Chapter Text
It had happened so quickly. Out of nowhere. In a way, Josuke wondered if he should have seen it coming. This whole year so far had mostly consisted of him literally fighting for his life - going this long without someone or something trying to kill and/or maim him was just a little too good to be true.
One moment, Josuke was walking idly down the sidewalk, wondering what to do with the time he had.
Okuyasu was looking after his dad today, but he was going to be free later, and both Josuke and Koichi didn’t really have anything going on, so the three of them had arranged to meet up. Do something fun and, well, normal. Had they ever actually done something like that since they all first met…?
Whatever, the point was, Josuke still had some time to kill. Maybe he could drop by the hotel, visit Mr. Joestar, Jotaro, and Shizuka. Or maybe he could go straight home and catch up on some schoolwork. The last thought had Josuke grimacing.
The next moment, everything went black.
“What the…?!”
No, not just black. Everything went… dead .
His loss of vision was the most immediately noticeable crisis, but Josuke quickly realized that wasn’t the only thing he had lost. He couldn’t hear anything either - Morioh’s quiet ambiance, the sound of his own voice, Josuke couldn’t hear any of it–
‘Is this a Stand ability?!’
The thought had barely crossed Josuke’s mind before his consciousness slipped into oblivion.
Josuke woke up. Or at least… he was pretty sure he did. As his awareness crawled and staggered its way into wakefulness, Josuke tried to remember what had happened.
That’s right, he had just been walking around Morioh when his eyes and ears suddenly stopped working. He must have been attacked by a Stand.
“Hey…”
Yep, he still couldn’t hear anything. Or see anything. Actually… Josuke couldn’t sense anything at all. His whole body felt completely numb. He knew that his body was shifting at his command, albeit slowly and minutely, but he couldn’t feel the rub of his clothes or the movement of air against his skin. The only thing he felt was a little nauseous.
That’s not good, Josuke thought to himself hazily as he called on his Stand. Of course, Crazy Diamond was just as incapacitated as he was - a light tug on his soul told Josuke had Crazy Diamond was definitely showing himself, but like Josuke, he couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything.
Then: “There, now can you hear me?”
Josuke’s adrenaline surged, and Crazy Diamond rushed towards the general direction of the voice.
“DORA!”
Air whooshed past Crazy Diamond’s fist. The sudden exertion made that little sense of nausea increase exponentially, and Josuke only barely managed to fight back the urge to throw up. He felt Crazy Diamond retreat into him.
“Careful,” that same voice said, sounding smug. “That cocktail I gave you has yet to wear off, and I assume you don’t want to throw up right now.”
Josuke pushed through the nausea enough to growl, “Who are you? Are you a Stand user?”
“Straight to the point, I like it,” the unknown voice replied. It was deep, a man’s voice, and still infuriatingly smug. “To answer your last question, yes, of course I’m a Stand user. There’s no way I would have been able to get my hands on you otherwise. As for your first question, well, that doesn’t really matter.”
Josuke heard the tap, tap, tap of shoes on a stone floor, approaching closer and closer. He tensed, Crazy Diamond peeking out defensively.
“Enough of that.”
Flesh slammed against flesh, and Josuke suddenly found himself struggling to breathe. As he coughed and gasped, Crazy Diamond faded back into his soul.
“Wow, even with most of your senses gone and my little cocktail still flowing through your veins, your Stand is a persistent one,” the man said. “ My Stand is called Comfortably Numb.”
Through his coughs and wheezes, Josuke heard the rustle of clothing. Then, the man’s voice speaking to him at his level, instead of somewhere above him.
“It has the ability to steal any and all of your five senses. Touch, sight, smell, sound, taste - I can take it all away, leaving you nothing more than a spark of consciousness flailing desperately in a meat suit.
“You may be the most dangerous little brat I’ve ever managed to get my hands on, Josuke Higashikata, but with Comfortably Numb’s abilities, having a Stand won’t do you much good.”
So he wasn’t this guy’s first victim, Josuke concluded as his breathing finally began to even out. Great, was he dealing with another serial killer?
“And with those shackles restricting your wrists and movement, you could say I’ve basically completely tamed you,” the man exclaimed, the shit-eating smile clear in his voice.
Josuke grit his teeth. “You think?”
Crazy Diamond materialized again, but Josuke’s anger was quickly and literally choked out. His breathing cut off completely.
“Gkh…! Shit …!” Josuke could hear himself struggling, his shoes scraping against the floor, his breaths coming out tight and strangled. Despite his best efforts, Josuke felt Crazy Diamond fade away.
The man hummed. “There’s a good boy.”
And then Josuke could breathe again. He gasped and retched, mind whirling, not in panic, no, he definitely wasn’t panicking.
“You know,” the man said, sounding even closer than he had been before, “even if that old man in the photo hadn’t hired me to get rid of you, I may have ended up choosing you as my next victim anyway. You’re a fighter, Josuke Higashikata.”
The old man in the photo?
The old man in the photo…!
But that didn’t make any sense - Kira and his father had been dealt with more than a month ago, so why the hell was this guy only acting now ?
“Though I’ll admit, being told that a certain Mr. Joseph Joestar is not only in town, but also rather attached to you was quite the incentive. But ransom has never really been my style.”
Despite still struggling to regain his breath, Josuke growled. As if Mr. Joestar would ever give in to demands like that anyway. Not like Josuke thought that the old man didn’t care, but Jotaro and everyone else would definitely find Josuke before that possibility even had to be considered.
That is, if Josuke didn’t manage to escape and beat the hell out of this guy himself.
“Well…” Josuke hissed in between breaths. “I hate to break it to you, jackass, but that old man in the photo is gone. More dead than he already was. So whatever you plan on doing to me, you aren’t getting paid shit for it.”
“Oh.” The monosyllabic response held only a mild surprise. “I guess that explains why he hasn’t been checking to see if I would take him up on his offer yet. Well, never mind that then.”
“ What ?” Josuke said, baffled. He knew that this guy would most likely still try to kill him even after knowing that he wouldn’t get paid for it, but to just brush it off like that…?
“Taking requests had never really been my style either,” the man explained, with all the casualness of a friendly conversation. “No, ultimately, I chose to kill you for me . Eventually watching the light fade from the eyes of whatever little boy or little girl I’ve gotten my hands on after all the fun I’ve had with them...”
The man chuckled, a deeply disturbing sound that made Josuke want to pull away. He was definitely going to escape, definitely , one way or another, Josuke knew this...
“That’s been more than enough of a reward.”
...But even knowing that, Josuke felt his stomach clench.
“And what fun we are going to have, Josuke Higashikata.”
The words were spoken directly into Josuke’s ear, low, sadistic, and hungry. Josuke’s breathing hitched, Crazy Diamond stirred, and then Josuke lost consciousness.
Damn, his head hurt. Josuke groaned, then immediately started coughing. His throat hurt too, though not as badly as his head.
Where even was he...?
Oh, right. He had been kidnapped by a serial killing Stand user. God, he knew that Stand users attracted other Stand users, but what were the chances so many of them would turn out to be serial killers as well…?
As his coughing subsided, Josuke tried to get a feel for his surroundings. Well, he still couldn’t see anything, even though he could tell that his eyes were open, and his hearing was gone again too. But…
Josuke flexed his fingers experimentally. They tingled due to lack of blood flow, but there was no doubt, Josuke could actually feel them as they curled into his palms. He could feel the hard stone floor beneath him, the similarly hard stone wall against his back, and the texture of his clothes against his skin.
Josuke could also feel that that bastard of a Stand user hadn’t been lying earlier - his wrists were immobilized, each pinned to the wall by something solid and inflexible.
So the guy had taken away Josuke’s hearing but returned his sense of touch. Something told Josuke that this would not turn out well for him. As if this situation as a whole wasn’t already shitty.
Something in the air changed or shifted. Josuke tensed, Crazy Diamond stirring within him. Was that Stand user still around? The thought made Josuke cringe internally - just imagining the guy watching him while he could only sit there, unable to see or hear him, was very unnerving.
Could he get away with using Crazy Diamond to get a better assessment of his surroundings? He was at a definite disadvantage without his vision, or even his hearing, and Josuke still felt like he was on the wrong side of woozy. Was that drug that guy had used on him still in effect, or had the guy drugged him again? Either way, it would be another blow to Crazy Diamond’s natural speed.
The air shifted again. The Stand user was definitely there, but where was he…!?
Something slammed into Josuke’s throat - a hand, large and calloused and squeezing Josuke’s neck with enough force to choke him.
Shit…!
Josuke didn’t even realize he had allowed Crazy Diamond to come out until he felt his Stand retreat back into him, at which point the hand around Josuke’s neck pulled away. As Josuke slumped forward, coughing in between his frantic breaths, he felt that same hand pat his cheek.
Oh, so that was his game, huh?
Josuke grit his teeth, feeling a growl vibrate in his throat before he quickly went back to coughing. Even as his coughing subsided, Josuke’s breathing still remained sharp and rapid. The air shifted once again. The Stand user was right there , right in front of him, Josuke could feel it–
Pain erupted in Josuke’s left shoulder. A scream clawed at his throat as Josuke instinctively tried to pull back, only for the back of his head to slam against the wall behind him.
What the hell was that…?! A knife? It had to be a knife! The bastard had stabbed him!
The knife slowly began to pull out of his shoulder. Josuke could feel the cold metal slicing back through his muscle tissue, as smoothly as if it had been designed to be there, like a goddamn lock and key, except of course it wasn’t supposed to be there, it very much was not supposed to be there , and Josuke felt himself whine and shudder at the unnatural sensation before he could think to stop himself.
Just before the knife left his shoulder completely, it plunged right back into the open wound. Before Josuke had even finished screaming, the blade pulled back once more, but only by a millimeter before pushing back in and wiggling around in the trembling flesh. It continued on like that, again and again, a series of minute, almost experimental, utterly sadistic movements that sent the only sense that Josuke was allowed ablaze with agony.
His mind whirled, he could feel his voice break and crack with every other shriek, he could feel the warmth of his blood soaking into his shirt and jacket as he struggled frantically, against the bonds, against the knife digging around in his flesh, but that only made everything a hundred times worse –
Another little twitch of the blade had Josuke choking on his own screams, and he felt Crazy Diamond begin to stir in response to his distress.
The knife finally pulled out from his shoulder completely, and Josuke felt the air shift as he dropped his head forward. Sweat dripped down his face. His breaths were coming out frenzied and just on the edge of hysterical. He could feel his body shaking. Still, Josuke fought to keep a hold of himself. Crazy Diamond settled back hesitantly.
Shit, shit, shit, what the hell ...?! He knew he was dealing with a psychopathic serial killer, but still…! That was probably the worst pain Josuke had ever experienced, and he’d been stabbed through by two wooden bannisters . Shit, if this was how everything was going to go with this guy, Josuke could only hope the others would find him soon.
Something stomped against Josuke’s wounded shoulder. There was about a second in which he could feel it grinding viciously into the wound, about a second in which he screamed and writhed, before he ultimately passed out.
Josuke was jerked back into the land of the living by someone smacking his face. The pain in his shoulder, still just as fresh as before, told him he had not been allowed to remain unconscious for long. He groaned, turning away from the hand tapping at his face.
His jacket had been removed, Josuke noticed as the hand pulled away from him and the air in front of him shifted. His arms were bare, but he could still feel his tank top sticking to him around where his blood had soaked through to his skin. Great, that was gonna be a pain in the ass to wash off… Even if he could easily repair his clothes, Josuke doubted he would be able to get rid of all the blood stains.
Honestly, all of that was definitely the least of his problems, but Josuke found that there was a sense of calm that came with thinking about inane things. It almost distracted him from just how much pain he was currently in. Then, the air in front of him displaced, immediately dispelling that sense of calm.
The cold sharp of a knife blade met the underside of his chin. Josuke bit his lower lip, fists clenching, fingernail digging into his palms. Whatever was coming next, he could only pray that he had the strength to endure it.
...What was that?
Josuke lifted his head slightly. God, he was exhausted. He was pretty sure he was going to pass out again soon. But something had caught his attention - a feeling that someone was watching him.
It was nothing like the feeling that Josuke had learned to trust over these past several months, the one that had the hairs on the back on his neck standing on end and his senses on high alert. This was more deep seated, almost familiar , almost… comforting…?
What was that?
Then a disgustingly familiar hand wrapped around his throat, pulling Josuke back into hell. The hand didn’t squeeze, it simply pinned him firmly against the wall, and suddenly Josuke could hear again. His breaths sounded loud in his ears, hoarse and high-pitched.
“Aren’t we having fun, Josuke~?”
“Screw... you…” Josuke mumbled.
The man laughed. “You should know, you scream rather well for a boy. I think you put some of my female victims to shame.”
What, was he supposed to be flattered or something…? Goddamn asshole…
Another hand placed itself on Josuke’s shoulder. His injured one. Josuke barely had time to shudder before something– no, a thumb , began to press into the stab wound. Against all odds, a choked scream clawed its way from Josuke’s tattered throat, cracked and broken.
“There, you see?” the man exclaimed.
The hand withdrew, taking the thumb with it. Josuke’s head dropped, chin bumping against the hand still around his throat, breaths coming out erratic but strangely shallow.
His shoulder still throbbed with excruciating pain, along with every other cut and bruise he had received for the past however many hours. His wounds from the battle with Kira, which had gone untouched so far, thank god , just seemed to itch uncontrollably. Josuke could feel his eyes stinging with tears.
Goddammit, he felt like he was losing it…
“You know,” the man said thoughtfully, “I think I’ll try to get my hands on one of your friends next. Even if that old man in the photo isn’t around to demand their deaths anymore, I find that playing with a little Stand user like you adds that extra edge I’ve been missing lately.”
That bolstered something in Josuke’s fogging mind, if only a little bit, pulling him away from that edge he was teetering on.
“Don’t you dare…” Josuke slurred, managing to inject every little bit of rage he managed to scrounge up into the hoarse growl. “I’ll kill you… god-damn dick…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll leave the ones like Rohan Kishibe and Jotaro Kujo alone,” the man said dismissively. “Killing adults is definitely not my style.”
Whatever was left of Josuke’s energy began to fade away. “Gonna kill you… My friends… They’re gonna kill you…”
“Whatever keeps that light in your eyes shining just a little longer.”
A hand ruffled through Josuke’s hair, which had been steadily falling apart all this time. Josuke could feel the crumpled bangs falling around his face. It was a testament to just how utterly spent Josuke actually was that he passed out then, not even remaining awake long enough for his rage to be triggered at someone messing with his hair.