"It's you? What brings you here so late? Are you looking for Jotaro?"
When Joseph Joestar realized it was Nianzi at the door, he relaxed slightly. But before he could fully let his guard down, his eyes landed on the unconscious boy behind her, and he exclaimed in shock, "Wait, who is this kid?!"
"Oh, this guy claimed to be one of DIO's subordinates. He barged into my place earlier, saying he’d kidnap me to use as leverage against you all. So I knocked him out. But I couldn’t just leave him there, so I figured I’d bring him over for you to handle."
Truthfully, when Nianzi knocked the boy out, her first instinct was to eliminate him. But she quickly dismissed the thought—it was terrifying, and doing something like that in the city would get her arrested in no time. Handing him over to the Joestars seemed like the smarter move.
"What?! DIO targeted you?! Are you okay?!"
Joseph grew visibly tense, repeatedly checking Nianzi for injuries before muttering in disbelief, "How did you even manage that? But I never thought you’d get dragged into this… It must be because of Jotaro—"
"What about the child?! What happened to Jotaro’s baby?! Is the baby hurt?!"
A woman rushed out from inside the house—Holly Kujo, Joseph’s daughter. She looked frantic, grabbing Nianzi’s arms and demanding answers about Shunan. Meanwhile, Kujo Jotaro, who had been silent until now, finally snapped.
"I told you all—I have nothing to do with this woman! I’ve never even met her before! Why won’t any of you listen?!"
"Jotaro, how can you still deny it at a time like this?!" Joseph began to scold him, but Nianzi cut in calmly, "I already returned the child to his mother. He should be safe now. Shouldn’t you deal with this assassin first? I went through the trouble of carrying him here."
"?!"
Her words stunned everyone once again. Jotaro fell silent, staring at Nianzi with a mix of confusion and suspicion. He had already theorized why she might be doing this—maybe she was like those girls at school who picked fights with him just to get his attention. He hated that kind of behavior. But now, after everyone had believed her accusations, she suddenly changed her story?
"What?! The child isn’t yours?!" Joseph, while hauling the unconscious boy inside, gaped at Nianzi. "But the kid has the Joestar family birthmark on his back, and he looks just like Jotaro—and even me when I was young! I’m certain he’s related to our family. If he’s not yours, then who’s his mother?!"
"Ms. Shiokawa, a hostess at Club MUSERVA in the third district. You can ask her for the details."
This time, Nianzi didn’t beat around the bush.
It wasn’t because she was afraid of DIO’s subordinates—defeating enemies gave her plenty of experience points, and she wouldn’t mind more of that. But lying just wasn’t worth it.
If she kept framing Kujo Jotaro, they’d eventually investigate her past medical records and the child’s registration details, only to find out she had no connection to him at all. Better to clear things up now.
"Wha—"
The blunt revelation left the old man momentarily speechless. Almost instantly, everyone’s eyes turned toward him.
"A hostess… Dad, don’t tell me you—" Holly trailed off, hesitant.
"Mr. Joestar…"
"Of course it was you, old man."
"No, absolutely not me!"
Realizing they all suspected him of visiting a hostess bar, Joseph grew flustered again. At the same time, a system notification chimed.
System Notification:
Joseph Joestar expresses disapproval.
Kujo Jotaro expresses disapproval.
???
Nianzi had expected the old man to be upset, but why did Jotaro’s opinion drop too after she cleared his name? This was frustrating.
Whatever. She had already decided to give up on winning him over anyway. Nianzi shrugged it off. Meanwhile, Jotaro fixed her with a sharp, penetrating gaze before a spectral, purple humanoid figure materialized behind him.
The purple ghost let out a battle cry and swung its fist at her without hesitation—only to stop a hair’s breadth from her nose.
"!!"
What the hell was that?!
Nianzi’s eyes widened, but since the attack had halted, she didn’t bother dodging. She just stared at the figure in shock.
System Notification:
[Kujo Jotaro uses "Star Platinum" for a basic attack.]
[Kujo Jotaro cancels the attack. Miss.]
Wait, what kind of skill was this?!
And what was that spirit? What tier of magic was this?!
"You can see it. You’re a Stand user."
Jotaro’s voice turned icy as he demanded, "You’re one of DIO’s subordinates, aren’t you? You deliberately approached us this afternoon, then brought one of your own to us, pretending to hand him over—just to catch us off guard before finishing us off, right?"
"Hold on, what’s a Stand user? Is that related to seeing this ghost?"
She had to admit, in this situation, she’d probably reach the same conclusion as Jotaro. She could explain herself, but something else had caught her attention—she wanted to know what a "Stand user" was.
Also, even though he clearly thought she was an enemy, he still didn’t hit her. She supposed she should be grateful for that.
"…"
Nianzi’s reaction seemed to throw Jotaro off. He frowned, studying her carefully. Joseph Joestar also looked surprised and asked, "You can see Stands, but you don’t know what they are? Only those with this ability can perceive another’s Stand. All of DIO’s subordinates possess this power—that’s why Jotaro drew that conclusion. There’s a glaring hole in your story. If you were just an ordinary person, how could you have defeated one of DIO’s men?"
System Notification: You are under suspicion from potential allies. Your response is…
A. Make excuses, lie to defend yourself, and convince them to trust you. (Requires a Deception check.)
B. Press them for more information about Stand abilities.
Was there even a question? Of course she’d ask about the abilities!
"I never said I was ordinary! But I don’t know what you mean by ‘Stand.’ I thought that thing was some high-tier summoned spirit!"
Nianzi grew excited, completely unfazed by the misunderstandings about her. Instead, she was far more intrigued by what they had mentioned about abilities, her eyes gleaming as she pressed further, "That guy said he was going to kidnap me, so I knocked him out before he could do anything. I had no idea what his ability was. Can you tell me more about these 'Stands'? Please, I really want to understand!"
"..."
The group exchanged glances before Joseph Joestar finally sighed and motioned for Nianzi to follow him inside.
"Alright, come in with us first. But don’t act recklessly. We need to figure out what’s really going on."
……
…………
After entering the Kujo family’s estate, Nianzi—uncharacteristically proactive—explained the full context of the situation they were most concerned about, though she omitted some details unsuitable for sharing. In return, she received an explanation about "Stands" from Joestar. Contrary to her expectations, it wasn’t some kind of magic but rather a manifestation of awakened spiritual energy unique to certain individuals.
Nianzi found it a bit confusing but roughly understood it as a form of supernatural ability, with each person’s Stand being one-of-a-kind, tied to their desires and aspirations. They referred to this power as a "Stand."
Ordinary people couldn’t see this spiritual energy—only those who possessed Stands could, somewhat akin to how those with heightened spiritual sensitivity might perceive ghosts. That was why Kujo Jotaro, upon realizing she could see his Stand "Star Platinum," concluded she must also have such an ability and assumed she was one of DIO’s subordinates sent to set him up.
It made sense. If she were in his shoes, she’d think the same way—and she certainly wouldn’t stop mid-fight to hear explanations either…
So, was her "Mage Hand" also a Stand? But Nianzi felt it wasn’t quite the same. After all, she could learn new skills just by leveling up, which seemed way more impressive than these so-called Stands.
Whatever. She’d figure it out later.
Beyond that, Joseph also told her about DIO.
In short, a vampire who had supposedly perished alongside their ancestor a century ago had resurrected by stealing their ancestor’s body. Now, due to their bloodline feud, DIO was gathering forces to exterminate all descendants of the Joestar lineage, prompting them to oppose him… It sounded like a rather clichéd story, nothing surprising.
"But if you find a baby carriage on the street, shouldn’t you normally hand it over to the police? Why would you take a stranger’s baby home…?"
Joseph Joestar was still hung up on nearly being falsely accused and muttered under his breath, but his daughter promptly cut him off.
"Dad! If she’d taken the baby to the police, they wouldn’t have found his mother that same day. A child that young would’ve had to spend the whole night in a cold police station—how heartbreaking! Miss Nianzi must’ve taken pity and brought him home, even caring for him all day. What a kind-hearted girl!"
Holly Kujo gazed at Nianzi with warmth and nodded approvingly.
System Notification: Holly Kujo expresses agreement.
She hadn’t even explained, yet Holly had already spun the most charitable interpretation possible…
Nianzi marveled inwardly. How rare to meet someone who genuinely believed the world was full of kindness, unlike her own scheming mind… How had Holly grown up like this? And how could such a gentle woman raise a son like Kujo Jotaro? It was a mystery.
"So we still don’t know who the baby’s father is…"
Joseph sighed, then reiterated, "Let me make this clear—it’s definitely not me! I’ve never been to those kinds of places, and I don’t know that Ms. Shiokawa!"
"Enough. We’ll just ask the woman directly later," Jotaro interjected, his tone sharp.
However, Kujo Jotaro remained unconvinced. His guard still up, he fixed Nianzi with a wary glare and demanded, "If you’re not one of DIO’s lackeys, then why did you lie this afternoon?"
…Uh-oh.
Nianzi hesitated. This was tricky. She couldn’t exactly say she’d framed him to preserve the old man’s favorability—who’d believe that?!
"None of your business," she retorted after a brief pause, deciding evasion was best.
"?"
Jotaro’s eyes widened slightly. Every reaction from her defied his expectations. His brows furrowed, and though he didn’t speak, his anger was palpable—his favorability dropped another five points!
Whatever.
The atmosphere plunged into icy silence once more, but just then, Avdol—who had been examining the boy Nianzi had knocked out—suddenly called out to the others.
"Wait, Mr. Joestar! Come look at this! This boy has DIO’s flesh bud embedded in his forehead! He’s under DIO’s control!"
"What?!"
Joseph Joestar and Kujo Jotaro immediately turned toward Avdol. Beneath the boy’s bangs, they saw a squirming, worm-like growth rooted deep in his forehead, as though slowly consuming his life force.
A parasite!
No wonder she’d found an unremovable parasitic organism when searching his belongings earlier—it had already fused with his brain!
But wait—she shouldn’t just focus on others…
A sudden realization struck her. That nightmare she’d had—the one where a monster placed a worm in her eye.
Had her mind been scrambled, her memories fragmented and horrifying, because of something like this?
