🪄You🪄

The following morning, I woke up and stretched my back and arms.

"Damn... it's been a while since I've slept in a futon." I yawned.

I knew that Mrs. Kujo was just trying to scold some sense into her father about Japanese culture, but personally, I preferred sleeping in my bed at home-- !!!...Home! A crawly feeling climbed up my spine. It finally hit me that I was going to be in deep trouble for skipping school again yesterday, and spending the night at someone else's household without notifying them. I am so dead. I looked over to the side and across room remained a sleeping Kakyoin.

"I guess he's not going to school today, he still needs rest." I muttered to myself..

I got out of my futon, while still feeling nauseated by my near future, but I put those thoughts aside for now. After grabbing my things and tidying up my futon, I left the room to change and brush my teeth. I went to the bathroom.

Once I was ready, I made my way to the front of the house, and there, I found Jotaro about to leave too. However, he was actually just standing there. Curiosity rose within my wittle bwuain so, I greeted him.

"Hey. Good morning, Sheriff." The brooding teen turned, giving me his attention. I smirked, "hm, actually going to school? Two days in a row, and without excuse? My, how responsible of you~"

Jotaro only grunted in response. "Well, I was, but something's not adding up for me."

"What is it?" Asked again, but this time, genuinely.

"I'm not sure. Usually before I leave the house, my annoying mother comes by and coddles me to send me off. But now..."

"Now that you've mentioned it," I tapped my lips, "I haven't seen her around this morning, nor have I heard anything from her either. I just assumed she was sleeping in."

"That's not my mother's routine. She never sleeps in."

"Kujo, you're making me worry. Where's your mom?"

He didn't answer as he walked past me instead, back into the house.

"H-hey! Wait for me, man!"

We traveled from the front to the back of the house. Checked Mrs. Kujo's room and bathrooms, even outside in the gardens with the hanging laundry, but the woman was nowhere to be found. While searching, Jotaro and I ran into Mr. Joestar, who was apparently looking for his daughter as well. He also had no luck since he started. There was one last place to look, however, to the kitchen! Should that have sounded sexist? Eh, whatever.

The three of us, now, went to the kitchen and we finally found her. But none of us were happy in the slightest. Inside the room, on the floor, Avdol was sitting on his knees with Mrs. Kujo lying limp on his lap. She was faint and heavily breathing like she had caught a high fever and that seemed to be the case. As if things weren't bad enough, we looked closer and noticed transparent vines with raspberries appearing and disappearing around her neck.

Mr. Joestar gasped in horror. "She..has a stand?....Holly--NOOOOOOO!!!"

Suddenly, Mr. Joestar gripped onto Jotaro's trenchcoat and pushed him against the wall in anguish.

"Mr. Joestar!"

"This is the one thing I feared the most. This is the very last thing I ever wanted to happen, if not at all" he sobbed. "My daughter has developed a stand as well... I've always known she's too weak. She can't withstand it. I knew if this day came, it would destroy her. She doesn't have the strength needed to repel Dio's curse."

All this, was because of a man who should've died at sea a hundred years ago. A man who stole a Joestar ancestor's body so he could kill his descendants and eradicate the rest of his rival's bloodline. Why? What brings someone to be this evil and hurt and take advantage of innocent people like Mrs. Kujo and Kakyoin? What kind of monster are you, Dio? And mostly importantly--

Jotaro grabbed his grandfather's hand and forced it off him as the old man winced. "Tell me. What can we do?" Once he let go, Mr. Joestar composed himself.

"Okay. To start, we must find Dio. The only way to break this curse is to find Dio and kill him!"

"Let's return to that after we get Mrs. Kujo back into bed," I interjected, now knelt beside Avdol, "she burning."

#~#~#~#

After we put Mrs. Kujo in a futon with a cooled water pad and damp towels on her head, we sat in a circle, except Jotaro, and we were looking over some polaroid photos laid on the floor. Mr. Joestar explained how this search for Dio would be a struggling puzzle. In all these scattered photos, Dio was always in the dark. It's no wonder it gave him and Avdol a hard time.

Avdol sighed, picking up one of the photos. "We've used various methods to try and analyze them."

"But still nothing?" I frowned.

"Nothing, thanks to all this darkness."

"Hey, you should have mentioned this to me sooner." Jotaro said, pushing away from the wall he was leaning on. He grabbed the photo from Avdol and summoned his stand. "Let me look. I might be able to find out what's hiding in the darkness."

The purple stand stared into the small photo, its eyes dilated as it tried to uncover any secrets.

"It's found something with the shadows." Jotaro pulled out a note pad and pencil from a drawer in the room. "My stand can move accurately enough to a flesh bud from someone's brain and catch a bullet." Bro, how many times are you gonna bring that up? "Let's have it sketch what it sees."

He opened the notepad and handed the pencil to his stand. It began to sketch rapidly like he was a printer, but that's not to say the drawing would look messy. When the stand was done, we saw that it was a fly.

"No way, it saw a fly through all that!"

"Yeah, but how in the hell is a fly gonna help us?"

"Wait a second," Avdol paused him, "I've seen this fly before. Do you have an encyclopedia?" He asked Jotaro.

"We do have a library."

"Let me have this sketch. I'll do some research." He quickly grabbed it and ran out of the room. Leaving us to care for Mrs. Kujo.

The kind woman woke up after the Egyptian man left. She was a little drowsy but it looked like she got a little better for the time being. Mr. Joestar asked Jotaro to grab some water and so he did. I also went to grab a small snack for Mrs. Kujo, she probably hadn't eaten the entire morning before passing out. I grabbed an apple and some tea cookies on a plate. I nodded to myself. This should do fine.

"You hungry or somethin'?" Jotaro asked, a full glass of water now in his hands.

"I am. But this isn't for me, it's for your mother. She probably didn't eat anything earlier, so I wanna make sure she has at least something in her stomach."

He nodded back as we made our way to Mrs. Kujo's room again.

🌠Jotaro🌠

When (name) and I got back to my mother's room, I gave her the water first as (name) set down the plate of snacks next to her. She thanked us and went on having a chat with Jiji and (name), while I stared at her stand. Because it was on her back, she couldn't see it. She has no idea as to what happened. Then, Jiji began to care for my mom from brushing her teeth, to wiping her face clean, to brushing her hair, feeding her the apple, and cutting her nails. And while he was messaging her feet, mom had the idea of messing with him.

"Papa, will you help me change my underwear, too?" She asked, holding up a pair of pink panties. Of course, she wasn't serious and only did it to you with the old man. (Name) also found this joke funny as she snickered into her hands. "Well, what do you kids want for dinner?" She asked moving around to get up as Jiji and (name) tried to stop her.

"Wait-"

"Holly-

But I was more forceful. "Don't move! You just stay in bed!" Everyone in the room stiffened from my suddenly raised voice, even (name). "I just meant you should stay put, at least until your fever breaks." I corrected myself, lowering my cap. "Now be quiet, and get better."

"He's right," Jiji agreed, "lay back down and rest."

"Heheh, Okay." My mother complied. "I kinda like this. Everyone's so nice when I get sick. Having a little cold isn't so bad from time to time.."

"M-mrs. Kujo!" (Name) gasped as mom fell unconscious again. "Please, say something."

"She..she lost consciousness again."

"But she was acting just fine a second ago!"

"Yes, but this fever is so bad. It's spiked. She was putting on a good front. I know she didn't say anything, but my daughter is definitely aware of her stand."

"And she was doing her best to hide from us? Why?"

"My guess is that she didn't want us to worry about her. My daughter's always been like that.."

"Oh...Seiko.."

Avdol then came back with an encyclopedia in his his arm, "Mr. Joestar, I've found it. I know where that fly is from." He opened the book and pointed at one of the fly images as beneath it was it's name.

"The Nile tsetse fly. As in the Nile in Egypt?" (Name) asked.

"Ever heard of another Nile river, not in Egypt?" I asked sarcastically.

"Tch, shut up."

"Enough you two." Avdol said sternly, "we've also narrowed it down to the Awsan region. Dio is there."

"So he is in Egypt after all."

All our heads turned to the sound of Kakyoin's voice at the door. My grandfather asked him what he meant and he said how the flesh bud he had was planted three months ago when he a touring the Nile with his family. That's when he met Dio.

"It seems for some reason, Dio wants to remain in that area."

"So when are we leaving? Because I'll be going with you." Both Avdol and Jiji gasped at his volunteering.

"Seriously?" I raised my brow. "Why would you want to do that?"

"To be completely honest, I have no idea why I want to go either. It's just something I'm compelled to do." He said some what mirroring my answer before. Smug bastard. "Let's just say you opened my eyes. It's that simple."

"Well, if he's going," (name) stood up from her spot, "I'm going too!"

"What?! No way! This journey is much too dangerous for a lady!" Jiji scolded but it didn't seem to faze her.

"If you think I'm gonna stay here, going back to school everyday while know I could help save Mrs. Kujo from death, then all of you are wrong. I have a stand and I can take care of myself. I'm going, and suggest we leave sooner rather than later." (Name) said while grabbing her school bag and racing to the door. "I'll be back once I gather a few things! Don't even THINK leaving without me!!" And like that she was gone.

Jiji sighed but smiled. While he'd rather (name) stay home, away from all the danger about to come, I could tell he's happy to have her along. He stood up and went back to my mom's side, caressing her face lovingly as he promised to save her no matter what.

"Jojo's mother, Holly, has the ability to calm a person's soul and put their minds at ease." Kakyoin said, beside Avdol. "People feel relaxed just by being near her. This may sound strange, but if I ever fall in love, I'd want it to be with someone like her. I'd feel the need to protect her. I'd do anything to see her feeling better and smiling." And I guess, his real reasons finally decided to show. Good grief.

Avdol nodded. "Indeed."

"There is no time! We leave immediately!!"