You and Kakyoin haven't talked at all since last night.
Even after dinner, you ended up having to share a bed with Jotaro— Kakyoin had been a bit annoyed by not getting to sleep next to you, but he didn't voice his opinion on the matter; he didn't want to upset Jotaro by starting an argument, and he didn't want to do anything that would embarrass you.
But it's especially awkward now, being met with your face pretty much snuggled into Jotaro's chest and his arms holding you closer to him as you wake up.
Jotaro must be a cuddler in his sleep...
You don't try to wriggle your way out of his arms, as not to wake him, but instead pretend to be asleep still until he wakes up.
It was eerily silent, apart from the sound of his breathing. The more you just lay there, the more you realize... It's really comfortable. Somehow, being in his arms feels... safe.
Am I a bad person for enjoying being close to one of my friends like this, while the other friend kissed me just the day before? Why can't I be normal, and only have feelings for one person like everyone else...
As you lay trapped in Jotaro's arms, you feel him shift a little, his arms slowly releasing you as he wakes up and moves. His weight shifts to the side of the bed, him probably getting ready to get up.
"Good grief..." You hear him whisper to himself.
Once he does get up, you peek your eyes open. He opens the door to the balcony and walks out to smoke a cigarette, shutting the door behind him. You then look over at Kakyoin, who's asleep, facing the wall.
You decide to get up, grab your clothes, and go to the bathroom to take a shower. You silently open and close the bathroom door beind you.
You notice something strange sitting on the counter as you walk in— A slip of paper and something that looked like a necklace.
You take a closer look, your curiosity getting the best of you, and see something that you hadn't think you would ever see again—
That rectangular-shaped locket that held the weird rock that made your Stand manifest in you; the locket that your father had left on your dresser that one time. Hesitantly, you pick it up and open it. Both sides each have an image; One with a different, newer picture of you— the last time you saw it, it was a picture of you in middle school— and the same picture of that strange looking man with the star on the back of his neck.
This man...
This is DIO.
How the hell is this here? Was it there yesterday? Did he use his Stand to sneak into the hotel room without any of us knowing? Creepy.
You resist the temptation of throwing the locket away, deciding it would probably be best to show it to Mr. Joestar.
You then picked up the note that the locket had been laying on top of to read what it says:
To my dearest (Y/n),
As I'm sure you've figured out by now, I've been working with Lord DIO for a few years now— I was one of the first people who stood by his side when he resurfaced. He's shown me many things about himself that no one else knows. You could even say that I'm the most loyal to Lord DIO!
Because of this, I know information about him that I know you'll want. The only way you'll get said information is if you come and join us, just like you were meant to.
Why should I listen to what he has to say?
You may be wondering, 'Why should I listen to what he has to say?' Well, child, I'll tell you! I have something— No, somebody— precious to you in my possession. The next time I confront you, if you don't join me to work alongside Lord DIO like you were supposed to from the beginning...
They're as good as dead.
I'm sure you can guess who... After all, she didn't answer the phone the last time you sent her a call!
"Mom..." You whispered to yourself upon realizing what the letter was referring to.
He has to be bluffing. Even with his Stand being able to teleport him, I doubt he could have made it to Japan and back in one night. But how would he have known that she didn't answer my call...?
You clench your fists on the counter.
I should have never gone on this trip. I dragged her into this mess, damnit!
If your father got angry, he could possibly end up killing your mom. DIO could get his hands on her...
I never realized how much of a threat DIO was until now. I've been so fixated on getting revenge on Father for ruining our family so suddenly, I was too blind to see that DIO was the one behind it all.
I'll help kill him, and kill Father, just to keep Mom safe. Even if it's the last thing I do!
You decide to just hop in the shower to try to temporarily clear your mind. Once you're in the shower, you turn the water on to be warm. Even with the cheap hotel shampoo, a nice, warm shower feels great— especially since you haven't had the time to take anything but quick ones since the trip started.
Once you get done, you step out of the shower and wrap a towel around yourself. You quickly dry your hair with another towel, and as you were about to unwrap the other towel from around yourself...
Damnit, did I forget to lock the door?! Curse that stupid locket and that stupid note for distracting me!
Jotaro opened the door, and the two of you stood in shock. The towel was just barely showing anything until you pulled it back closer to yourself.
He stood in the doorway with wide eyes before muttering something.
"Shit, sorry. Didn't know you were still here." He quickly left, covering the red that had began to appear on his face, and closed the door behind him.
It took you a moment to process what had just happened. But once you did, you felt a giant wave of heat go over your face.
Shit... I think Jotaro just saw my boobs. Now things are gonna be awkward with him and Kakyoin...
You quickly get dressed and brush your hair. You grab the note and the locket and stuff it down into one of the pockets in your jacket. When you walk out of the bathroom, you look up to see Jotaro looking at you, before he moves his hat over his eyes and looks away.
At this point, Kakyoin is already awake, and he probably was awake to see Jotaro accidentally walk in on you.
Jotaro walks into the bathroom, probably making sure to lock the door— Unlike a certain someone in the room— and you sit on the bed.
...
It's quiet.
Way too quiet.
Even with the sounds of the shower starting up, there's still no other sound. That is, until you clear your throat and speak up.
"So... when do you think we're leaving?" You ask Kakyoin. You've lost track of how many days it's been since you all first left Japan, but you still want to make sure that you're making good time.
"I know as soon as everyone gets ready, we're all going to meet in the hotel lobby. From there, we'll take a bus to Varanasi." He responds.
You nodded at Kakyoin's words. "Alright. I'm going down to the lobby, since Mr. Joestar and Polnareff are probably already down there now."
"Okay... just be careful." He says quietly, looking up at you and giving you a small smile. You return one to him as well, and walk out of the door.
-—
You made your way down to the hotel lobby, and as you had guessed, Mr. Joestar and Polnareff are both already down there.
"Hey, Mr. Joestar? There's something I need to show you," you say to him as you walk to him and Polnareff, digging in your pocket to pull the note and locket out.
"My old man's following us. Found this on the bathroom counter last night in our room," You say to Mr. Joestar in a shaky voice as you remember what your father had said he had done. Mr. Joestar furrows his eyebrows as he scans through the letter. Polnareff leans over to look at the letter as well.
"Holy shit..." Mr. Joestar mumbles. "Someone close to you...?"
Polnareff's eyes suddenly widen. "Wait, that means— Was your mom abducted?!—"
"Mhm," You cut Polnareff off. "Now, look in the locket," You say to Mr. Joestar. He nods and does as you say, looking at the two images. His eyes widen when he sees the picture of—
"DIO... (Y/n), I know I've already said this, but we need to be careful. If they get their hands on you..." You already know how that sentence is going to end.
"What happened to Polnareff will happen to me— They might implant a flesh bud into my head and send me after you guys." You shudder at the thought of that disgusting little thing being inside of your brain.
Mr. Joestar hands the locket and the note back to you, but afterwards, he begins to scratch his arm. You look down to where he's scratching, and see a strange spot start to form.
"Hey, don't scratch at that. Let me see," You say to him. He pouts and moves his hand as you take a closer look at it. "Oi, Polnareff, look at this. Does this thing on Mr. Joestar's arm look a bit weird to you?" You motion for Polnareff to take a closer look.
"Hmm..." The silver-haired man takes a good look at the bizarre spot on Mr. Joestar's arm. "You know, it does look rather strange. It kind of looks like a face, the more I look at it," Polnareff says.
Now that he mentions it, it sort of does. That's creepy. Maybe I can heal it...
"Ew, gross!" Mr. Joestar exclaims, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Don't say something like that, that creeps me out! (Y/n), can't your Stand do something about it?"
"I can try, but not out here in the middle of the hotel lobby. I'll wait for the other two to come back, so we can leave."
As if on cue, Jotaro and Kakyoin walked up to the three of you guys. "Let's get out of here," Jotaro says, continuing to walk. The rest of you followed suit, you explaining the locket and note to Jotaro and Kakyoin as you all make your way to a bus station.
-—
You all were able to get individual seats on the bus, the only stranger being another woman, who had said that her name was Nena, from the hotel that got on the bus with your group. Of course, Polnareff was sweet talking her.
Since your seat is next to Mr. Joestar's, you turn to him, deciding that it would be okay to heal his arm on the bus.
"Alright, now let me see that spot," You tell him, summoning your Stand.
"Let me try something first..." Mr. Joestar says. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before exhaling and opening his eyes again.
"Overdrive!"
Your eyes widen as he concentrates a yellow light of some sort from his hand to the spot.
However, it does nothing.
"Woah... was that a part of your Stand, Mr. Joestar?" You ask him, curious about what he just did, despite whatever attempts failing.
"Oh, you must have never seen me use that, (Y/n)! It's called Hamon. It's a martial arts technique that I inherited from my grandfather. It's identical to the energy of the sun, and you control it by breathing."
"Can it be taught?" You ask curiously. Mr. Joestar's eyes widen and a huge smile comes across his face.
"Do you want to learn Hamon?!" Mr. Joestar asks excitedly. Before you can say anything else, Mr. Joestar keeps speaking. "I can try to see if you're capable of learning it the next time we get a break! I, Joseph Joestar, a Hamon teacher! How about that?" Mr. Joestar laughs excitedly.
In the seat in front of you, Jotaro scoffs. "Now that you've gotten the Old Man started, he'll never shut up. You might want to just heal his arm already."
"Right..." You say as you get a closer look at the spot on Mr. Joestar's arm. "Wait a second... Is it just me, or is it bigger than the last time I looked at it? Disgusting," You say.
Either that Hamon thing he used made it worse, or his arm is just infected or something. But what could have caused it?
Mr. Joestar begins to whine. "I know, just heal it already. I'm tired of looking at it!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down," You tell him as Red Velvet's ribbon wraps around it. After a second, you suddenly feel a sharp pain.
"Ow, what the hell?!" As your Stand tries to heal the strange bump on Mr. Joestar's arm, it's ribbon snaps— causing a small cut on your face to appear. You wipe the blood from your face and quickly use your Stand to heal it, since it's only a small, simple cut.
"If that hurt my Stand, which hurt me, that's not just a normal bump or something. Only Stands can hurt other Stands... That could only mean one thing." You realized what the strange spot on Mr. Joestar's arm likely was. He finished your sentence for you.
"This is likely the work of an enemy Stand user."