Jotaro strolling back onto campus after ditching classes for several days wasn’t particularly shocking to anyone.
After all, that was just standard operating procedure for a notorious delinquent.
Yet despite his rough reputation, Jotaro was wildly popular with the schoolgirls, with some even organizing an unofficial fan club in his honor.
Walking down the hallway, students greeted him enthusiastically from every side—all while a cold, piercing glare tracked his every move from the shadows.
A student in a tailored green school uniform held a paintbrush, casually slashing a crimson line across a canvas sketch of Jotaro.
On the painting, a sharp gash split across Jotaro’s left thigh.
Ascending the outdoor staircase, Jotaro’s honed danger instincts screamed; he snapped backward, dodging the invisible sneak attack by a hair’s breadth.
Through his relentless sparring against Horne, Jotaro had not only mastered his Stand’s raw output, but his situational awareness had skyrocketed.
An ambush that should have sent him tumbling down the stairs had struck empty air.
The green-clad student tilted his head slightly, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
“Did he sense it?
Or was it just dumb luck?
No matter.”
Unfazed that his opening strike had failed to force Jotaro’s Stand into the open…
He tossed the canvas over the railing with chilling disregard.
“Regardless of your tricks, you are no match for my Stand.
Since Lord Dio decreed your death, I will ensure your execution.”
He aimed his brush at the falling canvas; with an invisible pulse of kinetic force, the board splintered into pieces before hitting the ground.
When Jotaro crested the staircase, the student in the green uniform was waiting for him.
“So, you are the infamous Jotaro Kujo?”
The youth standing before him stood nearly as tall as Jotaro himself.
Possessing striking, handsome features framed by wavy reddish hair, his long-hemmed green uniform lent him an air of refined, dangerous elegance.
“I don’t know what rumors you’ve been hearing, but yeah, I’m Jotaro Kujo.
Now, who the hell are you?
You’re a fresh face around here.”
Jotaro pulled down the brim of his cap, his eyes locking onto the youth—an exact match for Horne’s description.
“The rumors certainly don’t do you justice.
I am Noriaki Kakyoin, a transfer student who arrived yesterday.
You weren’t in class yesterday, so it’s only natural you haven’t seen me.
In any case, I look forward to working with you, Kujo.”
“Right back at you, Kakyoin.”
An invisible spark of lethal tension hung thick in the air between them; had there not been dozens of civilian students watching, Jotaro would have unleashed Star Platinum to cave his face in on the spot.
With Jotaro’s current mastery over Star Platinum, Kakyoin wouldn’t even have time to blink before the fight was over in a single strike.
Now that his target had appeared, sitting through boring lectures was completely out of the question.
Jotaro shadowed Kakyoin like a relentless ghost; Horne had already provided an exhaustive dossier on Kakyoin’s Stand abilities beforehand:
Noriaki Kakyoin.
[Stand: Hierophant Green], Long-Distance Manipulation Type.
Destructive Power: C, Speed: B, Range: A, Durability: B, Precision: C, Growth Potential: D.
A humanoid entity composed of elongated, ribbon-like tendrils capable of stretching infinitely, coiling, knotting, weaving into traps, or sliding inside human bodies to hijack their motor functions and willpower.
Its primary offensive technique was the [Emerald Splash], firing high-velocity streams of pressurized, jewel-like bio-fluids as lethal penetrating projectiles.
Excels at controlling tight corridors and complex terrain.
With Horne acting as an all-knowing tactical cheat sheet, Jotaro was essentially walking into an open-book exam.
In the brutal mind games of Stand warfare, Kakyoin had lost the information battle before the first punch was thrown.
Meanwhile, Kakyoin was sweating profusely beneath his collar, thoroughly rattled by Jotaro’s bizarre behavior.
(Damn this Jotaro!
He’s ditching classes entirely just to bird-dog me…
all the web traps I laid in the classroom are completely useless!
I know for a fact the moment we hit an empty corridor, this bastard will strike without warning!!
No!
I can’t let him dictate the pace!
I have to strike first!!)
Kakyoin’s sharp intellect raced at full throttle, desperately calculating a countermeasure.
Unfortunately for him, Jotaro had already spotted the exact opening he needed: the school bell chimed, and within seconds, the bustling hallway emptied completely, leaving only the two of them.
“Kujo, the bell just rang.
Shouldn’t you be heading to class?”
(You arrogant bastard!
Get the hell out of my face and go to class!!)
Kakyoin cursed fiercely in his head.
“Class?
Do you honestly think this is the time for lectures, Dio’s little assassin?”
That single sentence rattled Kakyoin’s mental focus, and that split-second hesitation was all Jotaro required.
In Kakyoin’s dilated pupils, a massive, purple fist materialized, ready to obliterate his skull.
At the brink of death, Hierophant Green uncoiled from Kakyoin’s jacket, unleashing a desperate, point-blank [Emerald Splash] straight toward Jotaro’s chest!
This was Kakyoin’s gambit: even if he went down, he would drag Jotaro into the grave with him.
Dense torrents of solidified emerald projectiles tore through the air, each blast packing the kinetic penetration of a heavy handgun round.
Yet he could never have anticipated the unfathomable defensive output of Star Platinum.
“[Star Platinum]!!!”
Star Platinum manifested in full glory, ignoring the volley of Emerald Splashes as its armored chest tanked the barrage, bypassing a simple knockout to rain an apocalyptic flurry of blows upon Kakyoin’s body!
“ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!
ORA!”
A torrential storm of fists battered Kakyoin into complete unconsciousness, instantly retired from combat.
“Sorry about that.
I was hoping to knock you out painlessly.”
Without another word, Jotaro slung the limp Kakyoin over his shoulder and sprinted straight back to the Kujo estate.
“Horne!
I brought Kakyoin back!”
“Oh!
Nice work, Jotaro!”
Horne glanced down at Kakyoin sprawled across the tatami, sporting the unmistakable signs of a brutal beatdown.
(Is this the inescapable gravity of fate?
Even with all my interference, Kakyoin still couldn’t escape catching a savage beatdown from Jotaro.)
“First things first: extract the flesh bud embedded in his skull.
Jotaro, this precision work is strictly your job.”
“Yeah.
Leave it to me.”
Star Platinum’s Rank A Precision turned delicate neurosurgery into child’s play.
The parasitic flesh bud planted by Dio was plucked smoothly from Kakyoin’s brain tissue, while Horne’s solar Ripple flashed, instantly vaporizing the squirming parasite before its tentacles could latch onto Jotaro’s hands.
“Leave the healing to me.”
The biological restoration provided by Ripple energy was miraculous; while it couldn’t regenerate completely amputated organs, treating lacerations, blunt-force trauma, and fractured bones yielded instantaneous results.
Bathed in the warm, radiant bath of solar Ripple energy, Kakyoin’s eyes slowly fluttered open.
(This warmth…
what is this…?
It feels just like the sun…)
Kakyoin blinked his eyes open, greeted by the sight of a towering figure radiating a soft, golden solar halo.
“Oh!
Kakyoin!
You’re awake?!
The operation was a complete success!
You’re a lovely girl now!!”
“WHAT?!”
His groggy mind snapping to full alert in sheer panic, Kakyoin sprang upright, frantically patting his crotch and chest.
Realizing his manhood was completely intact, he let out a massive, trembling sigh of relief.
“Yo, Kakyoin.
Head feeling clear now?”
Kakyoin turned toward Horne, his violet eyes filled with profound gratitude.
“Thanks to you…
my mind is completely my own again.”
Then, he turned his gaze toward Jotaro.
“Jotaro Kujo…
I owe you my life as well.
Under that monster’s puppet strings, I nearly committed unforgivable atrocities.
If you hadn’t stopped me in time…”
Horne walked over and clasped Kakyoin’s shoulder with an easy grin.
“Don’t worry about it, Kakyoin.
We’ve shed blood together now; pulling a friend back from the brink before he loses his soul is what real brothers do.”
Those words struck a deep, vibrating chord in Kakyoin’s chest.
A true friend.
That was the singular dream he had chased his entire life.
Born a natural Stand user, he had grown up with Hierophant Green as his sole companion—an invisible phantom no ordinary human could perceive.
Because normal people couldn’t see his Stand, they could never truly understand his world; thus, he had never considered anyone who couldn’t see Hierophant Green a true friend.
And now, he stood before two men he could proudly call his brothers.
“Three months ago, while traveling through Egypt with my parents…
that was when I encountered him.
A monstrous demon masquerading as a man named Dio!!”
Kakyoin poured his heart out, recounting the terrifying nightmare of his encounter with Dio and the parasitic horror of the flesh bud.