"Since he's the one who's exposed and we're the ones in hiding, why don't we just track him down right now!"
Josuke was feeling like a genius. Sure, his Crazy Diamond couldn't match King Crimson in a straight fight, but there was no way Big Sis Inori and Mr. Jotaro could find that killer by themselves. As for Rohan Kishibe—his Stand was probably useless, or else the guy wouldn't have gotten beaten half to death.
He had no idea how someone like that had even gotten to know Big Sis Inori. Oh well. Let this manga artist sit back and watch the great Josuke Higashikata put Crazy Diamond to work. The three of us can handle this.
"It won't be that easy."
The girl gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
She knew the plot inside and out—of course she'd considered this approach. But who was Yoshikage Kira? From the moment he'd used Soft & Wet to mislead Josuke with sound and trick him into attacking her, Inori understood: whether the original protagonists had used a tactic or not, Kira had likely experienced every single one firsthand.
He knew Josuke's abilities. There was no way he'd leave such an obvious opening.
"Can't hurt to try! Leave it to me!"
"Crazy Diamond!"
Without the patience to wait for Inori to use her ability, Josuke summoned his Stand and hammered a barrage of DORA punches into the outer shell of ice crystals, shattering them. The frozen Sheer Heart Attack inside regained mobility. The clatter of its treads filled the air, and the skull mounted on the front of the miniature tank began vibrating furiously.
"DORA!"
Crazy Diamond punched again—but this time, the fist was wreathed in golden light capable of restoring anything. The bomb-laden toy car rapidly reverted to its original form: a severed hand. But... but—
—No!
Inori had activated Epitaph as a precaution, and she saw what was about to happen the moment Josuke made contact with Sheer Heart Attack.
"Mr. Jotaro, stop time! Now!"
...?! Jotaro's attention had been fixed on the dangerous little bomb-car, and the instant he heard Inori's voice he understood—this girl had used that precognitive power of hers. No time to think. He activated Star Platinum: The World.
The sound of the second hand jolting to a stop rang out as everything sank into a deep blue ocean. For the next two seconds, only Jotaro could move.
His pupils trembled at what he saw. The restored hand was already beginning to crumble apart. Silent. Smokeless. An explosion with no warning signs at all—exactly the Stand ability Inori had described. Kira had turned his own severed hand into a bomb.
And Crazy Diamond, mere inches away, already had fractures running down its fingertips. The damage fed back to Josuke's body, wounds splitting open on his hand.
"...What a terrifying ability."
Jotaro's expression was grave. He glanced back at Inori, frozen in time, her face still locked in a look of alarm, mouth half-open before she'd even finished shouting.
—This kid is truly remarkable. When they'd fought, Jotaro had felt a sliver of genuine fear at her uncanny abilities. But now that she was an ally, that same power was incredibly reassuring.
If she hadn't sensed the danger in that instant, Josuke would already be dead—killed by Kira's trap.
Before the two seconds expired, Jotaro had Star Platinum pull both Josuke and Crazy Diamond back to his side.
Time resumed.
"Ugh! My h-hands—they hurt!"
Josuke howled, clutching his bleeding fingertips.
It felt like he'd stuck his hand directly into a flame, or been gnawed on by some venomous insect—a stinging, searing pain that lingered. But worse than the pain was the shock. How had he suddenly been flung backward this far? And the hand—it had been reduced to dust?
"It was a bomb. That bastard rigged his own hand as a bomb in advance!"
Rohan, who'd stayed furthest back, grasped it immediately.
"But just now, how did I—"
"I stopped time, just a moment ago."
Jotaro tugged the brim of his hat and sighed.
"That was a close call, Josuke. If Inori hadn't called out the warning, you'd be dead."
"You mean... that guy predicted I'd use this method to track him?" Josuke broke out in a cold sweat, utterly baffled. "But I only just thought of it!"
"That's an aftereffect of Yoshikage Kira's Bites the Dust, Josuke-kun."
The scare had passed, but it had given Inori quite a fright too. If Josuke had died, it would have been a complete defeat—he was their most critical asset right now.
"You've used this method to track him before. So after the time reversal, Kira—who still retains his memories—would never fall for the same trick twice."
"How is that even... H-how are we supposed to fight someone like that?"
Josuke finally understood the true horror of this temporal ability. Every time they cornered Kira, he could activate Bites the Dust and reset—didn't that make him an invincible Stand user?
"Don't panic. Fate is difficult to change."
Inori noticed Josuke's spirits sinking. He'd come in eager to prove himself and taken a blow instead. His confidence was rattled. She spoke up to steady him.
"Results that have already occurred will replay themselves in different forms. Based on the details of my conversation with Kira, I estimate he's relived today at least five times. But every time, the outcome was the same—I killed him. That's why he steeled himself, sacrificed his own hand to escape, and set this bomb trap. All of it... was to kill you, Josuke."
Inori laid out her analysis with clinical precision.
"Me?"
"Don't you see? You're our most important support. As long as you're alive, his bombs can never work. Of course you're one of the people he most wants dead."
"I... I'm sorry, Big Sis. I was too reckless."
Josuke finally realized he wasn't as strong as he'd imagined. Inori and Jotaro—they were both more powerful and more composed than he was. Even that manga artist had survived a direct encounter with this terrifying enemy. He shouldn't have been so rash.
Slap!
He clapped both hands against his cheeks to snap himself awake.
"That settles it. From now on, I'm following your lead—yours and Mr. Jotaro's. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it. Until Yoshikage Kira is taken down... I'm not going to school!"
"That's exactly what I had in mind."
Inori was satisfied with his resolve. Worthy of the Joestar bloodline—far more sensible than the men she'd dealt with in her previous world.
"Kira probably hasn't only rewound today. I was attacked by several Stand users yesterday, too. Josuke—that Stand user who tricked you into attacking me with those bubbles yesterday... that was almost certainly on Kira's orders."
"..."
Josuke's throat worked with difficulty. The feeling of having every move read in advance was deeply unsettling.
"So all of us are probably on his target list. From here on out, we need to avoid acting alone. Here's what I'm thinking—" Inori shifted her gaze to Jotaro. "Mr. Jotaro. Have Josuke and Rohan-sensei stay at the Morioh Grand Hotel. If you're all together, you can watch each other's backs."
"Fine."
The man gave a slight nod.
"What about you, Inori? Aren't you coming?"
"I have Epitaph. Assassination attempts won't work on me."
Inori shook her head. She said it with confidence, but inside she wasn't so sure. She hadn't told Jotaro and the others that Kira could create Stands from parallel worlds—Stands she had no prior knowledge of.
It was a good thing she wielded King Crimson. Any other Stand, and she'd have been blindsided sooner or later.
"That's not good enough." Jotaro wasn't buying it. "Your ability requires conscious activation, doesn't it? What if you're attacked while you're asleep—"
"Then how about this." Inori conceded the point. "I've already found Kira's home address. We'll launch a raid on the Kira residence tomorrow. Even if we don't catch him in person, we can dig up some clues."
"Isn't that too hasty?"
This girl wanted to hit the enemy's home base tomorrow? Even Rohan couldn't help voicing his concern.
"The longer we wait, the worse it gets for us. Yoshikage Kira always has several times more time than we do—dozens of times more, even." Inori explained.
"Rohan-sensei, head out with Mr. Jotaro first. I need to stop by the Hirose residence and explain things. Josuke, come with me."
"Huh? Why do I have to go?"
"You idiot!" Inori bit her lip, faintly reproachful. "If I tell them I'm not coming home tonight because I'm going to a hotel, what is Koichi's sister going to think of me?"
"Come along and help me explain! You're Koichi's friend, aren't you?"