Jotaro was the first to break the silence at the café.
He rested one elbow against the table, eyes half-lidded beneath the shadow of his hat, and began pointing people out one by one — like a prosecutor who had already decided the verdict before the trial began.
"First," he said flatly, turning his gaze to Avdol. "You. Your name is Avdol, right?"
"Yes," Avdol replied without inflection.
"I don't know who you are," Jotaro continued, "but you're incredibly arrogant."
Avdol didn't bristle. He didn't look offended at all. He simply closed his eyes and smiled faintly, nodding once — as if accepting a mild comment about the weather.
Joseph, who had been standing with his fists clenched the entire time, looked at Jotaro with the expression of a man who had run out of new ways to feel exasperated.
Jotaro shifted his attention to Joseph.
"And you, Old Man."
"Huh?" Joseph straightened instinctively.
"After hearing something this absurd, this unscientific, this ridiculous," Jotaro said, his voice flat as a closed door, "you really expect me to sit here and nod like I accept all of this as my destiny?"
Joseph opened his mouth. Closed it.
Finally, Jotaro turned his gaze to the last person at the table.
"And you." A pause. "Shintaro, was it?"
"Huh? Me?" Shintaro blinked, genuinely caught off guard at being included.
"You're a complete stranger," Jotaro continued without mercy. "You appeared in my jail cell without explanation. Then you naturally followed us here as if that was perfectly reasonable. Is it really just because the Old Man enjoys being flattered?"
Shintaro: "..."
Before he could scramble for a response, Avdol gave a soft, quiet chuckle.
"Hmph. Still," Avdol said mildly, "your Stand and your existence seem to operate on the same absence of scientific logic."
Jotaro didn't reply — but the corner of his eye twitched.
Joseph dropped heavily back into his chair with a sigh.
"Fine," he said. "You'll believe all of this eventually, Jotaro. You won't have a choice." He leaned forward slightly, voice lowering. "And once you hear why I know DIO is alive... you won't be able to pretend otherwise."
As he spoke, Joseph extended his hand toward Avdol.
Shintaro's lips twitched faintly.
Here it comes, he thought. The legendary thirty-thousand-yen photo.
Avdol reached calmly into his sleeve and produced a finely crafted camera, placing it into Joseph's hand with the practiced care of a man who had performed this ritual before and fully expected to perform it again.
"About a year ago," Joseph said gravely, setting the camera on the table between them, "I too suddenly awakened a Stand."
He raised his right hand high, fingers extended straight and flat in a knife-hand strike — the theatrical posture of a man who knew exactly how this looked and had decided to lean into it.
Shintaro exhaled internally.
To take one photo of that Cleopatra-looking vampire, you're really willing to sacrifice this much, huh.
"Watch carefully," Joseph said.
Purple vines burst forth from his raised arm, coiling around it with thorned intent.
"Hermit Purple!"
There was no hesitation. No mercy.
Crack!
He brought his hand down hard. The camera shattered instantly, plastic casing exploding apart, lenses and components scattering across the table in every direction.
Joseph smiled amid the debris and reached down with two fingers, plucking out a single piece of photographic paper that was slowly developing an image.
"This is my Stand's ability," he said. "Spirit Photography. Every use requires destroying a thirty-thousand-yen camera," he added, as if this were entirely unremarkable, "but it's the only method I have for glimpsing the truth from a distance."
The image cleared gradually.
A dark, oppressive shadow. A vague silhouette seen from behind. And an overwhelming, abyssal presence that seemed to leak straight through the paper itself — malice so thick it felt like a physical weight.
Even without seeing a face, the wrongness was unmistakable.
"Even while I remain here in Japan," Joseph said, his tone going grim as he pressed the photo flat against the table, "I can confirm his existence. As long as DIO is alive, this signal — this evil — will keep flowing."
Shintaro leaned in slightly, carefully arranging his expression into something that looked like awe seeing this for the first time.
Internally, his thoughts had taken a far more practical turn.
If every photo requires a thirty-thousand-yen camera... exactly how much money are they planning to bring on the road to Egypt? Then again, this is the financial power of a Joestar real estate empire. The rules of normal budgeting simply do not apply here.
Joseph took a sip of his now-lukewarm coffee and set the cup down with a tired sound.
"Alright. As much as I'd love to drag that bastard out into the sunlight immediately," he said, "we first need to establish exactly where he is."
He turned toward Holly, who still looked quietly worried despite everything —
"Holly."
"Yes, Papa?" She straightened and smiled, though the concern behind her eyes hadn't fully faded.
"I'll be staying in Japan for a while," Joseph said matter-of-factly. "I'll be at your house. That won't be a problem?"
"Of course not!" Holly clasped her hands together, genuine happiness breaking across her face. "I'd be thrilled, Papa. We have plenty of rooms."
"Hey," Jotaro said immediately, pulling his hat brim down. "Did I ever say I agreed?"
"The house is already loud enough," he continued, his tone cutting cleanly through Holly's joy. "And now you want to add an even louder Old Man and —"
His eyes flicked briefly to Avdol.
"— a large man who takes up too much space."
"Oh, Jotaro," Holly said gently, patting her son's shoulder as if he were still seven years old. "Your grandfather came all this way. We have to be good hosts."
"Yare yare daze..." Jotaro turned his head away.
But he didn't object again.
Joseph gave a triumphant snort. Then his gaze slid across the table and stopped squarely on Shintaro, who had been making a quiet effort to blend into the background.
"And you, Shintaro."
Shintaro went still. "M — me?"
"That's right," Joseph said, rising to his feet. His tall frame blocked the sunlight, casting a long shadow over the table. "Your situation is... special."
"You have amnesia. No money. And you've awakened an extremely unstable —" He paused, clearly remembering the scene from the cell, "— and frankly, very strangely designed Stand."
The corner of Joseph's mouth worked itself despite his best efforts.
"Letting someone like you wander Tokyo alone would be an accident waiting to happen. If your Stand went out of control around civilians, the consequences would be unthinkable."
He leaned forward slightly, staring at Shintaro through his sunglasses, his tone softening just enough to mean it.
"And you want your memories back, don't you?"
Shintaro nodded.
"Our destination is DIO," Joseph said. "So why don't you come with us?"
"Oh!" Holly blinked — then broke into a warm smile aimed directly at Shintaro. "That's right! Shintaro doesn't have anywhere to go, does he? Why don't you stay with us for now? We really do have plenty of guest rooms."
Shintaro's heart did a quiet, undignified thing.
He was actually going to live in the Kujo household.
This was, in the language of JOJO fandom, holy ground.
More importantly — staying under the same roof as the strongest close-range Stand in existence, while still figuring out how to actually control Black Sperm, was the single safest option available to him.
But he couldn't look too eager.
"Is... is that really alright?" Shintaro asked, glancing carefully at Jotaro.
Jotaro stood slowly, one hand in his pocket. He gave Shintaro a long, unhurried, thoroughly cold look.
Several seconds passed.
"...As long as those little black things of yours don't run through the house," Jotaro said at last, "or make any unusual sounds."
He turned and walked out of the café, leaving everyone with the view of his back.
"...Do whatever you want."
Holly beamed. "That means he agreed!"
Joseph laughed loud enough to turn heads at two neighboring tables and slapped Shintaro on the back hard enough to knock the air from his lungs.
"You hear that, kid?! My grandson approved! Let's go!"
Avdol smiled and inclined his head. "I look forward to working with you, Shintaro."
Shintaro rubbed his aching shoulder and watched the backs of this legendary group as they walked on ahead.
The road ahead was hell-difficulty. The enemy was DIO.
But walking alongside these people —
He let out a quiet breath and followed.
"Then... I'll be in your care."
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