[X] Unpack some more. Your mom will kill you if you don't and mom's word is law in the house, unlike dad's...
[X] Eat gosh darn it, you are starving... Plus the fried chicken that you got won't eat itself, you know....
[X] You haven't heard back from Asuka, Hibiki, or Ryouichi. Do you want to call one of them to see how they are doing...?
[X] Play music. It is the cure all to a really rough day.
...As much as you would want to get more explanations for the recent events in regards to Stands and the like, you had some unpacking to do. That only made sense. You were just moving in and getting used to the Morioh environment. You fingered your necklace for good luck.
It was the only thing that you can rely on.
First it was the boxes in your room. You had amassed a lot of things, some from childhood memories, from school and the like… and plus it was just… hard. Even though you made friends in Josuke and Koichi, could you really even call them your friends?
They were nice, yeah… you couldn't deny that. However, you felt hollow. It wasn't the same like it was with Hibiki, Asuka, and Ryouichi. Although, you were comparing apples to oranges. You barely knew Josuke and Koichi long enough. While you knew your three Osaka friends since forever.
At least unpacking gave you time to think. Something that you believe you were rarely going to have the more you stay in Morioh. Not like you didn't mind, that is. Life in Osaka was relatively normal. Going to school, hanging out with friends… all that stuff.
You barely realized that you were holding a picture frame, and another one to yet be used. It was a perfect fit to the photos that you had on hand. You had yet to put the pictures away. So you decidedly did that and placed the photos on your nightstand. You were quite particular with how things were arranged on your nightstand.
Although your mom would definitely would say otherwise, compared to sometimes how your room would be cluttered.
It took a bit, but your room was about… fifty percent cleaner, perhaps? Or at least less hazardous than yesterday.
Once that you got moving done, you had shifted through your bag and got to eating dinner at your desk - recently cleaned off thanks to your efforts - you would reap the rewards.
Fried chicken and oden for your meal. Plus, for dessert… a peach parfait. Sure, you had a crepe earlier… but… you always had a little more room for sweets.
While you were casually opening things up for dinner, you had remembered your notebook. Opening it up, it revealed not only the contact information of Josuke and Koichi, but it had contacts of Asuka, Hibiki, and Ryouichi. You might as well call...
-
Dialing in the number for the first one, being Asuka on the list. You had eaten your dinner and at least it tasted good enough. ...You would probably visit the convenience store a lot more often, to be honest.
You practically dazed off until you heard heard Asuka on the other end, "...Hey! HEY! You better not be asleep at the phone, whoever you are!"
"Look, calm down, it's me, Maki. I safely got here in Morioh." You responded crisply, which earned you a sigh.
"Honestly, I wonder how you manage for this long…" You could practically imagine Asuka pouting on the other end. "In all seriousness though, good. I was already worried you'd forgotten about your promise about contacting us after you settled in! You didn't get into anything weird again, did you?"
Although you held back an internal scream. You didn't want her to know about the fact you gotten wrapped up in something strange. "Nope. Totally great over on my end. I've made two friends."
"Oh wow! Makin' friends already? Then again, ya kinda have that aura around ya, ya know." Oh god, here she went into the Osaka dialect, as thick as can be. Asuka acted like she was a prim and proper lady, but in reality… she was a true-blooded Osakan.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm doing good in that…" You said, twirling the phone cord. "I'm guessin' everything is goin' good on your end."
"Well duh. It's kinda… the same? Which I'm disappointed in, sincerely. You think that high school changes everything, but it - ugh, dad, hold on! ...I gotta go, I'm sorry we didn't get to talk longer. Call me tomorrow, Maki, see ya, bye!!"
"Ah, good-bye then--"
You grunted. Your call got cut short. Typical. That was because Asuka's dad always dragged Asuka off to do something or other. Sometimes it was ballet. The other times it's acting… and on rare occasions, it happens to be both.
-
Sighing, you decided that you were going to call Ryouichi next. ...Only to receive a voicemail that you would have to leave a message for him, which you did. The basics, that good stuff.
Calling Hibiki, who was honestly the last person to chat to, she had picked up. "Hello, who is this?"
"Hey, Biki. It's me, Maki."
"Oh, Maki! I'm glad that you called! Did you like the music that I gave you? I wasn't sure if you'd like it but… I really hope you do."
"It's really good. I really appreciate it. It helped make the drive over to Morioh easier."
Switching your phone to your non-sweaty hand, you had smiled. "Hey, maybe I should mail you some stuff over in Morioh. Not sure if they have a really big music shop or not… but I'll find something."
"Oh, you don't have to worry! I'm totally fine." Hibiki chimed in, as it sounded like she was going through something, although you didn't know what it was. "Are you wearing your necklace? I'm wearing mine…"
"Yeah. I am." You took the necklace into your hand, feeling the cool weight of the crystals against your fingertips. You still held the phone of course, but with the hand holding the necklace, you could fiddle around with it abit.
-
Even after calling your friends, you only succeeded to talk to two out of the three people you wanted to. You had gotten dressed for bed. You were feeling exhausted. You had cleaned up your trash from dinner, yes, so now you had flopped onto the bed. Your eyes absentmindedly went towards to the boom box you had. It was still a goodie sort of music player in your mind.
You picked out the tape that you had been listening into the car, almost automatically. Slipping it in after ensuring it was wounded, you hit the play button.
Smooth jazz music floated into your room, a mixture of piano and saxophone, mixing and swirling into your eardrums. You had crawled under your bed. You had already earlier turned off the lights to your room and set your alarm for tomorrow, since you loved waking up in the morning.
Before you realized it, you had dropped off to sleep.
-
Waking up to your alarm next morning, you had done the usual morning routine that you normally did. Showering, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, and eating breakfast… It was already standard and routine for you.
Even getting into your school uniform. You were weird about this, for sure. Although it felt comforting a bit. Especially since you keep pairing it off the with the blazer and tie. You had unpacked half of your clothes last night too, so you didn't fully have your wardrobe all ready just yet.
Of course, you were still nervous about going out and about the town. The fact that Anjuro Katagiri was still around unnerved you in the sense that you barely knew about it. ...Maybe you should have spent time researching it.
You had a few things to do, so you had to head out of the house. You also thought that maybe your house would be placed on the milkman's route, although you figured that might not be the case.
Maybe you could visit Josuke this morning. You were friends, and it would be nice to chat with him… plus, he was only a few houses over, too!
-
Knocking on the door politely, you practically felt like your knees were going to buckle. You didn't even know what Josuke's family was like and you practically recited your introduction, only to lose it when a woman opened the door.
"Oh, hello! I've never seen you around before. Are you new in town?" From what you assumed, this either might be Josuke's relative or you had the wrong house.
"Y-Yes! I'm Maki Kunikara, I transferred over from Osaka. I live over in 1-10, not too far from here, actually." Your face must have been absolutely hot enough to fry eggs. "I met Josuke yesterday at school and we became good friends and so, I just wanted to talk to him today, ya know-- ah."
Oh god, your speech tic was coming back. You thought you had got rid of the thing.
Giving a soft laugh, she smiled at you. "Oh, you know Josuke from school then. I'm Tomoko Higashikata, Josuke's mother. Come on in, come on in! He's still here so you can wait for him. He's on the phone with someone. Although, you saying ya know at the end of your sentence there…? That's quite an odd quirk."
"...Sorry, kinda of a speech tic. I'm trying to stop it. Which is easier said than done."
Being allowed inside, you were impressed of how nice and quaint Josuke's place was, and how sweet his mom was. You had to wonder though where in the hell Josuke inherited his personality traits from then. Not to be rude, you were just curious was all.
"Ah, Maki? You're here?" Josuke seemed surprised. Then again, you never told him you were coming to visit. He looked like he had paused in his phone call.
You had brushed your hair aside. "Yeah, of course."
"Oh, Josuke! What would you like your coffee?"
"Sugar and milk, please."
While there was clearly a distraction, Crazy Diamond was summoned, with the bottle smashing into Josuke's mom and then reverting things back to they were like normal, as if nothing ever had happened. God. You keep walking into things like this and you still wonder why this had to happen. It was fast enough that everything was a blur.
Then again, you knew all along that your Stand wasn't waking up as fast as you thought it would. What would it have to take in order to get this to happen?! Would you have to literally push yourself into life and death situations or something in order to make this possible?
Everything continued as if nothing happened and only you and Josuke were aware of it. He motioned you to follow him after he placed the bottle down in the living room.
"Hey, Jotaro. I'm going to let Maki chat with you for a bit while I go eat breakfast. I'll be back."
This left you on the phone with Jotaro, who immediately acknowledged you, "So. You're here at Josuke's house. I'm guessing you saw the results of what happened not too long ago."
"What do you think? Of course I saw. I mean, Josuke and I are the only ones who can literally see Stands…" You muttered disdainfully.
Jotaro, however, had switched the topic on you. "I'm guessing you haven't awakened to your power yet. What do you think you can possibly do with the way you are right now? That kicking and punching is the best you can do against a Stand user?"
-
Pick 1 choice.
[] You are sure that you will awaken at some point. You can feel it, and it will happen sooner rather than later. Jotaro needs to believe in you, damn it! If you can just push yourself hard enough, your Stand will have to get involved!
[] You doubt you can awaken so quickly. You were asked so suddenly last time. Even now when you had a whole day to consider, you aren't sure. Keeping on waiting for an awakening sounds like a reasonable idea.
[] You have a feeling that Jotaro could help you awaken your powers. Just ask him how to get in a position where your Stand can awaken. He's been in the Stand business longer than you. Maybe he knows something.
[] You don't need Jotaro's "advice". If you have to beat down a Stand user without a Stand, you can do it. Although, then again, you might need to brush up on your fighting techniques again before rushing into battle.
