Chapter Text
You first saw Rush in your community library. You had just finished a lovely picture book about birds. Ever since you were little, you had liked birds. You could sit and watch them soar for hours, seated on your mother’s lap as she told you folktales of magical avians from all different cultures. As you climbed the ladder to return the book, your foot missed a step, and you went crashing down to earth. At least you thought. Eyes scrunched up in fright, you braced for impact with the tile floor of the library, but it never came. A soft flapping sound came from somewhere above you. Cautiously opening your eyes, you gazed up at the thing holding you. Fluffy gold feathers. Two sets of wings. A crest to rival any cockatoo’s. Wickedly sharp, glittering talons clasping your shirt. Long tail feathers that brushed the floor. The faint smell of ozone. You shrieked, earning glares from everyone else in the library. Your new avian friend set you down gently before settling on the floor beside you, its- no, his talons clicking quietly on the tiles.
He cocked his head to the side, letting out a soft “Skrr-ah?” His sharp, hooked beak matched his sparkling talons.
You sat up, staring at him in wonder. “What are you?”
“Skraaa-ah!” He chirped, flapping his wings. Lightning seemed to dance behind his sky-blue eyes. The room once again smelled faintly of electricity.
“Is that ozone smell coming from you?”
“Skrah! Ah! Ah!” He pushed his head against your hand, causing little sparks of static in your fingers.
“Whoa! You can be, like, my cool electric pet bird! Daddy’s gonna love you!”’ And with that, you raced home, your new friend following close behind.
As it turned out, your dad could not see Rush. When you told him about your magic bird friend, he just patted your head and told you to go play outside. He was a busy man, after all. Disappointed in your realization that only you could see this storm spirit that had taken to following you everywhere, you dejectedly sat alone in the backyard. Until, of course, you realized that Rush was the best playmate ever! You no longer had to pretend to fly, you could!
“Rush! You can carry me!”
“Skrr?”
“You can make me fly, just like birds!”
“Skrrraaaahhh!” He laid his talons on your shoulder, being careful not to scratch you. Not long after you left the ground though, you began to feel really tired.
“Uh, Rush? Can you put me down now?”
“Skrahhh…”
The two of you tumbled to the ground. From then on, you just decided to play in the treehouse. For the next 10 years, you lived in the same home, until your father got a business offer from Japan. In just a few short days, everything was flipped on its head. All of your belongings (Which wasn't much, to be honest) were packed up into boxes. Your dad bought airline tickets, and that was it. You were moving to Japan.
The first year in Japan was a transition year; you had learned Japanese from your father when you were very little, but you needed a lot of practice to get it back. You also had to wrestle with your preference towards English, because you kept accidentally interjecting English words into your sentences. After your transition back to speaking mainly Japanese, you enrolled in the next school year. After enrollment, and about a week before school, your schedule arrived in the mail. You were very pleased to have assisting in the nurse’s office for your first period. You had always been pretty interested in medicine and biology, and working with the nurse meant you could take it easy in the morning.
The first few months of school passed by in a breeze, and you had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school, come home, do homework, take a walk, work out, eat dinner, sleep, repeat. It worked beautifully for you, like a well-oiled machine. Until one morning, when a certain transfer student showed up and flipped your whole world upside-down.
You rolled out of bed, running a hand though your messy (h/l) (h/c) hair. With a sigh, you stumbled to the bathroom to clean up. After washing your face and brushing your hair as best you could, you pulled on your uniform. It was a little more form-fitting than you liked, your skirt often riding up your thighs or your shirt pulling up to show off a strip of (s/c) skin. That’s why you wore leggings under your skirt and a soft, comfortable jacket over your uniform.
You made your way to the kitchen, tapping softly on the door of your dad’s study to let him know you were up. You poured a glass of orange juice for yourself and snatched a package of Japanese-style peanuts off the counter. You hadn’t even heard of these in America, but they were awesome! So crunchy… They went perfectly with just about anything. Sitting on the counter, crunching your peanuts, you checked the time. You were right on schedule; once you finished your peanuts, it would be time to go to school. You let your mind wander as you dug through the peanut bag. It had been a while since you last summoned Rush in the house. He was just far too big to be able to get around comfortably. Even if he was able to phase through the walls, he did like to fully form, and there just wasn’t room for him. He had gotten so large, in fact, that you were able to sit comfortably on his back, even if it kind of made you feel as if you were sitting on your own back. Ever since the backyard incident, you had trained almost every evening until Rush was strong enough to carry you. After nearly 11 years, the two of you were strong enough to fly just about anywhere. Your fingers finally scraped the bottom of the plastic; there were no more peanuts left. Sighing heavily at the mediocrity of the morning, you discarded the peanut wrapper, shoving two more packages in your bag just in case.
You normally took a slightly longer, more scenic route to school. If you were lucky, you would get a glimpse of a crested kingfisher perched above the pond in a garden you happened to pass by every morning. No such luck today, though. How fitting. A mediocre morning for a mediocre person. With another sigh, you continued on to school.
Placing your bag down on a vacant chair, you waved a good morning to the nurse. Two boys had already made themselves comfortable on the plastic-wrapped beds, meaning you would have to clean them once they left. Rolling your eyes at their insistence of illness, you turned your attention instead to the cabinet of medical supplies. You preferred to keep it clean, but the nurse, bless her heart, was a bit of a scatterbrain, constantly knocking things over. Rubbing some hand sanitizer around on your palms, you set to work picking up scattered tongue depressors and stray water cups.
Affixing the thermometer back in place, you stepped back to admire your handiwork. A place for everything, and everything in its place, that was a good philosophy, in your opinion. Shutting the cabinet, you first noticed that the two idiots from before were still trying to convince the nurse they were sick. Wasn’t much you could do about that. But just as you were about to sit in the wheeled office chair, a new patient walked in. He was irresponsibly tall, probably a whole foot taller than you, and just screamed ‘I will beat you to death with my bare hands if you look at me the wrong way.’ He glanced around the room, and of course you accidentally made eye contact. Aquamarine eyes seemed to see into your soul, and if looks could kill, you’d be dead twice over. Desperate to avoid his uncomfortable gaze, you turned and tapped the nurse’s shoulder.
“Oh! Jotaro, what are you doing here?” So his name is Jotaro, like Jotaro Kujo, the delinquent who had been in jail for two weeks. Wait. Oh no.
“I fell down the stairs.”
Glancing at him, you could only see one major injury: a massive gash across his left leg. Your brows furrowed. That wasn’t characteristic of a fall. Unfortunately, he caught you staring and glared at you some more.
“What?”
“Well, uh, it’s just that… well… those wounds aren’t exactly characteristic of a fall, even a fall down the stairs. Forceful impacts with blunt objects will cause bruises and abrasions, so if your fall did cause bleeding, it would have been from skin being torn off rather than being sliced through, like the cut on your leg. But, uh, if you say you fell, you fell,” You tried to laugh off your analysis of his wounds, but he definitely did not appreciate it. Thankfully, the nurse saved you.
“Well, take a seat. We’ll get that cut cleaned up!” you didn’t like how she said “we”. No way were you going anywhere near this guy. “(y/n), can you grab my scissors? They should be on my desk.”
You turned around, snatching the scissors off your desk and glaring at the two fools still lounging on the beds. Handing the nurse her equipment, you couldn’t help but notice that Kujo had sat down in the fucking rolling chair, which was where you had planned to sit. “Son of a bitch,” You muttered under your breath.
“Thank you, dear. I assume you’ve already organized the cabinet?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, (y/n). Where would I be without you?”
“Still here, just slightly inconvenienced.”
The nurse laughed and went back to work, brandishing the scissors at Kujo’s now-ruined pants.
“What the hell are you doing?” He snapped at her. God, what a dick.
“I’m cutting your pants,” She replied, confused.
“She can’t treat you through ‘em,” You chimed in, now stacking the various papers strewn about her desk.
“Cutting them is a waste. I’ll just take them off. What? Dude, those pants are beyond saving. Not only are they covered in blood, but they’re already torn up!
“Oh, alright, you cheapskate. While you’re doing that,” She turned to the boys on the beds. “I’ll take your temperatures and prove you’re faking ill! (y/n), can you grab the thermometer from the cabinet?”
With a quiet “sure thing,” you opened up the cabinet, somehow knocking over a stack of cups in the process. “Shit,” You cursed, rapidly restacking them back in their place.
“Nevermind, dear, I must have left it out. Here it is!” The nurse’s voice echoed in your ears, making your blood run cold. You were staring right at the only thermometer in the nurse’s office.
“Uh, I don’t think you do. I’m staring right at it. Are you okay?”
“Oh, I feel just fine!” “She’s definitely not okay!” Two voices responded at once. Slamming the cabinet door shut, you raced back to the main room. Your sweet nurse stood menacingly over the two punks, whipping around a pen like she would a thermometer.
“What are you doing?” You cried, causing the nurse to snap around and look at you. It sickened you to see her like this.
“I’m shaking the thermometer so that the mercury goes down. Honestly, (y/n), I thought you would know.”
“Sensei, that’s not a thermometer, that’s a pen!” One of the boys exclaimed fearfully.
“What, are you blind?” The usually gentle nurse snapped at the poor fool. “You honestly think this is a pen?”
And that’s when your day went from bad to worse. WAY worse.
“If you really think this thermometer’s a pen, maybe you should get a closer look!” She stabbed the nib of the pen into the boy’s eye with uncharacteristic force. He began to scream as blood poured from his wounds, splattering all over his uniform and the nurse’s shirt, not to mention thoroughly ruining the bed.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?” You lunged to grab her, looping your hands under her armpits and over her shoulders. You managed to heave her away from the guy, but she just ignored you and turned about to face Kujo, shaking you off in the process.
“What about you, Jojo? Does this look like a pen to you?” She attempted to drive the pen into his eye as well, but he caught her wrist. Unfortunately, he wasn’t expecting her to push back with inhuman force. She managed to poke the tip of the pen through his face, just underneath his eye. He wrestled with her for a few moments, giving you time to throw open the door and shove the two punks on the beds out. Idiots taken care of, you turned back to the scene before you.
“What the hell? How is she so strong? This isn’t a woman’s strength…” Kujo was talking to himself.
You bristled a little at his words, deciding to be at least a little helpful. Rushing over, you grabbed the nurse again and attempted to pull her off Kujo.
“What the hell are you doing, bitch?” Ignoring his rather vulgar name, you just pulled harder at the nurse, easing the pen nib out of his skin. In an instant, one of your hands was over hers, prying open her fingers to take the pen.
“Helping you, asshole! Do you want an infection?”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“Too bad, you’re getting it!”
After successfully wrestling the pen away from the nurse, you caught sight of a figure in the window.
“Kakyoin Noriaki… Was he the one who cut my leg on the stairs?” Wait, he and Kujo knew each other? And more importantly, his injury wasn’t caused by a fall! Your prediction was correct!
“Precisely. Short time no see.” Kakyoin was sitting on the windowsill. “My Stand has taken control of that nurse.” Looking down, you saw some kind of green tentacle wrapped around her leg, disappearing up her skirt. Not cool. “Hurting me will mean hurting the nurse, Jojo.”
Well shit.
“You bastard… Who the hell are you?” Really? He just told you.
“I just told you. I’m Kakyoin Noriaki. The name of my Stand is Hierophant Green.” There was that word again! What in the world could it mean? “I may be human, but my loyalty will always be to him…” Okay, was this guy on crack? “Therefore, I shall kill you!”
The nurse broke free of your temporarily weakened grasp, tackling Kujo. He grasped her wrists, pulling her back. He seemed to be staring at something in the nurse’s throat. In a second, he forced her lips to his. What the actual fuck was happening to your morning? Suddenly, he pulled back, a massive purple figure appearing beside him, pulling a stripey green dude out of the nurse’s mouth.
Sounds about right.
“Now that I’ve dragged it out, I can see that it's a weak Stand that can’t do anything but possess people.” Kujo’s big purple guy grabbed the green dude by the head. ”Kakyoin, this is your Stand? All green and striped… It looks like a melon.” You laughed at that. Loudly. It was kind of embarrassing.
“You’re going to regret dragging that out of her, Jojo.” Kakyoin growled, but finger marks appeared in his forehead while Kujo’s purple fella squashed the shit out of Melon Man’s head.
“Don’t try to act tough. If I crush your Stand’s head, I’ll bet you'll burst too. I’m gonna keep a grip on you for a while. I’ll take you to the old man.”
At this point, you kind of tuned out of the conversation, choosing instead to drag the unconscious nurse to the corner of the room, away from all the action. In fact, you only turned back to the fight after Kakyoin shouted something.
“Emerald Splash!” Green fluid and precious gems streamed from Hierophant Green’s hands, tearing into the chest of Kujo’s purple guy and sending him flying backwards through a wall.
“What the hell? I look away for two seconds and you die?” Not the smartest thing to say, but whatever, y’know? Anyways, with Kujo down, it was your turn to beat up Kakyoin.
“What looked like the bodily fluids of my Stand, Hierophant Green, was actually a vision of destructive energy!” Kakyoin gloated. Ew. You wouldn’t want destructive energy leaking from your hands like a broken faucet.
“Hey, loser! I’m here too!”
Kakyoin turned to you. “You can see Hierophant Green?”
“If you mean Melon Man, then yeah. I have a friend too, although he’s a lot bigger.”
“Impossible! A weak woman like you couldn’t possibly have a Stand!” Boy what?
“Oh, that is IT for you, motherfucker. RUSH!” Your electric bird friend appeared with a thundercrack, staring down Kakyoin like he was just another mouse to catch.
“SKRAAAAH!” Knife-sharp talons grasped Kakyoin’s shoulders, causing beads of garnet to well up and stain his green uniform. Rush threw him against the wall, snapping his beak in Kakyoin’s face for good measure before fading away again. He reappeared at your back, flinging a volley of sharp feathers with a single flap of his shimmering wings.
You heard the bits of wall where Kujo landed begin to shift. He must still be alive. You felt his eyes on you, staring in disbelief at your very large bird spirit.
“You have a Stand?”
“Apparently. Anyways, uh, wanna take care of that guy? Don’t want to… steal your thunder!” You winked and even threw in finger guns for good measure, although Kujo didn’t look very pleased. Without warning, the nurse suddenly started leaking blood from every orifice, effectively ruining your cool joke.
“Oh shit!” You yelled in English, rushing over to make sure she was okay. “What happened?”
“You see, my Stand was hiding in her for a reason. It hates wide open spaces. That’s why when it came out from her throat, it hurt her! This is all your fault! If you had just let me kill both of you, this never would have happened!”
“Aight, now that there is some backwards-ass logic if I’ve ever heard it. And I’m from America, I’ve heard plenty.” You were 100% done with Kakyoin’s bullshit.
“I, Jotaro Kujo, am labeled a punk.” Oh boy, here we go. Epic speech time. “I tend to overdo it with my opponents in fights, so much that some are still in the hospital.” You let out a low whistle at that, for dramatic effect, of course. He didn’t seem to appreciate it. “There was one idiot teacher that was all talk, so I taught him a lesson and he hasn’t come back to school. At restaurants that serve me lousy food, I make it a policy to stiff the bill. But even I know nauseating evil when I see it. Evil is when you use the weak for your own gain, and crush them under your foot. Especially a woman!” Again with the sexism? “That is exactly what you’ve done! Your Stand isn’t visible to the victim or the law. Therefore, I shall judge you!” He said that last part while drawing his finger over the brim of his hat, and oh shit, that was probably the best speech you’ve ever seen.
After the cool speech and whatnot, you kind of zoned out again. You were a little more concerned with the comatose nurse to care about whatever the hell those two were doing. You vaguely heard Kakyoin spewing more bullshit about the loser being evil, but he was gonna lose anyways so whatever. Turning back to the nurse, you checked her vitals. Her heart rate was worryingly low, but at least she was still alive. She was breathing without much difficulty, which was a good sign. You would’ve taken her blood pressure, but you were distracted again by Kujo’s purple dude violently shaking Hierophant Green around by the neck. Okay. Kakyoin coughed up hella blood, falling backwards.
“The one who’ll be the judge is my Stand!” Kujo yelled, his Stand uppercutting poor Kakyoin through the goddamn roof. Well alrighty, then.
Kujo looked over to where you were standing, silently asking if the nurse was okay.
“She should be fine. Her heart rate was pretty low and I didn’t take her blood pressure, but she’s breathing fine,” You reported. He nodded, turning back to the current issue, which was a very unconscious Kakyoin, blood spilling from his various wounds.
“What was that? A gas explosion?” Oh no.
“It came from the nurse’s office.” OH NO.
“Guess we’re ditching school today,” Kujo shot you an odd look.
“We?” You weren’t about to skip. You were a very good bean.
“You have questions to answer. I’m taking you both to the old man.”
“Fine,” You huffed. Guess you weren’t a good bean. “My zoology teacher’s gonna be pissed.”
Kujo slung Kakyoin over his shoulder like a gotdamn sack of potatoes, hopping through the window. You grabbed your bag before following him through the now-shattered window.
“Hey, uh, where are we going?” You shouted. He had gotten way far ahead, somehow. He graciously ignored your question, choosing instead to walk even faster, like a dick.
“Hey! My legs are shorter than yours, dude!” You had to run to catch up.
“Yare yare…”