Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shizuka doesn't know most of these people. 

Which makes sense, her father was a person with many ties, but that doesn't do anything to ease her anxiety. There's easily 100 people, probably more. Most of them have eccentric hair or clothing styles, Shizuka sticks out like a sore thumb with her simple black dress and hair. This is the only place that'll happen, she muses. 

She stays at the back of the crowd. No one talks to her. Through the ceremony and speeches, she lingers behind everyone, listening to people give heartfelt speeches about her father's life. 

She doesn't cry. 

It's not that she isn't sad. She merely has no energy for it. She's run her eyes dry every day and night since she got the call from the hospital. 

Shizuka had replaced crying with glazed over eyes. With distracted one word answers. With staring at her ceiling, unmoving for hours, barely being able to bring herself to eat and drink. With hiding every photo of her parents, terrified of seeing their faces and breaking.

She's absentmindedly staring at the sky, covered with dark clouds, as if the sky, too, is mourning. That's when someone talks to her. Shizuka doesn't even notice them walk up to her, registering their presence only when they clear their throat and begin to speak.

“It's… Shizuka, right?” She jumps at the voice, whipping her head down to face who’s talking. It’s a girl in her twenties, she has black hair, dyed with lime green highlights, tied up into space buns and braids. She has dark green lipstick on, and her knee-length black dress is embroidered with patterns of spider webs.

“Yeah… and you're…?” Shizuka silently curses her mind for drawing a blank. The girl seems familiar, but she can't piece together who she is. 

“Jolyne Kujo. I also recently lost my dad… so I kinda know what you're going through.” Jolyne gives Shizuka a sympathetic smile, which Shizuka tries to return but falls flat. “By the way, sorry for your loss and all that.”

Shizukas heard those words too many times, but the awkwardness from Jolyne makes her words feel sincere, not just a throwaway reaction to hearing of someone's loss.

“Thanks.”

“‘Course. So, where are you going after this?” Jolyne leans against a nearby bench, crossing her arms as she questions Shizuka.

“I’m staying with my older brother, Josuke Higashikata.” Shizuka murmurs. 

“Ah. Shame you couldn't stay with me. You seem like a good kid.” Jolyne grinned. “But Josuke’s pretty cool. I’ve only talked to him a few times, but my dad told me a lot about him.”

“I’ve never met him. Except for when I was really young.” Shizuka admitted, toying with a loose thread on her dress.

“Well, he’s here right now, why haven't you talked to him?” Jolyne asked, tilting her head slightly.

“I… haven’t really talked to anyone here.” Shizuka explains. Jolyne’s eyebrows furrow, her expression twisting into one of concern.

“There was someone like that at my dad’s funeral, too.” Shizuka lifts her head, suddenly intrigued by the story Jolyne is about to tell. “No one talked to him, and he never talked to anyone. It was super weird, everyone acted like he didn’t exist.”

“What did he look like?” Shizuka’s voice stabilized, if there was anything that piqued her interest, it was a good ol’ mystery.

“I couldn’t get a good look at his face, he was wearing a hat that covered it. But other than that, it looked like he had curly black hair and he was really tall. Maybe around 6’3 if I had to give an estimate.” Jolyne shrugged. “Sound like anyone you know?”

“No.” Yes. It was a mere hypothesis, but curly black hair, freakishly tall and attending Jotaro’s funeral all sounded like someone related to Jotaro. But he didn't seem like the cheating type, based on what people had told Shizuka. Then again, neither did Joseph but, well, we all know how that ended.

“You said no one talked to him, but did anyone acknowledge him? Like a questioning glance towards him or giving him an item?” Jolyne seemed deep in thought, and Shizuka felt a little bad about maybe dredging up bad memories.

“I think so? No one outwardly acknowledged him like waving at him, but people still gave him glances, and it's not like people were walking right past him like he wasn't there.” Jolyne shrugged. “That's probably not a lot of help.”

“Information is information.” Shizuka mused. 

“You’re quite the optimist.” Jolyne said with a laugh. “Anyway, enough about the weird tall guy… Are you a stand user?” 

“Mhm. Its name is Achtung Baby, it can turn things invisible.” Shizuka lifted one of her hands and turned it invisible to showcase her ability. Jolyne let out a little ‘oooo.’

“What’s it look like?” Shizuka sighed, letting her hand return to normal and dropping it to her side. 

“I don't know. It's been invisible all my life. I can barely control it, in fact. Whenever I experience a strong emotion, I lose control and turn myself invisible.” Shizuka furled her hand into a fist, then unfurled it, trying not to show her intense frustration on her face.

“Wow. That sucks.” Jolyne laughed awkwardly and continued. “My stand is called Stone Free. It turns things into string.” As she explained, a blue humanoid materialized next to her. It had bumps across its body and green sunglasses. Jolyne held up her hand, Stone Free laid its hand on hers, and the limb began to unravel into string. 

“That's unique. It's a close range power stand, right?” Shizuka inquired. Jolyne nodded, her hand reformed and Stone Free vanished. “Thought so.”

“Jolyne! Hey!” A voice yelled from the street. Shizuka turned around to see a dark red car, its passenger side window rolled down, with a person with a green bowl cut sticking their head out of the opening. 

“That's my ride.” Jolyne explained, standing up from leaning against the bench. “It was nice talking to you, Shizuka. Good luck in Morioh.” She began to walk away until Shizuka stopped her.

“One more thing.” She pulled out a small notebook from her pocket and frantically scribbled down her phone number. She tore it off the ring and handed it to Jolyne. “Let's talk again, yeah?”

Jolyne smiled and nodded, before running off to the car. 

–

Two Months Later

Shizuka flipped through her pocket dictionary again, repeating various Japanese phrases underneath her breath. Despite being Japanese herself, her first language was English, so she had to frantically learn basic Japanese grammar and phrases before she properly moved there. She also researched basic etiquette and manners, making sure that she didn't stand out. At least the train ride from Tokyo to Morioh gave her plenty of time to memorize them.

The train ride also gave her time to brew over the mysterious funeral guy, as she had ever so eloquently dubbed him. In the time between her learning about him and now, her amount of info hadn't grown significantly. But that didn't mean the info wasn't relentlessly fascinating. She had spoken to Holly first, if anyone knew about Jotaro’s bastard child, it would be his mother. But she had denied knowing anything about him, telling the same story as Jolyne. He was at the funeral, she didn't talk to him, but she had seen him writing something down in a notepad, like he was taking notes on something. She had also spoken to Polnareff, who corroborated Holly’s story. She spoke to a few other people, but everyone else didn't see him do anything. 

A new hypothesis had sprung up from the new information, though. She still kept the bastard idea, but had tacked on some sort of detective or information gatherer. Someone trying to get info on how many allies Jotaro had left, or something like that. If he was an information gatherer, he was kind of shitty at it. It sort of defeats the purpose if you're seen, right?

Though the trip came to a close too soon, the train rolled into Morioh station, meaning the end to Shizukas studying. She gathered her things, a backpack, duffle bag and suitcase and stepped off the train. If she were more poetic, Shizuka would remark how this symbolizes the start of a new life. But she was no poet, and her main thought was that the culture shock from going from a big American city to a small Japanese town was going to suck. The jet lag too, which she could already feel kicking in, through her sluggish movements and droopy eyes. She really hoped her bed at Josukes was comfortable.

Speaking of her older brother, he was waiting a bit off from the doors of the train, fingers anxiously drumming on his thighs. He perked up once he spotted Shizuka, waving her over. His hair was done up into his ever-iconic pomp, paired with a slightly baggy medium length black jacket, shiny golden pins included. Underneath that he had a dark blueish-purple sweater vest, a barely visible white button down and white slacks, held up by an unremarkable belt. Safe to say his hair and outfit were an uncommon pair, delinquent hairstyle with semiformal clothing. Though it’s not like Shizuka could talk, her expensive crimson necklace keepsake didn’t fit her varsity jacket and graphic tee. Incongruous dressing was as Joestar-y as having a star at the base of your neck, it seemed.

“Hey.” Josuke started.

“Hey. I’m surprised you got here on time, did you oversleep?” Josuke’s eyes widened at Shizuka’s observation, clearly thrown off his guard.

“How did you…?”

“It’s simple, there's grease and juice around your mouth, you didn’t tuck your belt into the loop to keep it down and your pompadour is in perfect condition, not a hair out of place. That’s what made you rush, you wanted to make it look perfect for your first time meeting me, right?” Shizuka presented her deduction in a matter-of-fact tone, as usual. 

“That’s completely right…” Josuke trailed off, dumbfounded, visibly still trying to wrap his head around what she had said. 

Figuring it was going to take Josuke a second to come back to Earth, Shizuka abruptly switched the topic of conversation. “Anyway, can we get going? I’m about to fall asleep standing here.” Josuke snapped out of his daze, and nodded. He took Shizuka’s duffle bag and suitcase. She murmured a thanks in response.

Josuke’s car wasn’t anything remarkable, plain, black and, most importantly, functional. He put Shizuka’s things in the trunk as she climbed into the passenger seat. He joined her, turning on the radio and not saying a word for the rest of the trip, which Shizuka was thankful for as it gave her an opportunity to completely focus on the scenery speeding past them. She mentally compared it with its Google Maps version, finding little to no differences. Perhaps a testament to the unchanging nature of small towns. Perhaps it was also that there were differences, it’s just that she didn’t notice them. 

Josuke’s house stuck out like a sore thumb, an almost Victorian era mansion in a sea of small, normal houses. She was already aware of her living arrangements, it was the only thing she and Josuke talked about on the one call they had before this. She was taking the guest bedroom and had to share a house with three other people, Josuke Higashikata, Koichi Hirose and Okuyasu Nijimura. Josuke had given her the rundown on each of the two, Koichi was a writer who worked with Rohan Kishibe and Okuyasu was a culinary arts professor at a college in the city. They were both great friends of Josuke’s and they were stand users. Koichi’s stand was Echoes Act 3, one with the ability to make people hear repeating sounds and to increase the gravity exerted on a given object. Had to do something with the “weight” of words. Okuyasu’s stand was The Hand, one with the ability to make things disappear and fuse with the swipe of its hand. Terrifying stuff, but apparently he rarely used it.

Josuke led Shizuka up to her room, giving a mini tour of the house as they went. Her room was empty except for a bed, thankfully already made.

“Sorry to just ditch you, but I have to go to work. I tried to get the day off, but it’s a little hectic right now. Call me if you need anything, yeah?” And with that, he sped off, leaving Shizuka standing in the doorway to her new room. She stood there for a few moments, listening to Josuke leave the house and drive away, before she realized she could finally take a nap. And take a nap, she did.

Chapter Text

The water reaches just above her ankles. It does not get her shoes wet. It is cold. It is unmoving. She can hear its source some unknown distance behind her. She can hear the bustle of city life behind her as well.

She has been here before.

There is now a boy in front of her. A boy who has not aged with her. He smiles. She cannot return it. He shows her those photos again. The subject's face is familiar. The subject's face is unfamiliar.

“Find him.” The boy whispers.

She opens her eyes.

–

Some sort of override switch must’ve been hit in Shizuka's body, because she had laid down for a nap, but naps usually don’t last 16 hours. That's called sleeping. Or a coma. And Shizuka’s pretty sure she didn’t just go into a coma, so she apparently fell asleep. She also couldn’t remember the last time she had gotten more than 5 hours of sleep, which is probably concerning, but really just made her feel like she just had an out-of-body experience with the metric fuckload of hours she was just unconscious for. 

She laid still for a bit before realizing that she needed to start unpacking all of her stuff. She rolled out of bed, unzipping her duffle bag and pulling a spare change of clothes out of it. Once she was changed, she was going to take all of her dirty clothes out of her backpack and duffle bag, but her body had other plans. Those plans being making her stomach let out a growl and a pang of hunger hitting her like a bat. Right. She had missed dinner last night. Welp, there goes those plans.

She grabbed her sunglasses, necklace, phone, and wallet off of the floor next to her bed, and trudged down the stairs, expecting nobody to be home. It was dead quiet after all, no TV or other ambient noise to suggest there were people home. She was mistaken, though. She, metaphorically, stumbled into the kitchen to find a person she guessed was one of her housemates leaning against the countertop, silently reading a book. He set the book down as Shizuka walked in, offering a smile.

“Good morning, you must be Shizuka. I’m Koichi Hirose.” The writer, Shizuka’s mind supplied. Koichi was barely taller than her, she guessed he was 5’5. His gray hair was slightly messy, his green eyes wide with concealed excitement. His hoodie and sweatpants signaled that he either had the day off or his workday started later than Josuke’s. 

“Uh, nice to meet you.” A janky and lackluster response, but she was also starving and didn't want to talk to some guy she didn't know before she had eaten. 

“There are some leftovers in the fridge, we haven't gone out for groceries yet, so if you wanted to make something… sorry?” Shizuka barely even heard the rest of the sentence. She half-ran, half-walked over to the fridge upon hearing there were leftovers in it. She grabbed the closest container and set it on the counter. 

“Where are the plates?” Shizuka looked over at Koichi as she closed the door. He pointed to the cabinet above her head, which she opened and grabbed a light blue plate out of. 

She emptied the container onto the plate, which contained carbonara. A wave of happiness, sadness, and nostalgia hit Shizuka as she stared at the dish. Memories of helping her mother make this flooded her mind, it was one of Suzi Q’s favorite dishes. Shizuka could feel tears burn at the back of her eyes, but she really didn’t want to start sobbing over a pasta dish in front of a guy she didn’t know, so she opted to white-knuckle grip the plate as she carried it to the microwave. 

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. 

She silently repeated the mantra over and over in her mind, focusing on the seconds counting down on the microwave’s small screen. If Koichi had said something, there was no way she would have registered it. Once it was finished, she had to ask Koichi where the silverware was kept (in a drawer underneath where the plates were), she sat down and could finally eat. 

“Do you have any plans for today?” Koichi asked. Shizuka shook her head. “You wanna come with me to work?”

“What.” It seemed eloquence was not a theme for her this morning.

“My workplace is just at Rohan's house, I’m not dragging you to an office.” Koichi elaborated with a laugh. “It’ll be good for you to meet other people in the town, at least that’s what Josuke said.” 

“What time are we leaving?”

“Eleven thirty.” It was great that she had three hours to unpack her things and get ready for the day, but why the hell would a workday start at noon? Well, no harm in asking.

“Why does your workday start so late? The usual start time is around eight o'clock, isn't it?” Shizuka tilted her head, idly spinning the spaghetti around her fork.

“Well, Rohan usually is finished with his drawing by eleven, so I arrive at twelve to look over them and plan what's next story wise. There are other things we do, obviously, but that's the answer to your question.” Shizuka hummed thoughtfully. That made sense, there'd be no reason to show up at eight if you'd just be sitting there for three hours. 

Shizuka finished her food and left the plate by the sink, as directed to by Koichi, and went back upstairs to (finally) unpack.

The action itself was simple, it was mechanical, even. She did it with minimal thought, hung her clothes up in the closet built into the wall, sorting them by color. She set her laptop on the ground in the corner, followed by other stationery, then a page torn out from her notepad with the words ‘desk here’ written on it. Phone charger plugged into the wall, shoes set by the door to take downstairs, everything done with little emotion. 

But the meaning was something else. The action of hanging her clothes up, writing off where to set pieces of furniture, it was the last nail in the coffin which held her previous life. With an action so plain as plugging a phone charger into the wall, she abandoned what she once knew as her existence. 

Deep down, Shizuka knew this. 

It was far too early for her to acknowledge it, though.

She moved on to her morning routine, which was nothing out of the ordinary. Brush her teeth, brush her hair, polish her sunglasses, polish her dead dads dead friend's necklace, meditate to practice her magic sunlight breathing, wash her face, mundane things like that. 

Once she was finished, it was time to go. Koichi led her out to his car, black and simple, like Josuke’s, actually, Shizuka was pretty sure it was the exact same model. The car ride was unnotable, Koichi and Shizuka made small talk, but it was nothing earth-shattering. 

-

Rohan lived on the border between the town and its outskirts. It was quiet, which Shizuka guessed was the intent. Koichi led her up to the front door, and knocked on it. It was in a pattern, some sort of code, probably. Being able to tell your writer apart from normal fans is important, especially if you’re as famous as Rohan. 

The man himself opened the door, smiled at Koichi, then let his gaze drift over to Shizuka and frowned.

“You didn't tell me you were bringing a friend. Who even is she?” His gaze continued to flicker between Koichi and Shizuka.

“Oh, sorry! It slipped my mind. But she’s Josuke’s little sister, Shizuka Joestar.” Koichi explained, a bit embarrassed at his forgetful slip up.

“The invisible baby?” Koichi nodded. “I see. Well, come in.” He opened the door fully and trotted off inside. Shizuka gave Koichi an unsure glance. His returning smile was as unsure. Ultimately, the two followed him inside, toeing off their shoes in the entrance. 

Rohan’s house was similar to Josuke’s, just darker… somehow. Probably because of Josuke’s abundance of natural lighting. Koichi led Shizuka up to Rohan’s office, where he was already sitting in his chair, two others pulled up next to his desk. Koichi took the chair on Rohan’s left, Shizuka took the one on the right. He turned to Shizuka first, spinning a fountain pen in his hand as he spoke.

“Shizuka Joestar… you’re the adoptive child of Joseph Joestar, right?” Shizuka hummed in affirmation. “And you're back here because…?”

“My father passed away, so Josuke is my legal guardian now.” Rohan sighed and shook his head.

“No, I mean, why are you here, at my house?” Should’ve said that from the beginning! Shizuka thought.

“Josuke wanted me to get out of the house and to meet people around town.” Rohan narrowed his eyes, looked over to Koichi, who shook his head, then returned to looking at Shizuka. Odd. It could be passed off as just nonverbal communication between two old friends, but something about it seemed off. 

“I’m surprised that Higashikata would tell Koichi to take you here, but, then again, he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.” Either a mildly threatening statement or some sort of old grudge. Whichever it was, Shizuka didn't want to get involved. “Anyways, I’m rather interested in what you’ve been up to, surely you’ve had experiences with stand users other than the Boy II Man incident?” 

“The what?” The name seemed vaguely familiar, maybe Joseph mentioned in passing.

“The Boy II Man incident? You were young when it happened so I suppose you wouldn't remember it. Well, long story short, you lent your ability to me when I was facing off against a stand named Boy II Man.” Rohan explained. 

“It was back in 1999, so you were barely a year old.” Koichi helpfully chimed in. 

“That doesn't make sense. How could I ‘lend you my ability’ if I didn't even have basic control over my stand?” Shizuka furrowed her brow, trying to wrap her head around Rohan’s puzzling story.

“I made you use your stand using my stand. It’s called Heaven’s Door, it can open people and read their memories like a book. If I write anything into their book, they have to do what it says. I made you turn part of the user's hand invisible, which made me win.” Oh yeah, real simple. (Not.)

“Just part of their hand? That seems oddly simple.” Shizuka remarked.

“Well, his entire stand relied on the use of his hand, namely his fingers, because he needed them to play rock-paper-scissors.” Rohan delivered the information with a completely straight face, which added to Shizuka’s amusement.

“Let me get this straight, when I was a baby, I saved you from a rock-paper-scissors stand by making the user’s fingers invisible?” Rohan nodded. “That is the funniest thing ever. Does that technically make you indebted to me?” Shizuka said, trying to keep her laughter from bubbling up.

“I highly doubt it, afterwards I had to help search for you because you turned yourself invisible. Not to mention that you were taken hostage by the user.” Rohan pointed out with an over exaggerated roll of his eyes.

“What?! Lame.” Shizuka shifted her tone to faux seriousness “Guess we’re at a debt stalemate.” 

“So we are.” Rohan agreed, also taking on a tone of feigned seriousness. The two stared at each other for a beat or two, before Rohan spoke again. “Back to my original question, have you had other stand experiences since that time, or no?”

“Outside of my family, no. I’ve never really had a serious stand battle before. Ironic, considering my lineage.” Shizuka let out a small laugh. “Doesn't mean I’m not ready for one, though.”

“Interesting. Well, I suppose you're not of great use to me. I was hoping to find new fighting styles for my manga, but no.” Rohan sighed, and turned away from Shizuka to face Koichi, immediately going into talk about Pink Dark Boy. Shizuka sat there for a moment, left in shock at how quickly she was cast aside. She wasn't hurt, just utterly astonished. Should she bring up that she had practiced fighting before? Surely her countless spars would be of use? She fancied the idea for a moment, then realized she’d be turned into a book and quickly discarded the idea. She’d rather not experience that sensation. 

“Uhm, Koichi?” She interjected. He looked over to her, slightly raising his brow. “I’m going to go home, now that I’m not needed.” 

“You sure? Do you even know the way back?” 

“Yeah, if not I can just look it up.” 

“Alright, stay safe.” 

Shizuka bid the two farewell and left the room. She slipped her shoes on and headed out the door. And as it turned out, she did not know the way home. Sure she considered herself pretty bright, but she had been in Morioh for not even two days, she had no clue where anything was. She opted to just wander around the town, observing the citizens and writing down important landmarks, like face-shaped rock and the lone Italian restaurant. 

She was humming a song she couldn't remember the name to, when a sharp pain flashed across her shin. Shizuka let out a gasp of pain and crouched down to nurse the wound. It wasn't too deep, nothing a little hamon couldn't heal. But there was nothing nearby she would have caught it on, no stray branch or nail. There was no one nearby who seemed to be holding anything of the sort, no thug brandishing a pocket knife demanding her money or some deranged killer with a knife, either. She was about to stand up and continue with her day, until another slash came for her. She accidentally dodged it, ducking her head before she stood, which caused the slice to hit her ear instead of her head. She ran her hand over the wound, sealing it and leaving the slight warmth of hamon on her earlobe. She stood up, fully this time, and spun around. If there was no one in front of her or beside her, then surely they must be behind her.

And having an alleyway sitting right behind her was a dead giveaway for where her attacker was hiding. 

Chapter Text

Turn invisible. Approach the alleyway. Find the guy beating me up. Kick his ass.

That was the plan. Step one was easy, Shizuka blinked and she wasn’t there. Step two was also easy. It was painless to march into the dragon’s lair if the dragon couldn't see you. Too bad Shizuka was unable to see the metaphorical dragon, they were probably hiding away behind one of the dumpsters. Which was smart, but far too predictable. At least be original if you’re gonna hide like a coward.

She paused after taking a few steps into the alleyway, pushing up her sunglasses and letting her eyes adjust to the gloom of it. And it looked like she was right about the dumpsters, she could see the slightest tuft of hair and the tip of a shoe poking out from behind the closest hunk of metal. She began to walk towards it, until a head extruded from the dumpster. The person appeared to be a man with messy black hair, cracked glasses and brown eyes. He glanced around the area, visibly confused (like most people upon witnessing someone randomly vanishing). He huffed and stood up from his hiding place. The guy looked like a conspiracy theory reporter. He was dressed in a rumpled royal blue dress shirt, a similarly wrinkled plaid tie, ripped dark blue dress slacks, multiple silver belt chains hooked to a loose belt and mismatched black dress shoes. Shizuka would’ve started cackling at his appearance, if it weren’t for the fact that she was trying to-

“Achoo!”

The man’s head snapped towards Shizuka’s direction. Great! She just blew her cover because of her shitty allergies! Wonderful. 

“Who’s there? Where are you?” Oh, he’s stupid. Fantastic, maybe she did still have a chance at catching him off guard. She inched towards him, quite literally holding her breath in apprehension. The man frantically scanned the alleyway, which was a fruitless endeavor, but Shizuka appreciated the attempt. 

He was almost in reach when Shizuka began to feel another tickle in her nose. Yet again, she would have laughed if it weren't for her trying to stay hidden. She stood still and focused on shoving the sneeze away, which seemed to work.

“Achoo!”

No, it didn’t.

“Ashes To Ashes!” The man called out. His stand appeared next to him, which looked like a failed circus act. It was humanoid and covered in black and white stripes. Some sort of device was hooked up to the back of it, a rack that hung multiple weapons on strings. It had a gun, a knife, a shield, an ax, a crossbow, and a sword. It also had a wheel on its torso, the only part of it that had color. The wheel has six colors, red, blue, green, purple, pink, and orange. The only other notable feature was a blindfold wrapped around its head, like a ski mask but with no eyeholes. It remained motionless as the wheel on its torso began to spin. 

Deciding that she didn’t want to be standing in front of Ashes To Ashes when the wheel stopped spinning, Shizuka stepped out of the way. The stand user’s gaze followed her, (due in part to her letting her footfalls be too loud) but the stand didn’t. It stayed frozen, the wheel still spinning. She flicked her focus between the stand and its user, parsing out which one was going to move first. 

The stand did. The wheel on its torso slowed to a stop, landing on the red sector. Ashes To Ashes sprung to life, the ax on its rack falling into its hands and its black stripes switching to red ones. It swiveled toward Shizuka, brandishing its weapon. Shizuka, on the other hand, did not have a weapon to flaunt. Hell, she didn’t even have a stand to show. But now wasn’t the time to talk about her invisible stand. Now was the time to figure out this stand. 

She didn’t have a lot of time to brainstorm before her opponent took his first move. Ashes To Ashes darted forward, slashing with its ax. Shizuka hopped to the side, the weapon slightly grazing her arm. She let hamon fix the small wound, and sighed. It looks like the time is now. She let her invisibility drop and spoke.

“Your next line will be ‘guess you decided to finally show up’!”

“Guess you decided to finally show up!” The man grinned, then gasped. “What?! Are you some kind of psychic?”

“Wow, that’s an overstatement. I’m no psychic, you’re just extremely predictable!” Shizuka said with a smile, dodging an incoming attack from his stand to accentuate her point. “So, tell me who are you? I’d like to know your name before I kick your ass!” The man grimaced but answered.

“Takeo Mitsuyasu. I’d like to know your name before I kick your ass.” Well, Takeo wasn’t the brightest, but at least he could banter a little.

“Shizuka Joestar. My abilities' name is Achtung Baby, in case you were curious.” Shizuka gave Takeo a peace sign in between the onslaught of attacks from his stand. He didn’t return it. Asshole.

“Joestar? That’s foreign. It explains your below-average Japanese, though.” What a dick. 

“I’ll ignore that comment. Say, Mr. Mitsuyasu, what would happen if I did this?” Shizuka reached over to Ashes To Ashes and yanked on the string attaching the ax to its body. She saw Takeo stumble to the side. Perfect. She pulled even harder and swung the stand past her. Takeo followed, slamming into the wall in sync with his stand. He was stunned, so she took her chance and ran away.

Then a string wrapped tightly around her ankle. And to make it worse, the ax on the end of it managed to slice the side of her ankle. She looked back at the alley to see Takeo struggling up and Ashes To Ashes fully back in action. It grabbed the string and began dragging her back to itself. Which was, in the simplest terms, fucking horrifying. She suddenly empathized with all of Jolyne’s opponents. And fish.

“That was cheap, Joestar.” Takeo spit, supporting himself with a dumpster. Shizuka would’ve shot something cheeky back, if she wasn't being dragged to grave injury or death. She frantically pulled at the string, which was no good. She tried to unwrap it from her leg, but the movement made the ax slice her deeper. Shizuka would’ve just shot some hamon through the string, but it didn’t work on stands, unless the user can use hamon. So, there was nothing she could do as she was dragged across the pavement. 

Shizuka couldn’t do anything, but Ashes To Ashes could, and did. What did it do? Well, it froze. The red faded from its stripes, and it released Shizuka from its grasp, the ax still sliced her ankle as it let go, though. Because, of course, it did. The ax swung back up onto its rack, and its wheel began to spin again. Shizuka didn’t believe in any sort of god, but at that moment, she thanked all of them. She stood up, putting her weight on one leg, and shot what she hoped was a fiery death glare at Takeo. He didn’t react, too busy staring at his stand with a frantic look in his eye. 

Shizuka didn’t know if it was the adrenaline, or if her leg did genuinely support her despite its lesions, but she managed to run over to a helpless Takeo. And punched him in the face with all her might, mixed with help from her hamon. He crumpled, out cold with a bloody nose that was probably broken. His stand dissipated too. Shizuka stared down at his unconscious body, rage subsiding and being replaced with puzzlement. 

What happened after a stand battle? Was she supposed to just walk away from Takeo and head home? Should she call an ambulance? Should she call Josuke?

Well, she first sat down and focused on healing her wounds. Obviously, there was the one on her ankle, but she had also picked up wounds along her arms, stomach, and legs. They required more concentration due to their severity, so she couldn’t heal them whilst fighting. 

“Excuse me.” Shizuka jumped, hand dropping from healing a wound on her arm. The voice had come from behind her, and she hadn’t even heard them approach. Talk about total concentration. Shizuka started to look back to the person who addressed her but froze when they spoke again. “You’re a stand user, right?”

“Uhm, ye-yeah?” Shizuka stumbled over her words, stunned. 

“I guessed so. Most people don't have torn clothes with blood on the tears and no wounds.” The person lightly chuckled, then presumably stood up as their next words were not softly said into Shizuka’s ear. “Who’s he?”

“It was self-defense! He attacked me first!” Shizuka frantically explained from the ground. She really hoped that this person wasn’t part of some stand user police and was about to arrest Shizuka for assaulting someone. Wouldn’t that be a story? Second day in Morioh and she gets arrested for assault. 

“That’s good to know.” The person chuckled again. “But who is he? And who are you?” Should she give them a fake name? That would be smart. But also, Shizuka didn’t know any common Japanese names, so she quickly tossed the idea aside, opting to answer honestly.

“His name is Takeo Mitsuyasu and mine is Shizuka Joestar.” Shizuka wrung her hands together in her lap, still thinking she was about to get arrested.

“Oh, you’re Shizuka? I’m friends with your older brother.” 

Shizuka finally looked over her shoulder at the person. They were a woman with vibrant red hair and a curly bang that looked strangely familiar, tied back into a ponytail. She had barely visible brown eyes and was wearing a light blue turtleneck with a white blouse adorned with cherries over it. It was tucked into a knee-length white skirt with a blue ring at the bottom. She had polka-dotted blue socks and black loafers. She also had a white purse settled in the crease of her elbow. She was looking down at Shizuka with a soft smile. She then crouched down next to Shizuka and held out her hand.

“My name is Ryoko Kakyoin. It's a pleasure to meet you.” Shizuka was not an idiot. The red hair, the knowledge of stands, the bang and, of course, her name, Shizuka connected the dots between Ryoko Kakyoin and Noriaki Kakyoin. Her father had told her about Noriaki, he was part of the group of people who had traveled to Egypt to defeat Dio. He had also perished on that trip, but was key in discovering Dio’s stand ability. 

“Nice to meet you, too.” Shizuka mumbled, and shook Ryoko’s hand. She smiled, then stood back up and focused back onto Takeo.

“So, Takeo Mitsuyasu, huh? I’ve never heard of him. I suppose he’s…” Ryoko’s voice got softer, changing from normal speaking volume to murmuring under her breath. 

“He’s what?” Shizuka prompted. Ryoko shook her head. 

“It’s a long story. First, just to make sure, he’s not dead, right?” For being such a loaded question, Ryoko asked it oddly nonchalantly.

“What?! Of course not!” Shizuka responded nervously, waving her hands to hopefully emphasize her point.

“Didn’t think so. I’ll call the Speedwagon Foundation real quick to ask them to come get Mr. Mitsuyasu here, then I’ll walk you back to your house, okay?” Shizuka nodded. Ryoko smiled, and stepped away to call up the Foundation. 

Shizuka took out her phone, and texted Josuke if he knew Ryoko. She stared at the device, lighting up a bit when Josuke responded with a yes. She tucked her phone away and resumed healing her injuries. 

“Are you ready to go?” Ryoko called. Shizuka nodded, hopped up to her feet, and followed Ryoko out of the alleyway. 

“So, what do you suppose Mr. Mitsuyasu was?” Shizuka inquired once again. 

“Not here, hold your question until we get to Josuke’s house, then I’ll tell you. I promise.” It seemed to almost pain Ryoko to say that, like the very idea of keeping information from Shizuka physically hurt her. 

Surprisingly, Shizuka managed to keep her mouth shut until the duo reached Josuke’s house. She had come close to asking some questions, like what Ryoko was going to do once they reached Josuke’s house, Shizuka didn't have a key to it. That particular question was answered, though. Ryoko had a key to the house. 

Once the door was closed and locked after them, Shizuka began to question Ryoko.

“Okay, so what do you think Mr. Mitsuyasu was?”

“I’m fairly certain that he’s one of the new stand users popping up around Morioh.” Ryoko explained as she shucked off her shoes and placed them next to where Shizuka had haphazardly tossed hers.

“What? But I thought all the stand users had been documented here? That’s why it’s so safe, after all.” Shizuka frowned as she led Ryoko into the living room.

“Yes, that was the case for a while. But in the past few months, new stand users have been appearing, which means someone’s been using an arrow.” Ryoko paused, furrowing her eyebrows at Shizuka. “Are you going to change out of your bloodied clothes?” 

“Oh. Yeah, I should probably do that.” Shizuka flatly remarked. “I’ll be back in a moment.” She went upstairs and quickly changed out of her torn outfit into one that was not torn, and sprinted back downstairs.

“That was quick.” Ryoko had moved out of the living room, and was now sifting through a cabinet in the kitchen. “Do you want some tea?” 

“Uh… I’m good.” Ryoko shrugged.

“Suit yourself, anyway about what I was saying earlier.” Ryoko plucked a box of tea bags out of the cabinet, and set them aside. “With all the new stand users, we know for sure that there's someone in the town pricking people with a stand arrow. But also, stand arrows are notoriously difficult to track down, so the investigation hasn’t been going the greatest.”

“Who’s investigating the arrow?”

“Me and Josuke, mainly.” Ryoko grabbed a teapot and began to fill it with water. “Not everyone is very keen to get involved with this sort of stuff.” She set the pot on the stove, and turned to face Shizuka as the water heated up.

“Alright, are you a stand user?” 

“Nope. Despite my cousin being one and pretty much all of my friends being one, I am not.” Ryoko seemed rather relaxed about admitting this, it was something she had already come to terms with, Shizuka guessed. 

“Then why are you helping with the investigation?” 

“Because I don’t want people to get hurt. Among other things.” Ryoko smiled. But her answer seemed off. She had been very upfront so far, so even if the answer was only a little vague, it still was worth asking about.

“‘Among other things’? What other reasons do you have?” 

“I…” Ryoko seemed to debate something internally, before she finished her answer. “I’ve been having strange dreams. They started around the same time the stand users started appearing, so I think they might be connected.” 

“What are the dreams like?”

“That’s the thing, I barely remember them. I just wake up with an odd sense of dread, and the only thing I remember about them is that Noriaki is there, and he asks me to find someone.” Ryoko sounded exhausted, being plagued by strange dreams of any kind sounded pretty horrible, much less if they include your dead family member asking you to find someone. 

“You don't remember anything about the person he asks you to find?”

“No. But me and Josuke think he’s connected to the arrow.”