from Bushida's ability before it could gain enough strength to pull in the insects.

However, Issei had underestimated it. Sleep on the Floor may need a few seconds to form a vortex, but one trick that Bushida always kept under wraps was that he could always form a second one parallel to the first. Normally he would put both in two different spots, as he'd done to hurt Issei's Stand the first time, but that wasn't the only option.

Bushida decided to put both hands ahead of himself, summoning the second vortex that he could make. With a mental order, Bushida placed his second vortex on the same spot as his first, moving in the same direction. The compounded vortex ensured that its power became exponentially greater, gaining enough height to rival his own towering physique. Bushida grimaced as the wind started to flap his short hair about, but he was still glad to see that the now enhanced whirlwind was now pulling in stray insects from the 6 that were trying to run away.

'Good! Just a little more, just a little sign…'

He saw it! From the right-middle swarm, Bushida noticed a flash of red peek out for a second after a few of those insects flew into his whirlwind. While that whirlwind ability was useful, it wasn't something he could keep up forever without severely damaging the surroundings. He'd rather not do such a thing for Azumi's sake.

So, he stopped his whirlwind the moment he identified Issei's position. Ignoring the rest of the swarms that were still running away from him, Bushida reformed a new, smaller vortex beneath the region where he identified Issei to be. Pulling all its insects down, Bushida eagerly jumped, a frown hard set on his face, unleashing Sleep on the Floor to slam that kid down.

Using his Stand, he slammed down on the insects and destroyed them all. However, his Stand's fist did not meet any flesh.

Dispelling his vortex, Bushida looked past the now fading swarm of insects. What was beneath him was not Issei and Asia, but rather a simple red shoe.

Bushida felt a tick mark grow on his forehead. 'That damn brat… he tricked me!'

Grunting in frustration, he slammed the shoe down onto the ground, yelling as he did so.

"Excuse me, sir?" Bushida blinked at the strange voice, turning to the side to see who it was. He immediately paled upon noticing him.

A man in a blue suit with black padding and armour on his body, bearing the familiar name 'POLICE' on the centre.

"What was going on here, young man?" the cop asked Bushida, noticing the small pools of blood that littered the children's park he was in.

"Ah, well, we were just… you know… sparring."

The cop simply deadpanned at him. "Young man, firstly, it is not appropriate to hold such a spar in a park such as this one. Secondly, that was no spar. Look at how much blood is on the ground!"

Bushida grunted, quickly getting annoyed by the man. "So? What are you going to do about it?"

"Seriously, you young'uns have no respect these days… Well, I will take you in for bullying and violence," the man said, pulling out a taser and a pair of handcuffs. "Please do not resist. I will also go into the forest that boy ran into and see if he needs any support."

Bushida's eyes sparked as soon as he got that information.

"Into the forest?" Bushida echoed. "I see. Sorry, but I have to go."

"Hey! You're not going anywhere!"

"OI, DAICHI!" a familiar voice froze Bushida in his tracks. "WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Z-Zumi…"

"Ah, officer!" the newly introduced sweaty girl bowed to the cop. "I'm so sorry about my boyfriend here. I promise that I'll watch over him from now on."

"Now, now, little girl, I know you love your boyfriend, but he was doing a bad thing," the policeman explained. "I am simply going to… well…"

The cop blinked in surprise; for some reason, his mind was shutting up. The world slowed down, and it seemed even brighter. In that light, he was quickly finding himself appreciating the eye candy before him; the girl's damp clothes hung very well onto her body, after all.

"… Verrry well," the officer said, voice slurring to the feeling he was going through. However, Bushida did not miss the way the man leered at his girlfriend. "I'll… forget that this happened."

"Thank you!" Azumi cheerfully replied with a smile bright enough to make the cop blush, while Bushida simply tsked.

As the cop walked away, Bushida summoned Sleep on the Floor, hoping to punch the man in the face for how he looked at his girlfriend. However, before he could land the punch at the dazed man, he was stopped by Azumi's hand on his shoulder.

"Ophelia," Azumi muttered, letting the now revealed familiar star-like leaf in her hand disappear into the ground it came from. Bushida groaned, easily recognizing the leaf she'd used.

"Seriously, Zumi? Did you have to get the cop high?"

"Hey! Marijuana is really useful in situations like these, you know?"

"Pot from your Stand, though?"

"I'll take whatever I can get. Now, Daichi, you've got some explaining to do. I didn't see anything, so I'm trusting that you're sensible enough to tell me the truth."

"…"


Stand User: Daichi Bushida

Stand Name: Sleep on the Floor (inspired by the song by The Lumineers)

Abilities: Wind Funnels. At any location in a range of 10m, this Stand can create wind funnels or vortexes that can pull in any external object. This can be used for either trapping or attacking. Only two funnels can be created at once. The funnel can also be reversed, shooting out any particular object at the opposite end. It can even be formed in midair, forming platforms and even speed boosts. The speed can be controlled, reducing or enhancing the effects.

Destructive Power: A

Speed: D

Range: D (2m)

Precision: B

Durability: B

Development Potential: C


A/N: I know that this is a pretty short chapter for taking so long to upload, but I had a ton of university work. In fact, I have more coming up, so I will be uploading pretty slowly unless I'm on a roll.

Ahh, it's been over a year since I wrote a Stand Battle. How nostalgic. I still remember that first volleyball match battle from MCBA. I know that my first battles are the ones that pull attention, so they tend to be pretty good. Last time, the second battle was a useless one, so hopefully that won't be the case in this fic.

The painful part from now on will be creating all the characters in 2-E. I've conceptualised them all as well as the goals they might have, but I still need to find names and character and appearance and Stand abilities. That's where I'm going to struggle quite a bit.

It should be clear that this is only a part 1 to this fight.

Onto reviews!


Bearticguy7: I haven't fully fleshed out every Stand just yet, but I can't claim to have enough knowledge in any particular field to create something like Manhattan Transfer. I'll give it a shot, though.


That's all! I'll see you next chapter.