Shizuka Joestar: Her Graduation (III)

4/14

The plain truth was, Akira had known that conventional methods wouldn't have worked from the very beginning. Perhaps he still had some naive belief in 'the system', despite getting a criminal record dumped on his head by some corrupt politician bastard, but he wanted to at least hope they could get Kamoshida in the confines of the law.

No, that wouldn't work. Certainly not. In class Ryuji had texted him a few times , thinking that Takamaki (As he understood it, she was the blonde who sat in front of him) could be a source of intel. If all the rumors were to be believed then she had some kind of 'relationship' with him. But, already, Akira knew that would be futile. All the same he had agreed to meet up with Ryuji at the courtyard.

As he reached the glass double doors he paused at the sight of an unfamiliar figure. A dark haired girl in a white Shujin sweater and prison-patterned skirt. She also had one hell of a shiner on her left eye. A volleyball member then.

She stood staring at her phone, and only looked up when Akira's slim shadow fell over her. "... What? Oh... I'm in the way aren't I? Sorry."

Akira regarded her in stone-faced silence for a few moments. Some voice in his head said to not get involved. The rest of him couldn't resist the impulse. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

"Huh?" The raven haired girl seemed to wince slightly . "Um, Well..." She quickly changed the subject, deciding to divert some attention away from her condition. "You don't look familiar. Could you be that transfer student from Class D?"

"Yes. I'm THAT transfer student," he replied. Akira had frankly expected her to slip away, or just outright run when she heard that. But, to his pleasant surprise, she managed some close approximation of a smile.

"This might not be any of my business but don't let any of the rumors get to you."

Genuine concern? Well, that was a new one. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Well, I've helped with a similar situation before... My friend is often misunderstood too, all because of her looks. Sorry, I didn't mean to drag on like that. Anyway, I have to go to practice... I'll see you around." She brushed past him with her eyes cast to the ground, looking as if her very soul had been strangled from her being. Akira shook his head. Try as he might, he just couldn't understand why students let things get this bad. He went on through to the courtyard.

Much like yesterday, Ryuji was leaning against one of the vending machines with an anxious tension in his posture. Like he could snap any second. "Damnit. What the hell..."

"Did you find someone?" Akira asked.

"Is that what it looks like?" he sarcastically retorted. The bottom of his fist met the vending machine with a loud crack. "All of 'em kept saying the same shit Mishima was talkin' about. Kamoshida must have told them something!"

Akira nodded. "I figured as much. I had hoped something might have changed, but it's clear to me that we can't simply rely on the authorities to deal with this. But I have an idea." Ryuji leaned in expectantly. "We can't do anything. Out here, we're powerless students that everyone distrusts. But over there, on the other side... we can do something. We can punish the King."

"The King? Ya mean... that other world's Kamoshida?"

"Just so. And I have a theory that-" Just as Akira was set to rattle off his plan, a semi-familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

"I finally found you!" The youthful voice said, tinged with annoyance. The two boys glanced around, just as a small black cat trotted up to the circular table.

Ryuji looked to Akira. "Uh... did you say something?"

The cat suddenly jumped onto the table between them, and the voice was coming... from the cat? "Don't think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you earlier." The form was different, an actual cat as opposed to some cartoony... thing. But the voice was unmistakable. "How dare you! Up and leaving me like that the other day!"

"Th-the cat's talkin'!" Ryuji blurted.

"I am NOT a cat! This is just what happened when I came to this world! And for the record, it was a lot of trouble finding you two." The cat huffed, turning his nose up in the air with all the natural haughtiness of a feline.

Ryuji, wide eyed, made his way closer. "Wait, you can come over to our world? Does that mean you have a phone?!"

"Asking all the important questions Ryuji," Akira wearily murmured.

Morgana maintained a cocky and defiant air. "You don't need one when you're at my level. I did get pretty lost making my escape though." He licked his left paw and used this to brush the top of his head. For as much as Morgana hated being called a cat, he sure was good at acting like one.

Ryuji gave Morgana another glare. "That aside, why can you talk?! You're a cat!"

"How should I know?!"

With an almost deliberate slowness, Akira removed his glasses and wiped the lenses with the edge of his school blazer and then slowly slid them back into place. "Riveting as this line of conversation is, it's not going to help deal with our current problem. Morgana, while it is nice to see you again, we have some pressing problems."

Morgana smiled, or as best he could with a feline face. "So I heard. You two definitely sounded at your wits' end. But I COULD tell you guys a thing or two about what to do about Kamoshida. You were pretty close, just a moment ago." He was quite a master at sounding smug.

"God, that condescendin' attitude..." Ryuji scoffed "This thing's gotta be Morgana."

"You were still doubting me?!" the feline snapped.

"Ack! Quiet down!"

There was a sound of footsteps not too far from their alcove on the courtyard. Both boys went rigid, and from his spot at the railings Ryuji was able to see two teachers walking down the paved path. Clearly they were unhappy, muttering about their dissatisfaction at having to go and track down some stray cat. And apparently, all they had heard was meowing.

Akira hummed to himself. "Seems that only we can understand Morgana when he speaks. Might be a side effect of having a Persona." He brushed the thought aside as unimportant. "What were you talking about earlier? You have a solution to our problem?" Akira asked.

Ryuji glanced from side to side. "If the teachers are looking for this guy, this mightn't be the best place to chat." He abruptly lifted Morgana by the back of his collar, making the feline yowl and twist around in the air. "Here! Stick it in your bag for now! It should be small enough to fit!"

"Hey! How dare you treat me like-!"

"Pee on my books, and you die."

The trip up to the roof was a quick enough one, and after Morgana's initial frustration at being carried around like that had subsided, they decided to rapidly get to the task at hand: Dealing with Kamoshida. Akira quickly asked him to get down to business.

"Dealing with Kamoshida has to do with what you were talking about earlier. Attacking Kamoshida's palace," the feline began. "That castle is how Kamoshida views the school. He doesn't realise what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida. A Palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires, so if that castle were no more..."

Akira grinned and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose "His desires would go too..." He had expected something like that to be the case. The supernatural wasn't his forte, but he knew there had to be some link between the real Kamoshida and his sexed-up 'shadow.' Impacting one would affect the other.

Morgana chirped in delight "Precisely! You sure pick up things fast!"

For as odd as the topic of discussion was, Ryuji seemed enthused. "For real? He'd turn good?! ... But, is that really gettin' back at him?"

Despite Ryuji's concerns, Morgana continued. "Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart. However, even though their warped wants disappear, their crimes remain. Kamoshida will be unable to bear the weight of those crimes and he'll confess them himself!"

Akira snickered softly. "So... we can't destroy him ourselves. But we CAN make him destroy himself. Oh Morgana, I like that. I like that quite a lot."

"And since the Palace will no longer exist, he'll forget what we did there as well. We'll be able to take him down, without even leaving a trace of our involvement."

Ryuji grinned broadly and almost leapt skyward in his joy. "That's amazing! You are one incredible cat!" he eagerly said.

"True. Except for the cat part."

It was at that point that Ryuji moved onto the question that had been on Akira's mind. "So? How do we get rid of the Palace?" Morgana went on to explain that they had to steal the 'treasure' in the heart of the Palace, but he wouldn't divulge further until they agreed to go through with helping him. He was keeping his methods a secret for the time being. And ultimately, as they knew from their fruitless investigation, they had no other options. The two agreed to his plan.

Morgana carried on with more intimate details. "There's one more thing I should tell you. If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person's distorted desires will be erased as well... But desires are what we all need in order to survive. The will to sleep, eat, fall in love-- those sorts of things. And if all those yearnings were to vanish, they'd be no different to someone who has shut down entirely. They may even die if they're not given proper care."

"They might die?!" Ryuji took a step back in surprise. Akira stood in the same casual stance, his hands in his pockets.

Morgana groaned. "Would you listen to everything I have to say first?"

"Would his death be our fault?" asked Ryuji.

Morgana gave his head a brief shake, seemingly annoyed at the hesitation. "Aren't you determined enough to take those kinds of risks?" The question hung in the air for a few silent moments.

"I'm interested," Akira casually said. "There's a risk, certainly, but I don't see any other options if we're going to deal with that bastard." He thought back on that drunken asshole who ruined his life with a stray word, landed him on probation for trying to do the right thing. And got away with it. And Akira couldn't just sit back and let that happen again, regardless of the consequences.

Morgana left them to make up their minds. Ryuji seemed uncertain, wanting to find another way. But Akira had a heart of ice. One way or another, there would be justice.

-----------

The train ride from Shujin back to the backstreets of Yongen was a pain in the ass. Long, cramped, and involved a transfer at the midsection. Akira supposed he couldn't complain too much, it wasn't the worst thing about his life at the moment, but after all he had spoken to Ryuji and Morgana about he wasn't in the mood for it. And it he was late then Sojiro would chew him out, and he REALLY wasn't in the mood for that.

He made his way down to the Shibuya platform, and heard a familiar and flustered voice through the crowd. He stopped, looking toward a blonde head of hair. Takamaki? Whoever she was on the phone with, it left her royally pissed off.

"Will you please give it a rest already? I told you, I'm not feeling up to it. Wait, what?! That's not what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher?! ... This has nothing to do with Shiho!" The dial tone kicked in, and Takamaki fell into stunned silence. She stood this way for several moments, and then crouched down, her head resting on her forearms. "Shiho's... starting position." Akira's shadow fell over her, and she sprang up to her feet suddenly. "Were you... listening?"

"Not on purpose."

"Haven't you ever heard of privacy?" she asked, annoyed.

Akira shrugged. "You know, it's been so long since I've had any, that I almost forgot the meaning of the word."

Ann sighed and looked down at her feet. "No, I was out of line. Sorry." She reached up, drying under her right eye. "How much did you hear?"

"You mentioned something about a friend. Sounds like you're in a bad position," Akira mused. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. Between all the rumors about her, and having seen Kamoshida pestering Ann over the past few days, and having seen a rather risque version of Ann in the Palace... His desires were clear, and beyond unpleasant.

"Shiho..." She shook her head abruptly "It's nothing at all." Tears welled in her eyes, and despite her best efforts Ann couldn't quite wipe them away. "Nothing." She turned and bolted down the platform, almost vanishing into the crowd. But the blonde hair worked wonders at making her stick out.

A part of Akira's mind told him not to get involved. That following her and helping her would only lead to more trouble. After all, helping a girl in need led to the ruination of his life the last time he tried it. Then he sighed, resigned to his fate, and followed Takamaki deeper into the station. As if he could ever turn a blind eye.

It didn't take long to find her in the underground walkway. He settled his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat. "Takamaki-san."

"Stop following me... Just leave me alone!"

"Calm down."

"Why...? Why do you keep worrying about me?" Ann trailed off into another sob, taking a moment to dry her eyes off with her wrists.

Sighing, Akira adjusted his glasses. He just couldn't leave well enough alone. And if his hunch was correct, she was just as much a victim in all this as those guys on the volleyball team were. She needed help, and much like those students, she would find none from any official channels. "Someone has to. Come on, let's go find somewhere to talk."

"I really don't get you," Ann murmured.

There was a cafe not too far from the station. A little pricey by Akira's usual standards, but it was the closest option. They found a booth in the corner and ordered two teas. He left his steaming brown cup to his side, while Ann had her pale fingers clasped gently around the porcelain of hers.

After some awkward silence, she managed to say "I don't have anything to talk about with you. It was just... an argument."

"With Kamoshida?" he asked.

She didn't answer, and looked instead into her cup. "You've heard the rumors, haven't you? About Mr. Kamoshida." Ann closed her eyes, her left hand drifting from her cup to instead idly push and pull at a napkin resting on the table. "Everyone says we're getting it on. But... that's so not true! That was him on the phone. I avoided giving him my number... for the longest time... He told me... told me to go to his place. You know what that means." She suddenly crushed the napkin in her grasp, tremors rattling her body.

He remained silent. Now was not the time to be witty or sarcastic. "If I turn him down, he said he'd my friend off as a regular on the team. I've been telling myself that this is all for Shiho's sake. But I... I can't take it anymore." She grit her teeth, her whole body shaking from a cocktail of rage, fear, disgust... a maelstrom of horrible feelings really. "I've had enough of this! I hate him! But... Shiho's my best friend. She's all I have left in that sorry excuse of a school!" The tears were flowing freely now, rage giving way to sadness. "Tell me... what should I do?"

Akira gripped his knees briefly, fighting back a brief bubble of anger. "Takamaki-san, I'll be frank. I don't care about the rumors circulating around you, I'd be a major hypocrite if I did. But it's clear to me that they're all false." He took a long sip of his tea, let it linger to calm his nerves. "I'll just ask you a simple question: Does Kamoshida strike you as a man who will stick to his word?"

Ann looked into the dark depths of her tea. "No, he doesn't."

"Well, there you go. This threat... if you comply to it, he'll have that power over you for... years. He'll hold your friend over your head and use that as leverage for... unspeakable things. Giving into this demand wouldn't help anyone but him." Akira finished his tea and slowly stood up from his seat. "I have to go now. If I'm out too late, my guardian will think I've gone off to join the Yakuza or something. Probation is a bitch like that." He slowly made for the door, and Ann regarded him in stunned silence as new clarity dawned on her.

"For your own sake, please. Stay away from him."

It was the best he could do. If he spoke of Palaces, she'd call him a nut and completely disregard him.

-----------

4/15

A few days in her new school, and Shizuka still didn't have anyone she'd really regard as a friend. It was partially her own fault, of course, as she hadn't made much of an effort. People had only spoke to her because they were curious about her last name (Joestar was weird, even by English standards) or needed help with English.

So she was going through the motions. Get up, have breakfast, go to school, come home. She'd killed time at the arcade, hit the bookstore once, but she was still mostly keeping to herself. Mundane life was something she wanted but, still, it was weird. Her brother couldn't go one week without meeting some new Stand user, who wanted to either be his friend or cause trouble. She had yet to get a hint of anything bizarre.

Maybe that was for the best. Stuff like that would potentially draw attention to her.

Classes were halfway over for the day, and she was emerging from the bathroom after a quick break. English classes here were trivial and so she had headed out for a few minutes just to kill some time. The halls were mostly empty, so nobody paid her much mind. But as she made her way down the hall a girl nearly bumped into her at the junction. "Whoa!"

Shizuka stopped on her heels and caught her dark rimmed glasses before they could slide down her nose. It took her only a few moments to recognize the sharply dressed brunette girl. "Oh. Hey Prez," she greeted.

"'Prez'?" Makoto asked, adjusting the stack of papers that had nearly fallen from her hands.

"Yeah, you know... short for president. Since you're the student council pr- uh, it's not important." Shizuka sighed and scratched the back of her head. Smooth. "I was just heading back to class. Take it that's some important student council stuff?"

"Documentation for a planned field trip. It's nothing too important Joestar-san," Makoto explained. She managed to fully regain her balance and, with refined skill, shuffled the papers back into an even stack without a single stray centimeter of paper protruding from the bulk.

Shizuka snickered and scratched the back of her head. "Come on, no need to be so formal. I'm a rich girl, not a princess. Besides that, I'm American. I'm not used to people being all formal."

"It's the norm here," Makoto said, sounding a little sheepish. "Maybe... Shizuka-chan would sound better?"

"It's not as formal, and that's fine by me." She smiled thinly. "So..." This was probably gonna sound awkward no matter how she phrased it, but she decided to just follow through. She'd never get to know new people if she didn't try. "You seem like a pretty interesting person. If you're interested, I'd like to hang out with you sometime."

The offer genuinely surprised her, her brows raised. Seemed that people didn't often ask her such things. "Truth be told, I'm a little curious about you too J- Shizuka-chan. I took the time to do a little research on your family history. You have a rather... intriguing background." She supposed that was a more polite way of putting it. If Shizuka were to describe her family, particularly the elements that were not public knowledge, the phrase 'fucking demented' would likely spring up repeatedly.

"Heh. Let's try later this week then. I should let you get down to business," Shizuka replied. She slid her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.

Smiling faintly, Makoto gave Shizuka a reassuring nod. "I'll look forward to it." She made for the stairs and headed up to the third floor. Shizuka made her way back toward 2-D.

Why was she interested in Makoto? Shizuka couldn't accurately explain why. Perhaps it was because she was the first student Shizuka had met, familiarity and all that. Or perhaps she was curious about the air of sadness that had lingered around her when they first met. Either way it was a start on making friends.

Just as she was nearing the classroom something odd occurred to Shizuka. Something that she only now noticed. There were quite a few people congregating at the windows, all looking up toward the same spot outside.

"Holy shit!"

"You see that too?"

"Is this for real?"

"We gotta grab the teachers, fast!"

"Do you think she's gonna jump?!"

"Jump...?" Shizuka murmured to herself. She turned toward the nearest window and lowered her sunglasses. That was when she saw her- a female figure on the school roof, past the guard rail and looking down into the courtyard. Shizuka couldn't make out many details just the slouch to her posture and the obvious fact that she was in a very unsafe position. "Holy shit!"

She was at the other end of the building, and if Shizuka was guessing right... when she reached the second floor she'd definitely be in range of her Stand. But did she dare risk it? Could she even catch a falling target?

What happened next all happened so fast, so much occuring in the span of what was only a few seconds. Students and staff rushed to the hall and made for the window, an atmosphere of shock filling the area. Down below she could see people rushing to the courtyard, and someone was shouting quite severely over the phone. Desperately trying to get an ambulance as quickly as possible.

The girl dropped.

On a reflex Shizuka's stand flew from her body, the golden frame darting across the open air like a speeding bullet. Unseen to human eyes. Shizuka grunted as the weight hit her Stand's arms, one instinctively locking around the girl's neck for the sake of support. The back of her Stand hit the grass and disturbed the earth beneath them... and despite the distance Shizuka thought she heard the sound of a bone snapping.

She recalled her Stand to her, her heart beating in her ears while students murmured their shock and horror of what had transpired. "Dude you... you saw that right? The... the thing that flew out of the new girl?"

Shizuka's eyes widened, and she quickly glanced to her left. Akira and his crass blond friend were looking at her, stunned. She and the two boys were the only one not looking out the windows.

She turned and quickly bolted, making her way down the stairs. With everyone else making a beeline for the courtyard, nobody even noticed as she rushed out of the front door. The fact that Shizuka was flickering in and out of visibility was perhaps helping in her quick escape.

Soon enough she had reached the vending machines outside the school and was pressing her forehead to a wall, breathing and sweating heavily. "I caught her, but what if that made it worse... what if I hurt her... sudden stopping isn't a good idea... no, shit, I... Oh God what if that was her neck that broke?" Shizuka was still flickering in and out of visibility.

Ever since she was a baby, her Stand had been tied to her emotions. Anxiety, sadness, fear, stress... too much of any of those and she'd just pop out of all visibility. It wasn't as bad as it had been when she was a baby, but still. She reached into her pocket, rooted through a small plastic bag and took out a mini jawbreaker from the bag. Shizuka popped it into her mouth and started sucking the crimson colouring from the sugary ball. Her heartbeat began to slow down and she felt herself become more... defined as a result.

"What was that?" Akira's voice made her stiffen. Shizuka wiped the sweat from her brow and turned around slowly.

"You saw it, didn't you? I had a feeling you were a user. And I'm guessing your friend is too," Shizuka said. She remained tense. When meeting another Stand user, they would either be a friend or a foe from the start. No middle ground.

Akira seemed almost as tense despite all attempts to appear confident. "Ryuji's checking on things in the courtyard. I'm here to see your ability up close." Yeah, he was a user alright. Potentially dangerous if there was any truth to the rumors circulating around him. But, at the same time, he really didn't strike her as a violent psycho thug.

"Yes." She tipped her head back slightly, her right hand resting on the matching hip while the other tipped her glasses upward. A halo of yellow light formed around her, as Shizuka's mysterious Stand appeared at her side, floating in the air on her back with her hands netted on the back of her head. "My Stand."