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cheemers-writing-archive · 2 months

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Drunken Words Reveal Sober Thoughts (Phoenix Wright x Reader)

YAY my first Phoenix fic. I’ve been in love with him for a while this should’ve happened a lot sooner.

You should’ve drunk more that night.

Some friends of yours from the detective squad decided to go to a bar, and invited you with them. You had work the next day, but decided to go anyway and keep the drinking light. But that was the problem: while you were trying to avoid a hangover tomorrow, everyone else was drinking the night away.

As you try to find someone to talk to, you pass by many of the invitees. Detective Gumshoe was teetering back and forth, telling some tall tale to Maggey, Officer Marshall was making some dubious threats to someone you didn’t recognize, and Prosecutor Edgeworth… was… was he drinking tea? There wasn’t a hint of flush on his face. Although you were initially relieved to finally find someone to talk to, you weren’t drunk enough to forget that doing that was a bad idea.

Just as you were about to look on the other side, someone else catches your eye: Phoenix Wright. The two of you had talked before, mostly exchanging information about a trial you were both working on, but it was hardly enough to even call the two of you work acquaintances. Still, it didn’t stop you from falling head over heels for him, much to your dismay.

Wright was talking to a man you could’ve sworn you’d seen before, but had no clue where. The other man didn’t matter all that much, anyway. You couldn’t help but be drawn in by Wright’s drunken complexion. His hazy eyes seemed to glimmer from the neon lights around the bar, and the blush on his cheeks complimented his face perfectly.

You snapped yourself out of it. You were being creepy, staring at some guy you hardly knew! What if he caught you? How would your work relationship suffer? Plus, he was drunk! People shouldn’t be cuter than usual when they’re drunk!

Sighing, you decide to go outside for some fresh air. You were in no position to be anywhere near Wright at the moment, as you could let your feelings be known without even meaning to. You knew that bottling them up like this was bad in the long run, but it would be worse if every single case you were both working on was awkward.

God, what am I supposed to do?

“Whoa.”

A familiar voice pulled you out of your thoughts. You turned your head to see Wright staring right at you, mouth agape. In his hand was a bottle of beer, but it was quickly dropped and forgotten about.

Was this it? Was Wright about to confess? Would you finally get to be free of the heartache you felt every time you see him? Would you and Phoenix finally enter a relationship?

“You look exactly like this detective I work with! That’s crazy!”

Oh.

“Really?” You ask, feeling too awkward to reveal your true identity to him.

“Well, I say that I work with them, but it’s really more…”

You stopped listening once Wright started explaining your work relationship, losing yourself in your own thoughts again. It seemed that he was the forgetful type when drunk, and painfully unaware. Of course. Why would you think that he was going to tell you that he liked you? Why would he feel that way about you? You barely know each-

“I mean, I’d love to be closer than we are right now, though. After all, I have a huge crush on them.”

What?

WHAT?

Did Wright just say he had a crush on you? Just like that? To a supposed stranger?

“Oh?” you asked, trying so hard to hide your excitement.

“Yeah, huuuuuge crush. Like this big.” Wright stretched his arms out as far as he could, and almost slapped you in the face. “I mean, I’m head over heels for this one.”

And now, Phoenix was describing everything about you as if you were a Greek sculpture. Every single word he spoke had love poured into it as he went into detail about what he liked about you. He wasn’t great with his words as drunk as he was, but you didn’t care.

“You know, sometimes I look at their lips and I wonder what they’d feel like against mine,” Phoenix said. The way his gaze was suddenly fixated in the distance meant he was probably zoned out, thinking about it right now.

You decided to shoot your shot.

“Well, what if you kissed me?” you asked. “I look exactly like this person, right? My lips would probably feel the same as theirs.”

Phoenix shook his head. “No, sorry. I want to save it for them, once I finally tell them.”

Although the irony of that statement wasn’t lost on you, you were more focused on the loyalty of it. Phoenix, a man you weren’t dating yet, was saving his kiss for you. And here you were, pretending to be someone else, trying to steal it prematurely while he was drunk.

Oh, god. Wright was drunk. You were drunk. You just asked if Wright wanted to kiss you. You were both drunk. You had work in the morning. You had a healthy work relationship with Wright. You tried to kiss him.

“I think I should head home,” you suddenly spoke out, almost involuntarily. “It was nice to meet you. Goodbye.”

“See ya,” was all he said as you hailed a taxi to be driven home.

***

You were glad you didn’t drink more that night.

It was a bright, sunny day, and although you had a small headache, some pain medication would fix your issue right away. You were walking down to the precinct to clock in for work, but you decided to make a detour first. Gumshoe said it was right next to that hotel, right?

Eventually, you found the building you were looking for, and then the office inside of there. You took a deep breath, then knocked on the door. As it opened, you were greeted with… a girl. She had straight, black hair, partially tied up in a bun, and a purple robe. This wasn’t who you were expecting.

“Welcome to Wright and Co.,” the girl said. At least you were at the right place. “Sorry, Nick’s a little tied up right now. He said he probably got food poisoning from the restaurant he went to last night, and so he’s been in and out of the bathroom.”

Restaurant. Food poisoning. Right.

If this girl didn’t know why Wright was really in the bathroom, then this is a conversation you needed to have out of her earshot. “That’s okay,” you said. “Is it alright if I wait for him in the other room?”

“Sure!” the girl said. You went into the next room, closing the door behind you.

It wasn’t too long before Wright came to talk, but as soon as he opened the door and saw you, his face went pale. He remembered.

“Look, about what happened last night, I’m-”

As Wright was rambling, you suddenly stood up. You didn’t really mean to, nor did you mean to walk up to him and grab his necktie, pulling him into a kiss. It ended as quickly and abruptly as it began, though, as you quickly pulled away and sat back down.

“I’ve had a crush on you for a while, actually,” you said, quieter than usual. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you who I was last night, but once you started talking about me, I just wanted to keep listening to you talk about me. If I’m honest, that was the most I’ve really felt loved recently.” You finally looked back up at Phoenix, who was giving you a thousand-yard stare, hands hovering over his lips.

The realization kicked in.

“Oh, my god,” you whispered. “I kissed you. I… oh my god. I’m so sorry! I… that… I’m… it wasn’t… that wasn’t professional! I’m so, so sorry! I just got so caught up in my emotions, I didn’t even…”

As you were rambling, you were suddenly cut off by Phoenix’s lips against yours. This kiss, however, lasted a bit longer, and the pull-away was softer than before.

“Don’t worry,” Phoenix told you, his voice softer than before. “I won’t press charges or anything.” He let out a small laugh. The way he laughed at his own jokes made you involuntarily speak again.

“Dinner tonight?”

Phoenix seemed just as stunned as you were that you asked so bluntly. “Uh… yeah, sure! Anywhere specific you wanna go?”

“What if we walked around… holding hands… and we decided then?”

As soon as you said that out loud, you cringed. What were you, a grade-schooler? Phoenix didn’t seem to mind, though, as he said, “Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” through stifled laughter.

“You’re laughing at me!” you cried out, laughing yourself.

“Sorry!” Phoenix released the laugh he was holding. “It was just unexpected!”

As the two of you calmed down, you stood up again. “Should I meet you here after I’m done with work?” you asked.

Phoenix nodded. “I’ll be waiting!”

#Phoenix Wright x reader #ace attorney x reader

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cheemers-writing-archive · 3 months

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Fandom List

-Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (up to Steel Ball Run)

-Cowboy Bebop

-Hunter x Hunter (up to the Chairman Election arc)

-Mob Psycho 100 (excluding the REIGEN oneshot)

-Ace Attorney (up to Trials and Tribulations

-One Punch Man (excluding manga-only arcs)

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cheemers-writing-archive · 3 months

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ok. Rebranding is done. And I’ve also devised a plan for opening and closing requests. That is, once my request count hits 16, I open them up, and when it hits 32, I close them.

That being said, I have 9 requests right now, which means… requests are open again!!

And that’s not all. Since the last closure of requests, I’ve watched more anime and played more games. And I’ve gotten crushes on some characters from those games and anime. Which also means…

I’m adding Mob Psycho 100, One Punch Man, and Ace Attorney to my fandom list!

I look forward to writing for all of you!!

#cowboy bebop x reader #hunter x hunter x reader #jjba x reader #mob psycho 100 x reader #one punch man x reader #ace attorney x reader

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cheemers-writing-archive · 3 months

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Masterlist

Chaptered

Oneshots and Headcanons

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cheemers-writing-archive · 3 months

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Masterlist: Oneshots and Headcanons

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Cowboy Bebop

Hunter x Hunter

Ace Attorney

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cheemers-writing-archive · 3 months

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Masterlist: Chaptered

Crusader of Life (JJBA) (Kakyoin x Reader)

Crusader of Life 2 (JJBA) (Kakyoin x OC)

Crusader of Life 3 (JJBA) (Fan-Part)

Nothing Else Like It (JJBA) (Kakyoin x OC)

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cheemers-writing-archive · 3 months

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my dream as a fanfic writer is to write a story which people want to talk to me about and send asks about afterwards and discuss things the characters did and the symbolism and meanings behind certain lines and I'll be all "hehe thanks" but irl I'll be in literal tears because I wrote something that means something to someone

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cheemers-writing-archive · 4 months

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Hello again! And happy belated New Year's! Just wanted to give a quick update saying that no, I did not forget about this blog, it was just a hard year last year, and that this is the last year that I'll write for characters who are 17 years old romantically! This means the pending requests I have for characters like Kurapika, Kakyoin, and part 3 Jotaro will be put at top priority so I can finish them in time. I'm not in college anymore and I'm coming up with a plan to schedule my creative time so hopefully fic writing won't take as long as it has in the past!

Another thing! I'm probably going to be doing some redesigning, since I've had this theme layout for a while now. I think it's time for an update!

Thanks for all the support I've garnered over the years! ily all <3

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cheemers-writing-archive · 5 months

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The Bar (Spike Spiegel x Reader)

(a/n: I’ve literally never been inside a bar so I’m going off of movies and stuff, sorry if this is inaccurate!)

The ring of the bell. Despite the clamor of everything around you, from the glasses clinking to the drunks belly-laughing, you’ve trained yourself to hear that bell. That meant you either gained or lost a customer, and it was important to notice who arrived and left. Luckily for you, the one who arrived was one of your favorites.

“Spike, welcome back!” you called. The man turned to look at you, and his lips involuntarily rose up to a smile. He noticed a free stool in front of you, and helped himself as he walked up and sat down.

“How’s my favorite bartender doing?” Spike leaned forward on the counter and rested his head on his hand.

“Oh, you know, same old, same old.” You grabbed a glass from the ceiling and spun it on your finger. “The usual?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Spike said. He waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t have the money for that.”

“Well, then, this one’s on the house.” You grabbed the glass again and started filling it with alcohol. “I can’t say the same for getting information out of me, though.”

“What if I replace my free drink with free information?”

You laughed. “Well, it’s a little too late for that. I already poured your fill. I’ll tell you what: one drink you buy, three questions you get to ask me.”

Spike nodded. “Then I’ll go ahead and buy that drink.” He handed you a few woolongs and took the glass from your hands. “I needed to ask three questions, anyway.”

“Alright, fire away, then.” You leaned down, meeting eye to eye with Spike. For a brief moment, you could’ve sworn his cheeks were redder than usual.

“Well, then, first question.” Spike said, setting a piece of paper down in front of you. “Do you know this guy?”

The person depicted had a buzzcut that was dyed green and earrings that went down to their chin. That was their downfall. “I’ve actually seen someone just like that,” you told Spike. “They left this bar just a few minutes ago.”

“What?” Spike said, a bit louder than he meant to. “Which way did they go?”

“I saw their shadow run by my window, so I’d say to the right, once you step foot outside the bar.”

“Thanks! You’re a lifesaver!” Spike quickly left his seat and headed for the door, but stopped just as soon as he was about to leave and slowly returned to the bar.

“What’s wrong, cowboy?” you asked. “Aren’t you going to wrangle your bounty?”

“I forgot to ask my third question.” Spike had a half smile and a hand behind his neck. However, once he cleared his throat, his familiar smug grin returned. “Do you wanna get some coffee later this evening? You and me?”

That question made you do a double take. A date? He just asked you on a date, right? From the way he was getting more and more uncomfortable with your silence, that seemed to be the case. Finally, after collecting your thoughts once again, you gave him an answer.

“Postponing your bounty chase to ask me out? You must be serious,” you laughed.

“I’m going after them as soon as you give me an answer.” Spike said.

“Well, then, I won’t hold you any longer. I’d love to get some coffee with you.”

Spike let out a huge sigh, then ran towards the door again. “I’ll pick you up from here at eight, got it?” he yelled, then bolted outside.

You let out another laugh. “I look forward to it, Spike Spiegel.”

#spike x reader #spike spiegel x reader #cowboy bebop x reader

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cheemers-writing-archive · 7 months

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Nothing Else Like It: Chapter 15

Hi! It's almost been a full year since I've updated this, huh? I would love to say that in typical fanfic writer fashion, something insanely dramatic happened to prevent this chapter, but that is not the case. I just felt like I couldn't write. I do think the fact that I almost flunked out of college TWICE before I updated this fic is connected somehow. Anyway, I hope this chapter is worth the wait!

Oh, one more thing! This is a crossover with my other fic, Crusader of Life 3! If you wanna see all of this from Emily and the others' perspective, I'd suggest you read it! The two books before it are kinda bad in my opinion, so I wouldn't suggest reading those first, but you can if you want I guess.

“Hey! Kai! Stop swinging that around!”

“But Grandad, I’m being careful!”

“You’re swinging around a mace! Just because Dedun can form its hands into anything you can carry doesn’t mean you should wield a weapon right now! We’re in a submarine!”

Kai sighed, calling Dedun back. He walked towards the couch, about to lay down on it, before he saw Jotaro sitting there. He gave his brother a glare before sitting on the chair next to the couch.

“I kind of miss being sleepy all the time,” Kai sighed. “Now that I’m not sick anymore, my body has no reason to let me rest. But I guess it makes me less of a burden, huh, Jotaro?” The last sentence was said louder than the others, with Kai turning his head towards his brother.

Jotaro huffed. “Okay fine, maybe I was a little harsher than I should’ve been-”

“A little?”

“But you have your Stand now, so what’s the big deal?” Jotaro was sitting straight up now.

“The deal is that you called me a burden!” Kai snapped. Without warning, Dedun’s fist materialized, swinging at Jotaro. Star Platinum’s hand materialized shortly after that, catching the fist before it hit its user.

Jotaro stared at the caught fist for a short while before turning his head back to his brother, exclaiming, “What the hell, Kai?” However, he could see that Kai was stricken with terror for a few moments before hardening his face as best as he could.

“Serves you right,” Kai said, voice wavering. He called Dedun back, then ran to the restroom.

Jotaro sighed. “He needs better control of his Stand,” he muttered. “Avdol, since you’re back, why don’t you help?”

“Don’t just brush off what happened, Jotaro!” Kakyoin said. “Calling him a burden, even if it was sort of true, was completely unwarranted. Kai’s not completely in the right, either, but you should at least try to patch things up, since this was kind of your fault in the first place.”

“Kai’s overreacting.” Jotaro shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve said worse things before and he’s gotten over it.”

“That doesn’t make this okay,” Joseph said. “You hurt your brother’s feelings. I’m not going to force you to apologize like before, but that’s because I want you to mean it when you do.”

“I’ll go make sure Kai’s not too shaken up by Dedun acting on its own,” Avdol said. “Mr. Joestar, can you pilot the submarine while I’m gone?” Joseph nodded, and Avdol went to the restroom, with Kakyoin following close behind.

“Kai?” Kakyoin lightly knocked on the door. “Kai, are you in there?”

There was no answer.

“Look, if you don’t want Avdol and I to come in, say so now, okay?” Kakyoin continued. “I’m not hearing anything from your side, and that worries me.”

Still no answer. Kakyoin pressed his ear to the door, and there wasn’t even muffled sobs coming from the other side.

“Alright, I’m opening the door now,” Kakyoin said. He turned the knob, and gasped when the door opened completely. Kai wasn’t there.

“Everyone!” Avdol shouted. “Kai’s missing!”

“Missing?” Polnareff asked. “How? We’re in a submarine!”

“He’s not in the submarine,” Kakyoin said. “We don’t know how he got out, or whether he was forced out by an enemy, but he did!”

Jotaro stood up. “Well, are we going to find him or not?”

Suddenly, Joseph let out a pained scream. The others turned to him, seeing that the steering wheel had morphed into a sword and sliced Joseph’s artificial hand off. The sword then batted the metal fingers straight into Joseph’s neck, causing him to pass out.

“Before we find Kai, I think we’ll have to deal with the enemy at hand,” Avdol said to the others. “It seems we have another Stand user attacking us.”

***

Just moments before, Kai slammed the bathroom door, then bent over the counter, breathing heavily. “What was that?” he asked Dedun, who materialized right beside the boy. “Why did you attack Jojo?”

“You were thinking that you wanted to punch him, so I simply did as you ordered me to,” Dedun bowed.

“No, I… I didn’t actually want to punch him!” Kai dug his fingers into his scalp. “This is bad. If every thought I have turns into an order for you, who knows what’ll happen? Someone I love could be injured, or killed!”

“Terrifying thought, is it?” a woman’s voice asked. Kai turned around to see a woman behind him. She had fair skin, dark purple hair, and sunglasses over her eyes. “To have the power to kill, right at your fingertips?”

“Who are you?” Kai demanded. Dedun stepped in front of his user.

“Oh, I’m nobody important,” the woman said with a smooth voice. “However, you’re very important, which is exactly why I’m here.”

Before he could react, the ground beneath Kai opened up, making him fall onto concrete. While he was regaining his footing, the woman jumped in with him, then closed up the sky. “Ah, good, I was afraid you’d have a version of you in this world,” she said.

“What did you do to me?” Kai asked. “Where am I?”

“You’re in another world,” the woman answered. “My name is Maya Valentine, and I dragged you here with my Stand, D4C.”

“What does that stand for?”

“It doesn’t really stand for anything,” she shrugged, “but that’s not the point. I dragged you here because I need you to take someone out for me.”

“Like Hell I will,” Kai said. “I won’t kill somebody just because someone else tells me to.”

“Fine,” Maya shrugged. “I guess you don’t want to go back to your world, then.” She started to walk away.

“Wait!” Kai exclaimed. Maya stopped and turned around.

“Who do I need to kill?”

Maya’s mouth formed into a smile, and she took off her glasses. “There’s a girl who’s the daughter of a mafia boss. Her name is Gionna Giovanna.” Maya handed a picture to Kai, a portrait of a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. “If she’s killed, her father’s spirit will be broken, and his hold on the underground will be loosened.”

“Do you have any idea of where I can find her?”

“She should be asleep right now,” Maya said. “In fact, I took away the hard part of finding her for you. The window to her bedroom should be right there.” She pointed to a window just a few yards away. “Just go in, kill her, and go out. If you can do that, I’ll send you back home.”

Kai gulped as he walked over to the window. If I can just make it sound like I killed her, I can go back home without that on my conscience, he thought to himself. Luckily for him, the window was open, so he jumped through, landing on the creaky floorboards. In the room were two beds on either side. Kai looked to one side, where there was a girl with red hair about the same age as him. He turned to the other side, expecting to see the girl in the picture, but instead there was nothing.

“Who are you?”

Kai gasped, quickly turning around. The girl on the other side was sitting upright in bed. She looked past Kai and at the empty bed behind him.

“What did you do to Gionna?”

“Wait, wait! I promise I didn’t do anything to her!” Kai put open hands in front of him.

“But you were planning to do something to Gionna if she was here,” the girl said. Kai was suddenly lifted up into the air, being violently thrown out of the window. When he regained his footing after rolling on the ground for a moment, he saw the girl go out after him, flying in the air. “Once I’m done with you, I’ll go find her.”

You don’t understand! I was only pretending to kill her! Kai wanted to shout. However, the threat of Maya being nearby kept his mouth shut. The only thing he could do was keep up the act in front of her. He summoned Dedun, transforming its hand into a gun.

“So you do have a Stand,” the girl said. She revealed her own, a golden, human-like figure, with flowing hair that merged with the head.

Kai aimed the gun at the girl’s shoulder, then shot it. However, before it hit her, the bullet magically stopped in front of her, falling to the ground.

So, she can stop objects in midair with her ability, Kai thought. I’m starting to get a clearer idea of what her Stand is capable of.

Just a few moments after Kai shot his gun, the girl zoomed towards him. With the way she was moving, Kai would never be able to get a clean shot to the shoulder, so he had Dedun change the gun into a knife. The girl noticed this, pulling up before Kai could do anything. While she was in the air, her eyes widened while she looked down at something.

“Gionna!” the girl shouted. “Wake the others up! I need some backup!”

Kai gulped. If I don’t tell her what’s really going on soon, I might never get the chance.

The girl was flying down to Kai again. He looked down to the ground, seeing Gionna running to the window. He started to run towards Gionna, hoping that Maya would believe he was making a mistake of forgetting about the girl in the air. Sure enough, the girl grabbed Kai by his arms, lifting him up into the air.

“Did you seriously forget about me?” the girl asked. “I thought you’d be harder to deal with.”

“I didn’t,” Kai said. “I need to tell you something out of earshot of the girl who’s watching me.”

The girl stopped, suspending the two of them in the air.

“Don’t stop flying yet,” Kai whispered. “I don’t know how good she is at picking up context clues.”

The girl continued flying, and while she did, Kai explained who he was and how he was put into this predicament.

“Is Dedun your Stand?” the girl asked.

Kai nodded.

“Why didn’t you just explain this to me before I started fighting?”

“I didn’t know if Maya was watching me, and I didn’t want to give away my plans.”

The girl nodded, then asked one more question. “What’s your name?”

“Kai Kujo.”

The girl almost stopped again, but kept her composure and continued flying. “Kujo?”

“You know that name?”

“Yeah. My dad’s friend has the same last name.”

Kai narrowed his eyes. “What did you say your name was, again?”

“Emily Kakyoin.”

“Your dad wouldn’t happen to have the name Noriaki, would he?”

Emily gasped. “How did you know?”

Kai laughed. “I’m dating Noriaki right now! And if my hunch is correct, your dad’s friend is my brother, Jotaro.”

Emily laughed, as well, but it quickly died down. “We’re going pretty far from the house,” she said. “I think we need a plan for bringing you back so we can talk more. There are still things I need to know.”

“What if you just knocked me out?” Kai asked. “It’s a good way to get me inside your home without Maya thinking that I’ve teamed up with you.”

Emily tilted her head. “Are you sure?”

Kai shrugged. “I’ve passed out plenty of times before.”

Emily let out a small laugh. “You’re weird, you know that?” she said. Before Kai could respond, Emily threw him down.

While he was falling, Kai laughed, too. “You’re just as weird as me,” he said to himself, before he hit the ground and lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, unknown to anyone else, Maya was watching the scene unfold from an area inside of her Stand. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you’re gaining the enemies’ trust, Kai,” she said to herself. “However, you aren’t getting back to your world unless you give me the head of Gionna Giovanna.”

***

A muffled voice. As Kai regained consciousness, he heard a muffled voice. He slowly opened his eyes, the light blinding him before he adjusted to it. As he continued waking up, the voice that was talking cleared up. Kai noticed that it sounded like Emily, but he still couldn’t make out what she was saying. It sounded like she was speaking in a different language.

He tried to move from his spot, but he was paralyzed. No, that wasn’t right. He could move very slightly, but if he tried moving any more, the bindings all around his body would restrict him. Kai also apparently made a small noise, because all four heads suddenly turned to him. Besides Emily, there was a boy with black hair, a boy with brown hair, and a person with dark purple hair.

Emily walked around to the back of the chair Kai was sitting in. “How long have you been awake?” she asked as she undid the rope that held him down.

“Not that long,” Kai said. Once his restraints were lifted, he stood up and stretched his arms out. “What’s everyone’s names?”

The other three furrowed their eyebrows and tilted their heads.

“Oh, giusto!” Emily said. “Ragazzi, non capite il giapponese. Kai sta chiedendo i vostri nomi.”

The others’ confused looks went away.

“Lucio,” the black-haired boy said.

“Marco,” the brown-haired boy said.

“Nadia,” the purple-haired person said.

“Pleased to meet you all.” Kai stood up from his chair and bowed. “I’m sorry about causing you worry with Gionna.”

Emily translated once again for everyone else. Nadia said something that Kai didn’t understand.

“They’re saying not to worry about it,” Emily told Kai. “You did what you had to do.”

Kai looked back up, letting his muscles relax. Once he sat back down, everyone else started to talk to each other, leaving Kai unable to communicate with anyone else. I at least wish I could talk with Emily more, he thought to himself.

After a little while, Emily turned back to Kai. “So, right now, our plan is to, well, come up with one between Nadia, Marco, Lucio, and I, then tell you about it to see if you have any additions to make. Also, Lucio said that if you wanted a more comfy place to hang out, you could go to his room and rest there.”

“Thanks,” Kai said, and left for the hallway. Once he started to leave, the others started talking. While he was walking down the hall, looking at the rooms, he saw Gionna sleeping in her bed. She’s alone right now, he thought to himself. If I want to get back home as quickly as possible, now would be the perfect time. His pace slowed a bit as he found himself lost in thought, before shaking his head and putting his focus back on finding Lucio’s room. I’m not going to kill someone who doesn’t deserve it, even if that means I’ll never go home.

Luckily for Kai, everyone had labels on their room, and he had paid attention in English class enough to read the romanized alphabet. He read the letters; M-A-R-C-O, L-U-C-I-O, N-A-D-I-A. Marco, Lucio, and Nadia. Kai entered Lucio’s room, and laid down on the bed. “This is the worst,” he mumbled.

“If you want it to end, you have the power to make it end right now,” Maya’s voice said. Kai jolted up, seeing Maya close up the sky that she likely just opened to arrive. “Gionna’s alone right now.”

“Maya!” Kai exclaimed.

“Look, thinking of a plan to trick me into thinking that you’ve killed Gionna won’t work, because I can spy on you whenever I want,” Maya said. “If you want to get back to your world, you’ll have to take a life. Whether that happens or not depends on you.”

Once Maya was done talking, footsteps started to make their way down the hall. “Well, it looks like I have to go,” Maya continued. “If you ever decide to actually take Gionna’s life, I’ll support you however I can. See you soon!”

And just like that, Maya opened up the ground and left, leaving no sign she was ever there in the first place.

Suddenly, a knock came from the other side of the door. “Kai?” Emily’s voice said. “Are you in there?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m here,” Kai said, heart still beating. “You can come in.”

Emily opened up the door, and her eyebrows immediately furrowed. “Is everything okay?”

Do I really look that freaked out? “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Kai said, forcing himself to smile. “I just saw a bug and it freaked me out a bit.”

“Oh, yuck,” Emily laughed. “Well, the rest of us came up with a plan, if you’d like to hear about it.” She nudged her head towards the door, beckoning for Kai to follow her. Kai got up from the bed and walked behind Emily as she started talking.

I can’t give anything away, Kai thought to himself. I have to look like I haven’t seen Maya yet. If they know Maya can spy on me whenever, it’ll put all of us at a disadvantage. I’ll have to act like their plan will work, and come up with something on my own.

“So, right now, our plan is to create some fake blood, and spill it all over Gionna’s bed,” Emily said. “We’ll probably spill some on you, too, so that Maya can be more convinced you killed her. How good are you with acting?”

“I’m… decent?”

“Do you think you can act shell-shocked?”

“I guess so.”

“Good.” Emily smiled. “Once we get the preparations ready, you go find Maya and tell her that you killed Gionna. Make sure to act like you’re utterly terrified with what you did, so she’ll believe you easier.”

Kai nodded. “How long do you think preparations will take?”

“Oh, not that long. I’d say just long enough for me to ask all the questions I’m dying to ask.”

Kai let out a laugh. “You’re not the only one who’ll be asking, you know.”

“Well, since you’re on board with this idea, I’ll tell the others.” Emily patted Kai on the back, then stood up and turned to everyone else, once again speaking in what Kai thought was Italian. While she was talking, Kai thought of ways to defeat Maya on his own. I have to be able to use Maya’s ability to appear anywhere to my advantage, but how? She can spy on me whenever, and is probably watching me right now. I can’t let her know I’m figuring something out on my own.

Kai decided to zone back in just as Nadia and Lucio were leaving. Lucio was waving a hand with a smile on his face, and Emily was rolling her eyes with the same smile.

“You seem to be really good friends with… Lucio, I think his name is,” Kai said once they left.

Emily scoffed. “Oh, please, he annoys me to no end.” She sat back down, and eagerly turned to Kai. “Enough about me, though. You’re from another world. That’s so much more interesting than my life.”

And from there, the two shared lots of different parts of their life. Kai learned that in this world, there was a woman named Lily who married Kakyoin, and the two of them had Emily. She told Kai about Morioh and a man named Yoshikage Kira, about how he brutally murdered Lily. She told him about Daichi, and about Giorno Giovanna, and about how she got into this mess in the first place.

While the two were talking, Kai was thinking through his plan. If I can attack while others are present, they can attack Maya, too. I don’t know what everyone’s Stands do, but I at least know that Emily can restrain her. It just might be what I need to bargain my way back to my world.

Sometime during their chat, Kai noticed Nadia and Gionna uncovering a rug and opening a trapdoor on the floor. So that’s where she is, he thought.

“Huh,” Emily said. “That’s something new.”

Kai tilted his head.

“I’m fairly new here,” Emily continued, “so I don’t know about everything they have. I had no clue there was a trapdoor there.”

After some time, Nadia came back out by themself, then covered the trapdoor up with the rug again. They said something in Italian, and Emily nodded.

“We’re almost ready,” she told Kai.

“Well, if we don’t get another chance, I just want to say that it was nice meeting you,” Kai said. “I wish I could’ve met you in different circumstances.”

“Same here.” Just as Emily finished her sentence, Lucio came up and spoke to Emily. She stood up, telling Kai that they were ready. He stood up with her, and the two walked back to Gionna’s room with Lucio. When they got there, Marco flicked a dark red liquid all over Kai.

“How do I look?” Kai asked Emily.

“Like a murderer,” Emily said, “but not a regretful murderer.”

“Oh! Right,” Kai said. He changed his expression, making his eyes go wide, looking at the ground.

“Oh, wow, that’s amazing!” Emily laughed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you actually killed her.”

“I guess we’re ready, then,” Kai sighed, shaking his body. “Let’s hope this works.” And let’s hope I can keep up this act whenever I come back.

As everyone was walking to their rooms, Kai left the house, walking a ways away from it. Once he was far enough away, Maya opened up the sky and landed on the ground.

“I see you didn’t let your friends know about me,” she said. “I’m guessing you’re ready to kill?”

Kai nodded, keeping his expression the same. “I’m ready.”

“Good!” Maya chirped. “I’ll help you however I can, then.”

And that’s going to be your downfall, Kai thought to himself. Maya fell through the ground again, and Kai started slowly walking back. Once he got back, he opened and closed the front door louder than usual, hoping to alert the others. Sure enough, Emily and Marco appeared from the hall entrance.

“It didn’t work?” Emily asked.

Kai slowly shook his head. “There’s only one other thing I can do in this situation,” he said, then summoned Dedun. The Stand’s hand formed into a ball and chain, then it slammed into the floor right under the rug, breaking the trapdoor. Kai quickly jumped down the chute and ran away from Walking on Sunshine’s range before Emily realized what was happening.

Making his way into the basement, Kai realized why Nadia was okay with him seeing the secret trapdoor. To call the place a labyrinth wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Still, he couldn’t hesitate in going every which way to look for Gionna, because to stay still would be worse than getting lost.

“Turn left here,” Maya’s voice said. It sounded like she was speaking from Kai’s back. Startled, Kai stopped running and put a hand on his back, feeling a small hole in his clothes.

“I can place my portals anywhere I want, and I don’t necessarily have to travel between them if I don’t want to,” Maya continued. “I know where Gionna is being hidden, and so I’ll guide you there. Turn left here.”

Kai did as he was told, steering himself left. He kept running in the same direction before Maya said, “Turn right.” Kai obeyed, and turned right. He continued like this, turning when Maya said so, until he saw Emily, Marco, and Nadia running from the other side. Nadia said something in a panic, then the three turned into a corridor.

“I’m sure you don’t need me anymore, huh?” Maya said, then went silent. Kai turned where the others did, and saw them surrounding Gionna.

“Give up, Kai!” Emily shouted. “You’re outnumbered!”

“He may be outnumbered right now, but I can change that,” Maya’s voice said. A portal opened right above the three, and she suddenly grabbed Nadia, pulling them up into the portal and closing it.

After Nadia disappeared, Kai started slowly approaching Emily and Marco. He summoned Dedun, forming his hand into a sword. Emily stood right in front of Gionna, screaming, “Don’t do it!”

“What choice do I have?” Kai screamed back. “I can’t stay here forever!”

“I don’t want to kill you!” Tears started to form in Emily’s eyes. “Don’t make me kill you!”

Kai didn’t answer, instead continuing to approach. He could see an aura around Marco, signaling that he summoned his Stand, and suddenly, Kai ran into an invisible wall. He blinked a few times, trying to get a hold of his surroundings. Once he did, he slowly reached his hands out, trying to understand what happened. Sure enough, his hands pressed against that same wall, but he realized that there was a light pink tint to it.

Once he had a feel for what was happening, he brought a plan into action. He had Dedun’s sword morph into a ball and chain again, swinging it into the shield that blocked him. Each time, the ball made a loud boom, threatening to break the barrier. Behind the others watching carefully, Kai saw Maya sneak up behind Marco.

Maya said something in Italian, and Marco jumped. Suddenly, Kai’s attacks made a crack in the barrier. However, his plan was never to break the wall. His plan was to lure Maya out from hiding.

“Now’s your chance!” Kai shouted. “Restrain her!”

Emily stood still for a moment, but quickly summoned Sunshine and lifted Maya up and away from the portal she made before she could escape.

“You…” Maya growled, scowling at Kai. “You tricked me!”

“And you used me to do your dirty work,” Kai said. “I’d say we’re even now.”

Emily, still holding Maya in the air, immediately became more relaxed. She spoke to Marco, who spoke back. The two kept talking, until Marco sighed, saying one more thing. Suddenly, the light pink wall in front of Kai disappeared, and he calmly walked forward, calling back Dedun.

As Kai continued to walk, Emily sat down on the floor as she talked to Maya. Maya continued to have an air of confidence at first, but it quickly started breaking the more Emily spoke. Eventually, Nadia was dropped from a portal, and another portal opened up. This one showed an image of Jotaro, Kakyoin, Joseph, Avdol, and Polnareff, along with a dog that Kai had never seen before.

Once Kai got a good look at the other side of the portal, he looked back up and nodded. “Yup, this is my world.”

“So this is where we say goodbye?” Emily asked.

Kai nodded. “I guess it is.”

“Well, then it was really cool meeting you!” Emily said. “I’ll never forget about you, so you better not forget about us!”

Kai looked back at everyone, giving a small laugh. “Don’t worry about that. It’s hard to forget a bunch like you guys!” he said. And with that, he jumped in the portal as it closed right behind him. He didn’t fall for long before he landed in the sand.

“Everyone! I’m back!” Kai shouted. The rest of the group didn’t move from their spots and didn’t speak either, instead just looking back, horrified.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked, walking towards the others. “Come on, it’s me, you know that!” He suddenly stopped, realizing what could be going on.

Was I sent to the wrong world?

The more Kai thought about it, though, the less it seemed likely. If Kai was a stranger to these guys, they would’ve immediately gone on the defensive. No, something else was going on. He looked around, then noticed Kakyoin completely passed out, with blood dripping from his eyes.

“Oh, god, Noriaki!” Kai shouted. “What happened to Noriaki?”

“Kai, look out!” Avdol shouted. Kai looked back at the man, seeing that he was running straight for him. Avdol tackled Kai, and suddenly, Kai saw a stream of water cut off a piece of Avdol’s neck. Before he could process anything, though, he hit his head on the sand just right, and passed out.

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cheemers-writing-archive · 7 months

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Crusader of Life 3: Chapter 6

Oh, one more thing! This is a crossover with my other fic, Nothing Else Like It! If you wanna see all of this from Kai's perspective, I'd suggest you read it! That one was started before I started this fic, so the writing in the beginning isn't my favorite, but I'm still proud of it nonetheless!

Cold. The ground below Kakyoin felt cold. It was cold, and hard, and everything his bed wasn’t.

He opened his eyes, only to be surrounded by green walls. This wasn’t where he was supposed to be. How did he get here?

As he got up, he started to walk around the strange green hallway. As he turned the corridors, he noticed that the twists and turns weren’t exactly made to be convenient. It seemed more like he was trapped in a maze.

“Hello?” Kakyoin called out. “Can anyone hear me?”

“Dad!” Daichi’s faint voice called out. “Dad, help me!”

Kakyoin’s heart dropped to his stomach. He ran as fast as he could to the cries of his son. When he finally arrived, he saw Daichi tied up in a chair, with Emily pointing a gun to the side of his head. Her eyes looked lifeless as she stared at her brother with no remorse.

“Emily!” Kakyoin shouted. The soulless body of his daughter turned its head to him. “Emily, stop! That’s Daichi!”

“Why should that matter to me?” Emily asked. Kakyoin peered closer to her forehead. He could have sworn he saw something moving. “All that matters is Giorno’s orders.”

That’s when he saw it. Planted right at her hairline was a flesh bud, the same one used on him all those years ago. His breath started quickening as he ran towards her, up until another gun was pointed at the back of his head.

His breath stopped. From behind him, he could hear Giorno’s laughter. As he continued, though, it slowly morphed into Dio’s voice.

“Shoot him,” Dio said.

Right before the gun went into Daichi’s skull, Kakyoin jerked up in bed, taking shallow breaths as sweat dripped down his forehead. Even though the dream was over, the memory of Emily admitting to joining Passione played over and over in his mind. He checked the time on the clock next to his bed. It was hardly waking hours, but Kakyoin decided to get up anyway. Today’s the day, isn’t it? he thought to himself. Hopefully Emily will still be alive for me to see her.

***

“We’ve arrived, you two. Be careful on your way out.”

As the bodyguards on each side of the car opened it up, Emily and Gionna stepped out. The two entered Giorno’s house, being met with three faces on the other side of the doors: Giorno, Kakyoin, and Daichi.

Emily gasped when she saw her brother. “Daichi!” she cried out, running over to hug her brother.

“You’re still alive!” Daichi laughed.

“How have you been, Gionna?” Giorno asked his daughter.

Gionna avoided the gaze of her father, walking past him. “Terrible, thanks to you.”

As the five walked to the dining table, Emily and Daichi continued talking.

“You got to actually fight against Palutena and Dedede?”

“That’s not all. I got to meet Master Hand and the other Smash fighters.”

“Lucky!”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it lucky,” Emily laughed. “It was honestly terrifying to fight them knowing my life was on the line.”

“Your children seem to get along quite well,” Giorno told Kakyoin.

“Just something else for you to hold over Emily and I’s head, I assume?” Kakyoin said.

Giorno gave a small laugh. “Don’t worry about him. I have enough over both of your heads, so your son should be left out of this. I was simply trying to be conversational.”

“I’d rather not have a friendly conversation with the man forcing my daughter to work in organized crime.”

“She made the decision herself. I simply offered it to her.”

Once the five made it to the dining table, they were given their food. However, unlike last time, Emily and Daichi continued to talk with each other, livening up the lunch.

“Your new friends sound like they have some cool Stand abilities!” Daichi said.

“If only I could actually connect with them, apart from Nadia,” Emily sighed. “One of them is a creep, and the other just doesn’t talk all that much, unless he has something to say. Although, Marco did get kind of snarky when he suffocated an enemy of ours.”

“He what?”

“Well, it was her fault for having an ability that relied on her voice!” Emily laughed.

While Emily and Gionna were out, Lucio decided to do some jogging around the city. He found it was a good way to destress, and he could get a checkup of things that were happening, just in case something required Giorno’s attention. While Lucio was taking a short break, he happened to overhear a conversation between two girls.

“Oh my god, did I tell you that my boyfriend finally made out with me?” the first girl said.

“For real? Finally! I thought he would never get the courage.”

“Well, he didn’t really, but I bought him enough drinks that he would do whatever I said. He was kinda mad this morning, but he should be grateful I didn’t go further.”

That comment made Lucio’s heart burn with rage. Before he could think, he summoned Seven Nation Army and sent a shockwave into the ground. When it reached the girl, the ground spiked up underneath her, and she was impaled in an instant. When he came to his senses again, he put up a front of fear. “Oh my god! I need to get out of here!” he shouted. “There’s a killer on the loose, or something!”

Lucio did start running, and if he was honest, it was out of fear, but not fear of being killed. He needed to see Giorno immediately.

***

“Well, I suppose lunch is over,” Giorno said. He got up from his chair, but just as he was about to speak again, Lucio came bursting through the doors.

“Don Giovanna!” he heaved. “I made a mistake.”

“What’s the problem?” Giorno asked. “What happened?”

“I… I let my emotions get away from me, and… I killed someone I shouldn’t have.”

Giorno sat back down, and let Lucio explain what happened.

“Emily, did you know about this?” Kakyoin whispered to his daughter.

“This is the first time I’ve heard him do something like that,” Emily whispered back. “The only other person he’s killed was the one who trapped us in the world of Smash.”

“I’m terribly sorry about what happened,” Lucio bent down on one knee and bowed. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”

Giorno waved his hand. “You don’t need to do anything,” he said. “You’ve been nothing but loyal since you’ve joined. I can let you off the hook this time, since you also had a reason to kill. If the police suspect one of my members to be the culprit, I’ll pay off whatever the bail money was going to be.”

“Thank you, Don Giovanna.” Lucio stood back up, finally taking notice of the others in the room. “Hey, I remember you!” he said, pointing at Kakyoin. “I guess I’ve ruined my reputation and you’ll never let me date your daughter, huh?”

“Emily can make her own decisions, and I doubt she would fall for you, anyway,” Kakyoin replied. He stood up from his seat. “I suppose we’re actually going now?”

Giorno nodded. “Feel free to say your last goodbyes. Lucio, you can go back home with Emily and Gionna.”

After Emily hugged Daichi and Kakyoin goodbye, she headed out the door with Gionna and Lucio.

“Your dad’s kind of harsh when he talks, huh?” Lucio asked.

“Oh, he just doesn’t like you,” Emily chuckled.

“Was he right about you not falling for me?”

��Absolutely.”

The ride back was peaceful, with very little chatter. When they got back to their house, everyone left the car and went back inside. Everyone was apparently in their own rooms, as nobody was in the kitchen.

“Okay, I’ve been putting this off for long enough,” Emily told Lucio as he started to walk back to his room. “I need to tell you something.”

Lucio stopped walking, turning around to Emily. “Do I need to take a seat?”

“Preferably.”

Lucio sat down at the table, with Emily right next to him.

“I…” Emily started, trying to find the words for what she was saying. “I… don’t feel… attraction. Like, at all.”

Lucio tilted his head.

“I’ve never had a crush on someone, never wanted to be in a relationship, I just… have never been attracted to anyone. And I don’t think I ever will.”

Lucio sat in silence for a moment, before Emily spoke up again.

“And I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, because I don’t think that I’m broken-”

“No, no, I don’t think you’re broken.” Lucio stood up from his chair, smiling. “Thanks for telling me.”

As Lucio started to walk away, Emily called back, “Wait, that’s it?”

Lucio turned back, leaning against the doorway. “I mean, I’m guessing part of the reason you told me is because you wanted me to stop hitting on you. Your wish has been granted. I’ll leave you alone.”

Emily sat for a good few moments, processing what happened, as Lucio went back to his room. She finally stood up, walking back to her room, and closed the door. Inside, Gionna was writing in a journal of some sorts. When Emily entered, she looked up.

“What was that about?” Gionna asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Emily said.

Gionna hmphed, then continued writing in the journal. Emily flopped down in her bed, then got out her phone, noticing a notification. It was from Daichi.

It was great to see you again! I can’t wait to hear about your adventures!

Emily smiled, then sent a message back. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

***

It was the middle of the night when the creaking of floors woke Emily up. She groaned softly, ready to scold Gionna for sneaking out again, and slowly opened her eyes. However, the person standing at the window was not Gionna. Whoever it was seemed to be standing over Gionna’s bed. Emily quickly sat up.

“Who are you?” she asked. The person quickly turned around. He was a boy, seemingly around Emily’s age, with black hair and brown eyes. Emily looked behind the boy, with Gionna nowhere to be found. “What did you do to Gionna?”

“Wait, wait! I promise I didn’t do anything to her!” The boy put open hands in front of him. His voice was surprisingly feminine, but Emily didn’t let it catch her off guard.

“But you were planning to do something to Gionna if she was here,” Emily said. She grabbed a hold of the boy with Sunshine, violently throwing him out of the window. She flew out soon after, flying in the air. “Once I’m done with you, I’ll go find her.”

The boy gritted his teeth, summoning his Stand. It was a light orange, human-like figure, with a lion’s head. Once it was summoned, the right hand transformed into a gun.

“So you do have a Stand,” Emily said. She revealed Walking on Sunshine, preparing for the shot that would surely come next. Sure enough, the boy shot a bullet straight at her. Sunshine caught the bullet before it hit Emily, then let it fall to the ground.

Surely this boy’s abilities don’t stop at a simple gun, right? Emily thought to herself. Let’s see what he’s capable of in close range. She zoomed towards the boy, aiming to grab the collar of his shirt and pull him into the air. His Stand’s gun hand started to morph again, this time in the shape of a knife. Before Emily could grab him, she had to pull up to avoid being stabbed. While she was up in the air, she saw Gionna running back to the window.

“Gionna!” Emily shouted from the sky. “Wake the others up! I need some backup!”

Once Gionna looked up and nodded, Emily looked back down at the boy. He seemed distracted, so she took the chance to do what she wanted to do before. Once the boy saw Gionna, he started running to her, neglecting Emily in the sky. Emily took this chance to grab him by the arms, lifting him up in the air.

“Did you seriously forget about me?” Emily asked. “I thought you’d be harder to deal with.”

“I didn’t,” the boy said. “I need to tell you something out of earshot of the girl who’s watching me.”

Emily stopped, suspending the two of them in the air.

“Don’t stop flying yet,” the boy whispered. “I don’t know how good she is at picking up context clues.”

Emily continued flying, and while she did, the boy explained himself further.

“I’m from a different world, and there was a girl who used her Stand to send me to this dimension. Her name is Maya Valentine, and she told me that the only way to get back to my world was to kill Gionna. I was going to pretend to do it by sneaking in and making Dedun slice a sword right above her head, but she wasn’t even there.”

“Is Dedun your Stand?” Emily asked.

The boy nodded.

“Why didn’t you just explain this to me before I started fighting?”

“I didn’t know if Maya was watching me, and I didn’t want to give away my plans.”

Emily nodded, then asked one more question. “What’s your name?”

“Kai Kujo.”

Emily almost stopped again, but kept her composure and continued flying. “Kujo?”

“You know that name?”

“Yeah. My dad’s friend has the same last name.”

Kai narrowed his eyes. “What did you say your name was, again?”

“Emily Kakyoin.”

“Your dad wouldn’t happen to have the name Noriaki, would he?”

Emily gasped. “How did you know?”

Kai laughed. “I’m dating Noriaki right now! And if my hunch is correct, your dad’s friend is my brother, Jotaro.”

“What if you just knocked me out?” Kai asked. “It’s a good way to get me inside your home without Maya thinking that I’ve teamed up with you.”

Emily tilted her head. “Are you sure?”

Kai shrugged. “I’ve passed out plenty of times before.”

Emily let out a small laugh. “You’re weird, you know that?” she said, then threw Kai to the ground. When she slowly floated down to the grass, Kai laid on the ground, unmoving. She placed her fingers on Kai’s neck, and she felt a steady pulse. Emily let herself breathe again, then had Sunshine lift Kai up and carry him back to the house.

***

Lucio sighed, looking at the ceiling as he leaned against the wall. “Nadia, has anyone shown up yet?”

“I’ll tell you when I see someone,” Nadia called out from the outside. The door was slightly ajar so they could hear each other better. “Remember: if the guy Emily was fighting comes back instead of her, go tell Marco and Gionna first. It’s important that they get to a safe place. Then you can come back and fight.”

“I know, I know,” Lucio said. He stretched his arms out before putting them behind his back. “It’s just kind of boring waiting around doing nothing.”

“Oh, speak of the devil!” Nadia said. “Emily’s back!”

Lucio pushed himself off of the wall, then shouted to Gionna and Marco, “It’s safe now! Emily’s back!”

The two of them appeared from behind Gionna’s doorway, running outside with Lucio. Sure enough, she was walking back with her enemy tossed over her shoulder.

“Thank goodness!” Nadia sighed. “You seem like you’re not hurt at all.”

“Yeah, he was pretty easy to take down,” Emily said. “We need to take him inside for questioning, though. Do we have rope?”

“I’ll get it,” Marco said, and ran inside.

“Well, it’s a good thing that you’re safe and sound, considering how you put yourself in danger like that,” Lucio said, then flicked Gionna’s head.

“Ow!” Gionna placed a hand where she was flicked. “I’ll get you arrested for assault!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Lucio said. “What do you even do when you sneak out, anyway?”

Gionna’s face immediately became bright red. “That doesn’t concern you! You can’t just pry in someone’s personal life like that!”

Emily sighed as she walked inside. “You know, if you want to see Elena more, you just have to ask.”

Gionna’s blush only reddened.

“Elena?” Lucio asked, and his smile widened. “And who might that be?”

“Shut up!” Gionna shouted. “I haven’t found her since we met at the haunted house!”

“Come on, you three,” Nadia said, tilting their head in the direction of the house. “Before we learn more about Elena, we need to find out more about our enemy.”

Lucio shrugged. “You’re not off the hook yet, you know,” he said to Gionna, then walked inside with everyone else.

Emily put an arm across Gionna’s shoulders, guiding her back inside. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t tease you too much about Elena.”

Gionna looked away, still blushing.

Once everyone was back inside, Emily made sure that Gionna was sound asleep while the others tied up the boy she was carrying. When Emily was sure Gionna wouldn’t sneak out, she went back to the others.

“Man, it’s a shame this guy’s our enemy,” Lucio said. “He’s kinda cute.”

“Well, I have good news and bad news,” Emily said as she walked towards the boy. “Kai isn’t our enemy, but he’s from a different world.”

“Kai?” Nadia tilted their head.

Emily nodded, then explained what Kai had told her while she was fighting him. When she was done, everyone else hummed in understanding.

“We should probably untie him, then,” Nadia said.

Suddenly, a grunt came from behind the four. They all turned around to see an awoken Kai.

Emily walked around to the back of the chair Kai was sitting in. She started to speak to him in a language the others didn’t understand. Once Kai was free from his restraints, he stood up and stretched his arms out.

“Minna no namae wa?” he asked. Everyone else furrowed their eyebrows and tilted their heads.

“Oh, right!” Emily said. “You guys don’t understand Japanese. Kai’s asking for your names.”

The others’ confused looks went away.

“Lucio.”

“Marco.”

“Nadia.”

Kai started speaking once again, then bowed.

“He’s saying that he’s pleased to meet you all,” Emily said, “and that he’s sorry for causing worry with Gionna.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nadia laughed. “You did what you had to do.”

Emily translated once again, and Kai immediately became more relaxed.

“Well, now that we’re all on the same page, what do we do with Kai?” Lucio asked. “Are we gonna help him get back to his world?”

“I mean, if we don’t, he could go crazy and actually try to kill Gionna,” Nadia said. “The only issue is how we’re going to communicate with Kai. I’m sure trying to translate a group discussion word for word will be problematic.”

The four sat in silence for a few moments, thinking. After a while, Marco cleared his throat before he started speaking.

“What if we come up with a plan without Kai, then after we think of one, we tell him about it and see if he has anything to add?”

Everyone else nodded their heads.

“Emily, tell Kai he can hang out in my room if he wants something more comfy than a chair to hang out in,” Lucio said. “I’d suggest your room, but that’s also Gionna’s room, and… well, you know.”

Emily nodded, then told Kai what Lucio had said. Kai said something to Emily, then left.

“Alright, so…” Lucio placed his hands on the table, “do we have any ideas on what our plan could be?”

“We need to have Kai convince Maya that he successfully killed Gionna.” Nadia brought a hand up to their chin. “The only problem is how.”

“If we can find some way to create a realistic decapitated head, we could have Kai hand that to Maya,” Emily said. “Nadia, can your Stand do anything like that?”

Nadia shook their head. “My Stand is used for discreet assassinations,” they said. “I can’t create, I can only destroy.”

“All we have to do is convince Maya that Kai shed blood, probably,” Marco said. “I can combine some dye colors to make a realistic blood color, and we can splatter that on Kai.”

“Ooh, what if he made it look like he was really shaken up about it?” Lucio laughed. “Like, what if he made his face look war-torn and stuff?”

“We should definitely try to play the part,” Nadia said. “How good is everybody at crocodile tears?”

“I don’t think I could work up any tears, but I can definitely stare at the ground with my teeth clenched like the cool guys do in movies,” Lucio said.

Emily let out a small laugh. “I played the role of Juliet during a play for my high school festival one time. I have a little bit of experience with cry-acting.”

“I can probably do it,” Marco said. “I don’t have any experience, but I’m sure I can figure it out.”

“Then it’s decided!” Nadia said. “I think we’re ready to tell Kai about our plan!”

“I’ll go tell him,” Emily said, then started to walk down the halls. Along the way, she passed by her and Gionna’s room. Gionna was seemingly intact, resting in her bed. Emily took a quick look inside of the room, making sure that no fatal wounds rested underneath the covers. Sure enough, Gionna was breathing normally, and so Emily continued down the hall. Strangely, Lucio’s door was closed.

Emily knocked on the door. “Kai? Are you in there?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m here,” Kai’s voice came from the other side. “You can come in.”

Emily opened up the door, and Kai was sitting upright on Lucio’s bed. He looked tense, as if he just saw a ghost. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Kai smiled, although it seemed a little forced. “I just saw a bug and it freaked me out a bit.”

“I’m… decent?”

“Do you think you can act shell-shocked?”

“I guess so.”

“Good.” Emily smiled. The two had made their way back to the kitchen and sat down in the chairs. “Once we get the preparations ready, you go find Maya and tell her that you killed Gionna. Make sure to act like you’re utterly terrified with what you did, so she’ll believe you easier.”

Kai nodded. “How long do you think preparations will take?”

“Oh, not that long. I’d say just long enough for me to ask all the questions I’m dying to ask.”

Kai let out a laugh. “You’re not the only one who’ll be asking, you know.”

“Well, since you’re on board with this idea, I’ll tell the others.” Emily patted Kai on the back, then stood up and turned to everyone else. “He said he thinks the idea will work,” she said.

“Alright, then let’s get the preparations ready!” Nadia said. “While Marco makes the blood, Lucio and I can work on our acting, and Emily and Kai can talk about their worlds.”

“Sounds good,” Lucio said. “I’ll leave you two alone, then. Emily, you’ll put in a good word for me in regards to Kai, right?”

“He’s already taken, you know,” Emily laughed. “And we’re sending him back to his world, as well.”

“Fine, whatever.” Lucio waved a hand up with a smile on his face. “Have fun learning about your alternate universe dad.”

Once Nadia and Lucio left, Kai said, “You seem to be really good friends with… Lucio, I think his name is.”

And from there, the two shared lots of different parts of their life. Emily learned that in Kai’s world, her mother either didn’t exist, or she never had the chance to interact with Kakyoin. Kai told Emily about Hamon, about how he could harness the power of the sun. He told her about how he had just awakened his Stand recently, and about how he was sick right before it, and about his fight with his brother right before he was sent to this world.

While Emily was talking with Kai, Nadia went to wake Gionna up.

“What do you want?” Gionna groaned.

“We need to hide you,” Nadia said. “I know you just got comfy, but you need to come with me.”

“Hey, Gionna, are there any pillows you don’t care about getting stained?” Lucio asked, pointing to a pile of pillows.

“What? No! I love all those pillows!”

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to pick a random one.” Lucio grabbed the nicest-looking one he could find.

Gionna gulped. “The one on the very bottom is kind of worn down. I don’t really like it anymore.”

“Well, now that you’re completely awake, let’s go,” Nadia said. “The quicker we hide, the quicker it’ll be done.” They helped Gionna get on her feet, then beckoned her to follow as they left.

As Lucio was grabbing the bottom pillow, Gionna spoke again. “By the way, if I see a single blemish on any of my other pillows, you’re dead.”

“Yes, your highness.” Lucio did a dramatic bow, which got a glare from Gionna pointed straight at him.

Just as Nadia and Gionna were leaving, Marco entered the room, holding a bag of dark crimson liquid. “I got the fake blood ready,” he said. “I made it slightly darker so it looks like the blood isn’t completely fresh.”

“Alright, then,” Lucio said. “Let’s get this set up!”

While Marco and Lucio were working, Nadia led Gionna to the common room, then moved a rug on the floor, revealing a trapdoor. They opened up the trapdoor and led Gionna down the stairs to a dimly lit series of hallways. “I really wish I didn’t have to show that in front of Kai,” they said to themself.

They continued down the hallways, leading Gionna every which way. Eventually, the two stopped at a dead end. “Wait here,” Nadia told her, then went back the way they came, closing the trapdoor and covering it with the rug again. They looked over at Emily and said, “Tell Kai we’re almost ready.”

Emily nodded, then relayed the information to Kai. Nadia went back to Gionna’s room, seeing that the bed had been soiled with a liquid of similar color to half-dried blood.

“I think we’re ready for Kai to ‘kill’ Gionna,” Lucio said. Marco nodded in agreement.

“That was faster than I expected.” Nadia raised their eyebrows. “I’ll go get him and Emily.”

“I’ll do it,” Lucio said. “You’ve been running around all night. Get some rest.”

“You don’t have to act like you’re doing this for a noble reason,” Nadia laughed. “I know you just want to see Kai.”

Lucio nervously laughed, shrugging.

Nadia smiled again. “Plus, I have to stay up to make sure everything goes okay. But if you want to tell them, I’ll let you.”

Lucio thanked Nadia, then walked down to the common room.

“We’re ready for the last step,” he told Emily. “Tell Kai he needs to come down.”

Emily stood up, speaking to Kai, who stood up with her, and the two walked back to Gionna’s room with Lucio. When they got there, Marco flicked the “blood” all over Kai.

“How do I look?” Kai asked Emily.

“Like a murderer,” Emily said, “but not a regretful murderer.”

“Oh! Right,” Kai said. He changed his expression, making his eyes go wide, looking at the ground.

“Oh, wow, that’s amazing!” Emily laughed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you actually killed her.”

“I guess we’re ready, then,” Kai sighed, shaking his body. “Let’s hope this works.”

As Kai walked out of the house, everyone else went to their own rooms. Once Emily heard all of the doors close, she decided to start the process. Gionna’s dead, she repeated in her head. Gionna’s dead, and I had no clue this was coming.

“Gionna?” Emily asked the pillow in Gionna’s bed. “Gionna! Oh, no, this isn’t happening! Gionna!” She let out a loud cry, signaling to the others to start their acting, as well.

Everyone else heard Emily’s screams, and they knew what to do. They all rushed to the room they were in just moments ago, gasping when they saw the dye-soaked bed. In all of their heads, everyone told themselves, Gionna’s dead, and this is a surprise to me.

Marco let his legs buckle beneath him, falling to his knees. He fell harder than he meant to, but he resisted the urge to show any signs of pain. “Gionna…” he said.

Lucio looked to the ground, hoping he could get his eyes at least a little bit teary. After he did, he looked back up and screamed, “Kai you traitor! I’ll kill you!” He started to walk to the door, but Nadia stopped him.

“Lucio, you can’t,” they said. They were averting their eyes, teeth clenched. “He’s probably already gone.”

“I don’t care!” Lucio shouted. “If he hasn’t been returned to his world yet, then we should try to fight him!”

“It’s dangerous!” Nadia looked up from the ground, tears in their eyes. “If we go after him now, we don’t have a chance.”

If Gionna was actually dead, Lucio would’ve continued arguing. However, he couldn’t actually chase after Kai, since the whole point was to get him sent back home. Instead, he stormed off to his room and slammed the door.

“I’ll contact Giovanna,” Nadia said, voice so low you almost couldn’t hear it, then slowly walked back to their room.

Marco and Emily stayed in that room, with the former bending over, completely silent, and the latter’s screams getting quieter, until they were small sobs. The two were so quiet that they heard the front door open and close. Both immediately stopped their acting and went to see who was there. When they got there, they saw Kai, who still looked as if he was greatly disturbed by something.

“It didn’t work?” Emily asked.

Kai slowly shook his head. “There’s only one other thing I can do in this situation,” he said, then summoned Dedun. The Stand’s hand formed into a ball and chain, then it slammed into the floor right under the rug, breaking the trapdoor. Before Emily realized what was happening, Kai jumped down and ran out of Walking on Sunshine’s range.

Emily gritted her teeth, then started running after Kai, before Marco stopped her. “You can’t go in there alone for the first time,” he said. “I’ll chase after Kai. You alert the others.”

With that, Marco jumped down the broken trapdoor after Kai, and Emily ran to Nadia and Lucio’s rooms.

“Kai’s back!” Emily shouted as she knocked on the closed doors. “He’s actually going after Gionna this time!”

With that line, both Lucio and Nadia swung open their doors and ran to the common room. “Emily, stay with me!” Nadia said. “You’ll lose your way if you go alone.”

Emily nodded, and then the three jumped down into the basement.

Emily quickly realized why she needed to stay close to somebody. To call this basement a labyrinth wouldn’t be an exaggeration. She was grateful for Nadia making sure she was always on their tail, because there was no way she’d be able to keep up otherwise.

“Where are we going?” Emily asked.

“We’re going to defend Gionna,” Nadia said. “I remember where I told her to stay put, so if she followed my instructions, she should still be there. We can wait for Kai to find her, then kill him.”

Emily gulped at the word kill, but she continued with Nadia anyway. The two ran every which way, and although Emily knew Nadia knew where they were going, it all felt random to her. At some point, they came across Marco, who was going the other way.

“Marco!” Nadia said. “Come with us! You can protect Gionna the best!”

Marco nodded, then ran with them and Emily. Eventually, the three made a turn, only to be met with Kai on the other side.

“How did he get here this quickly?” Nadia asked themself. “Gionna’s right over here!” They turned to another hallway to be met with a dead end, and Gionna sitting on its wall. Just as the three surrounded the girl, Kai appeared at the other end of the hallway.

“Give up, Kai!” Emily shouted. “You’re outnumbered!”

“He may be outnumbered right now, but I can change that,” a voice from above said. Emily looked up, and by Kai’s description, she could guess that this girl was Maya Valentine. She was peering from a hole in the sky, and on the other side, there were many other holes, supposedly to other worlds. She suddenly grabbed Nadia, pulling them up into the portal and closing it.

After Nadia disappeared, Kai started slowly approaching Emily and Marco. He summoned Dedun, forming his hand into a sword. Emily stood right in front of Gionna, screaming, “Don’t do it!”

“What choice do I have?” Kai screamed back. “I can’t stay here forever!”

“I don’t want to kill you!” Emily could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. “Don’t make me kill you!”

Kai didn’t answer, instead continuing to approach. Marco blocked Kai’s way with Invisible Touch, putting a wall between them. Kai ran into the wall, then blinked a few times, trying to get a hold of his surroundings. Once he did, he put his hands on the wall, and it almost looked like he was a mime performing for them. Then, he had the sword in his hand morph into a ball and chain again, swinging it into the shield that blocked him. Each time, the ball made a loud boom, threatening to break the barrier. The others watched carefully, ready to attack if he was able to break through.

“You’re paying attention to the wrong place, you know,” Maya’s voice came from behind Marco. He jumped, and suddenly, the barrier had a crack where Kai was attacking it. Suddenly, though, he stopped attacking.

“Now’s your chance!” Kai shouted. “Restrain her!”

Emily stood dumbfounded for a moment, but quickly came to her senses before Maya could escape. She summoned Sunshine, and lifted Maya up and away from the portal she made, restraining her in the air.

“You…” Maya growled, scowling at Kai. “You tricked me!”

“And you used me to do your dirty work,” Kai said. “I’d say we’re even now.”

Emily, still holding Maya in the air, immediately let her tensed up body relax. “I think we can lower the barrier now, don’t you think?” she asked Marco.

Marco shook his head. “What if this is a trick to get us to trust him? This girl can still send him home if he kills Gionna.”

“But why would she?” Emily continued. “Then, she’d be the only one here, and I’m sure she wouldn’t want to endure anything we put her through alone.”

Marco sighed. “I guess you’re right. But if anything happens to Gionna, I’ll make sure Giovanna knows you were the reason.” He called back his Stand, and Kai did the same, calmly walking over to the others.

“Now, I can hold you here for as long as I’d like.” Emily sat down cross-legged. “I have teammates who can come get food, water, and anything else for me. You, however, don’t have that luxury. You’ll eventually wither away if I hold you here with no way to sustain yourself.”

Maya laughed. “You really think withering away is enough to scare me into taking Kai back to his world? I work in the mafia! There’s no way that’s the worst that could happen to me!”

Emily sighed. “You’re right. I should’ve known better than to threaten you with that. Marco, can you get in contact with Giovanna and ask him what I should do to a woman who threatened Gionna’s life?”

At the mention of his name, Maya shuddered. “Okay, okay!” she laughed again, nervously this time. “Look, I promise nothing like this will happen again! See? I’ll bring Nadia back!”

Sure enough, a portal opened, and Nadia fell right out before it closed.

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Emily raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, of course!” Maya continued nervously laughing. “How could I forget? Here, Kai! Here’s the portal back to your world.”

Another portal opened up, revealing five men and a dog. Kai looked closely at it, then looked back up and nodded. “Yup, this is my world.”

“So this is where we say goodbye?” Emily asked.

Kai nodded. “I guess it is.”

“Well, then it was really cool meeting you!” Emily said. “I’ll never forget about you, so you better not forget about us!”

“Now…” Nadia said to Maya. “You can’t just get out of this scot-free.”

“Wait, wait!” Maya shouted. “Why would you punish me? I didn’t do anything!”

“You’re the one who instigated this whole thing!” Emily said.

“But I didn’t actually do anything! So long as I don’t personally dirty my hands, I’m not responsible, right?”

The three stood with their heads tilted, squinting at Maya, wondering if they heard her right. Suddenly, Nadia’s phone buzzed. She looked at it, and noticed it was a text from Lucio. Lost in the labyrinth, it said.

Nadia sighed. “Just kill her. She’s not even worth the trouble. Gionna, come with me. Marco, just… crush her lungs, I guess. I need to go find Lucio.”

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