"I was already here before you stopped time." Jotaro Kujo stepped out from behind the door, pressing down on the brim of his hat, his voice low. "Jolyne…"
"Papa…"
"He's already healed." Josuke Higashikata let go of his grandfather, but contrary to expectation, Josuke Higashikata's grandfather didn't sit up—instead he collapsed forward.
"?! How… is this possible? He should… be waking up…" Cold sweat poured down Josuke Higashikata's face; panic was clearly visible.
"My Stand can heal wounds. I tested it many times when I was little—even broken bones in the foot could be fixed. And Grandpa's injuries… I completely healed them…"
Josuke Higashikata grabbed his grandfather's collar, voice shaking as he shouted: "Hey, Grandpa! If you keep joking around I'm really gonna get mad! You're not just asleep from working night shift too much, are you?"
A pair of large hands landed on Josuke Higashikata's shoulders, stopping his frantic shaking.
"…Josuke."
"…Stop playing these scary pranks. I already completely healed him." Josuke Higashikata forced out an ugly smile.
"Humans are creatures that can only survive by destroying other things…" Jotaro's face was grim. The joy of seeing Jolyne was instantly washed away by the news of Josuke Higashikata's grandfather's death.
"And among them, your ability is gentler than anything else in this world. But… once a life has passed away, it will not return."
"No matter what kind of Stand it is… it cannot call them back."
What followed was a deathly silence.
Josuke Higashikata slowly let go, his complexion terrible.
"Ahahahahahaha!" ×2
?
"Yay! We're number one in the scary prank contest!" Diego high-fived Josuke Higashikata's grandfather on the ground, then grinned at Josuke Higashikata. "Don't blame your grandpa—it was my idea for him to do this."
"Sorry, Josuke. He said it would make you speak your true feelings, so I went along with it." Josuke Higashikata's grandfather sat up, patted Josuke's shoulder to reassure him.
"Grandpa…" Josuke Higashikata wiped away tears. "Damn it, you really scared me!"
"But Josuke, you really have an amazing power." Josuke Higashikata's grandfather stood up and quietly left the room, giving the four of them space to talk. "Well, looks like I'm getting old. The higher-ups have been asking about my retirement anyway…"
"Yare yare daze…"
"Dio-san! Next time you pull a prank this awful, even if I can't beat you, I'll still fight you to the death!" Having gone through such emotional ups and downs, Josuke Higashikata's tone carried unmistakable gratitude as he extended his hand to Diego.
Diego grasped it, pulling the slumped Josuke Higashikata to his feet, then looked away.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't trying to save your grandfather. I just couldn't let Jolyne pick up bad values." Diego pursed his lips. "But since SPW and the Joestar family are cooperating with me, I'll let it slide this time—no favors owed."
"Still, it was really lucky your grandfather was holding the Cosmic Stone ring when he opened that sake bottle."
The conversation shifted. Diego fixed his gaze on Jotaro Kujo and slowly spoke:
"I thought you'd be really worried about Jolyne coming to me."
"The Joestar family blood connection doesn't lie. I can clearly sense Jolyne's condition. She's growing at an astonishing speed. Naturally, there's no need for me to interfere."
"…So the weird feeling I had of several people earlier—that was you guys? That's creepy…" Diego stared at Jotaro in disbelief. "I don't have Joestar family blood."
"Looks like it's probably because of The World." Jotaro pointed at the pale yellow phantom behind Diego. "We were only able to sense you because of The World."
"Hah?!" Diego recoiled, looking incredulous. "The mole was right beside me?!"
"Muda muda." A aggrieved "Muda" sounded. The World shrank back and vanished.
"Damn it, why are you running? I didn't say it was your fault!" Diego sighed, lifted his head again, and set Jolyne down. "Go on. Didn't you really want to see your dad?"
"Huh? J-Jo… Mr. Jotaro's… dau↑↑↑ghter↓↓↓~~!?" Josuke Higashikata's eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he looked back and forth between Jotaro and Jolyne in disbelief. "Can I… call you Jolyne… miss?"
"Sure. I'll call you Josuke." Jolyne replied while being held up in Jotaro's arms.
"…Jolyne, he's my uncle—which makes him your…" Jotaro, standing beside them, finally couldn't hold back and interrupted the chaotic family relations.
"Pfft… grand-uncle, hahahahaha! What's with your family? The relationships are such a mess—29-year-old nephew, 16-year-old uncle, hahahahaha—"
Diego couldn't hold it in anymore. Clutching his stomach, he burst into loud laughter.
(Completely unaware that by letting Jolyne call him "big brother," his seniority had instantly dropped to rock bottom.)
Jotaro pressed down on his hat brim and thought to himself: Old man, you made me lose face in front of Dio.
"…Right—right! Jolyne, bring out Stone Free and give your old man a good punch to the face. Let him know the consequences of saving the world but not saving you."
"Huh? But…"
"It's fine. Your old man can handle it. He deserves to take at least one." Diego continued egging on the father-daughter "filial piety."
"Then… Muda!" Stone Free punched toward Jotaro's face, only to be caught single-handedly by Cosmic.
"?! Mu… da?" For the first time, a change appeared in Jotaro's usually unflappable eyes. He glared angrily at Diego. "Dio, you bastard!"
"That's the look. I've always wanted to see that angry expression on your face~" Diego leaned in close, looking like he was ready to die.
"That really was an attack strong enough to scare a Stand all the way to the moon." Josuke Higashikata patted Jolyne's head and exaggeratedly played along. "But if we're talking raw power, you're no match for Mr. Jotaro or me~~"
"Hm?" Diego shot Josuke an annoyed glance, snatched Jolyne out of Jotaro's arms, and made a series of hand signs at Josuke.
"Come here, Jolyne. Time for lesson two. This is the Japanese-style 'go fuck yourself' hand sign. Do it right now to your grand-uncle."
"Uwaa, I was wrong, Dio-san! Little Jolyne's attack is the strongest…"
"Yare yare daze, cut it out. It's time to deal with Angelo."
"Angelo? Who's that?" Diego cupped his hand behind his ear like a trumpet. "Oh wait, wait—I get what you mean now… so that's how it is…"
"I suggest you don't go looking for him." Diego flashed a chilling smile. His vertical pupils spun as he gave Jotaro a sidelong glance.
"Well… if you insist on going, I won't stop you…"
Diego pulled the bottle containing Aqua Necklace from his pocket, held it up to his eyes, and gave it a gentle shake.
The Aqua Necklace inside no longer had the robust form it had during the attack on Josuke Higashikata's grandfather. It had become faint and illusory—like a candle on the verge of burning out, flickering in the wind.
"Ah, uh-oh. Looks like it's about to die." Diego held back a laugh and spoke slowly.
"Josuke, let's hurry and find Angelo!" Jotaro's pupils dilated as realization struck. He grabbed Josuke and sprinted outside.
In the distance, a hilltop reeked of blood. This was the spot where Angelo had originally used binoculars to observe the Higashikata house and launch his attack.
Jotaro and Josuke stared in disbelief at the scene before them.
What lay in front of them was a headless corpse. A swarm of small dinosaurs was feasting, tearing into the body.
The green grass had been dyed blood-red. Bits of internal organs were scattered everywhere. One look was enough to make the scalp tingle.
"Blegh—" Josuke finally couldn't hold it and vomited while leaning against a nearby tree. "…Sorry, Mr. Jotaro, I couldn't take it…"
"This is why you kept Jolyne at home, isn't it…"
Rustle rustle rustle…
Footsteps approached from behind. Diego Brando appeared behind Jotaro and gave a casual smile:
"That's exactly why I told you not to come. Because Angelo… has already been butchered by me."
"Why… did you come here?" Jotaro stared at Diego and asked.
"Why what…" Diego rubbed his head, tilted it back in thought for a moment, then laughed. "So that's what you meant. I let Jolyne spend some quality time with that old man at Josuke's house."
"Did you think Jolyne would follow after me?"
"…That's not what I meant. You clearly already caught him… so why go this far?"
Diego lowered his gaze, muttering: "Because… you guys are a bunch of bleeding hearts. Without rage fueling you… could you really bring yourselves to kill?"
"…" Jotaro didn't reply.
"Sniff sniff… Hmm, even though dinosaurs will eat a corpse clean, the bloody smell is still way too strong…" Diego tilted his head in thought, then clapped his hands decisively.
"I remember, fire spirits can…" Diego aimed his palm at Angelo. A massive roar of flame erupted, instantly incinerating everything around.
"Now it's safe."
Ding…
Diego pulled out his phone and glanced at the message.
Hori: Making omurice tonight—bought too many eggs. Remember to bring little Jolyne over to eat, okay? ୧꒰•̀ᴗ•́꒱୨
Heh heh~
Diego: Got it. Brew me a cup of coffee—hand-ground.
Diego looked up slightly, glanced at the two men with grim expressions, and continued talking to himself:
"Right from the beginning—after I had Jolyne heavily injure Angelo's Stand—I knew you two would come."
"I know one thing very clearly: you people won't kill unless there's absolutely no other choice."
"Angelo saw my Stand. He also caught sight of Jolyne and this handsome face of mine."
"I don't know why this guy attacked that old man, but…"
Diego paused, grinned, straightened his hat, and kicked the pile of ashes that had once been Angelo.
"He definitely had a petty personality. If I didn't kill him… there would've been trouble later."
"So while you two were still drowning in the grief of that old man's 'death,' I released a few small dinosaurs. They found him almost instantly."
"Pretty funny, right? They tore him apart in no time…"
Diego's voice gradually faded as he walked away.
"What's so funny? What's so amusing? What the hell do you think life is?!"
Diego's footsteps paused. He took out a slice of bread, chewed it slowly, and asked:
"Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten?"
Always digging for the root of everything but unable to handle the truth—people born in peaceful times naturally have values different from someone like me who clawed his way up from between life and death…
Today's result: Morioh—defeat.
(The iconic Angelo Rock has been lost.)