Chapter Text
I crept into the library, bag held protectively against my chest. It was five minutes into study hall, though given that this was Winslow, no one was actually using that time for studying. Most of the other students were on their phones or chatting with one another quietly. A part of me wanted to join them, but as it was, I had neither a phone nor anyone to chat with. Instead, I kept my head down, slinking discretely up to one of the tables to grab an empty chair. I dragged it behind the bookshelves to the lonely, unused corner of the library. Taking cover between a pillar and a row of worn Mesoamerican history books, I took a seat and pulled out an old comic book.
Weekly Shonen Jump, it said on the cover. Or at least, I was pretty sure that’s what it said. I had been lent it by my Intro to Japanese teacher, who was impressed with how quickly I was picking up the language. Truth be told, I only understood about half of what was going on in the comic, but it was simple enough to piece the plot together from the pictures. From what I could tell, the story was about a muscle-bound young man raised by his single father, who was befriended by an equally muscular young man, only for that friend to turn on him and try to ruin his life. It was funny how art imitated life.
I was just about to reach the end of the latest chapter, when I saw a shadow loom over me. A trio of shadows.
“Oh, look who it is!” I heard an obnoxiously cutesy voice say.
“What’re you doing all by yourself, Taylor?” asked a second, stronger voice, “People will think you’re antisocial.”
I looked up. Sure enough, there was Emma, Sophia, and Madison, sneering down at me. How much effort did those three put into finding me?
“It looks like she was busy with this.” said Emma, snatching the book out of my hands. “Jeez, what language is this? Korean?”
“It’s Japanese.” I muttered defensively, bubbles of indignation rising in my chest.
“Wow, Taylor!” exclaimed Madison, “Who knew you were such a weeb!”
Sophia gave her a look, “Madison, no slurs. Remember?”
“No, weeb. Short for weaboo.” explained Madison, “It’s like the western equivalent of an otaku. Someone obsessed with Japanese media without any actual knowledge about the history or culture.”
Emma turned to her. “Why do you know that?”
While she was distracted, I reached up to take back the book, only for Sophia to grab my arm.
“Oh, no you don’t!” she snapped, squeezing just roughly enough to hurt, “You need to learn your place.”
As she said this, I heard the running of feet, and a voice ringing out.
“That’s enough!” Both Sophia and I turned to look at a well dressed young man coming our way. “Give that book back to her!”
“What, you this geek’s friend or something?” asked Emma.
“No!” he said, “But I won’t let you bully her!” With that he rammed into Emma full speed, knocking her to the ground.
“What the fuck?” exclaimed Sophia, letting go of my arm. She rounded on the boy, tearing him away from Emma and delivering a solid punch to the face. “The fuck’s your problem?”
The boy didn’t respond, instead rushing towards her with a flurry of punches. She quickly shifted to the side, using the opportunity to bring both her fists down on his head. He fell to his knees, trembling.
“Stay down, you creep!” Sophia spat.
He grunted and, with a shaky hand, reached into his shirt pocket for a hankerchief. As he dabbed at his bloody nose, I noticed the name sewn into the cloth: “Jonathan Joestar”.
Wait, wasn’t that-? I glanced at the cover of the comic book lying forgotten on the ground. To my astonishment, the two characters on the front were gone, erased from the page. Was I seeing things? I reached out to the boy, but he slapped my hand away.
“Forget about me!” he said, “Go somewhere else! I didn’t get into this fight because I wanted your attention!” He rose, ignoring Sophia, and straightened his jacket. “It’s because I’m going to become a gentleman! Gentlemen don’t just sit and do nothing when a lady needs help! They must have the courage to help those in need! Even if they are at a disadvantage!”
I stared at him. “Are you real?” I had definitely heard that speech before. It was the one Jonathan Joestar had made in the story. But if this was really Jonathan, then did that make me-?”
“So, this is why Jojo’s been so happy lately?” From the shadows, a handsome young man with blonde hair and a sinister smile stepped into view. Before I could react, he grabbed me and pulled me into full open-mouth kiss. My eyes went wide; he tasted like fig tart and booze. The boy held the kiss for but a moment, then as quickly as he had grasped me, let me go. I stumbled backwards into the bookshelf, too shocked for words. From her sprawled position on the ground, Emma looked just as surprised as I was.
The boy grinned down at me arrogantly. “So…” he said, “Have you and Jojo kissed yet?” I stared at him, dumbfounded. “I’ll take that as a no. You thought your first kiss would be Jojo,” He jabbed a finger at himself, “But it was me, Dio!”
Madison, who was helping Emma, paused and looked up, “Was that a reference to something?”
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Name: Taylor Hebert
Stand:「Bohemian Rhapsody」
Status: Confused