"Waitings fuckin' the worst…"

For once, Okuyasu spoke for nearly every person in that room. The crowd of teenagers groaned a bit as they all leant back in their various seats, the gang having gotten together to hang out a bit in Team JNPR's dorm room in order to just shoot the shit. The problem was the shit they had to shoot was increasingly the same points of discussions they'd had for the previous few weeks. Not because they didn't enjoy their time together or didn't have other things going on but just because of the subjects still hanging over their head, what lay ahead and the fact that… well, small talk came short in this lull.

The school year was over and, by all accounts, those staying at Beacon were just waiting out the Summer until the Vytal Festival. Most years this would be fine; after all the lull in the time between the Tournament and the official end of the School Year was meant to be taken as a time of exploration and cultural enrichment by those students who had transferred over to the school hosting the Tournament.

The problem this year was the back to back to back attacks that had occured in Vale relating to this. The Dance had been utterly impossible to cover up, Red Hot Chili Pepper and its fight at the docks had been equally a non-starter for keeping quiet about with the light show that the electric Stand. Finally there was no hiding the fall of the Walls of Vale and the fact that Grimm had flooded into the city. There was absolutely no obfuscating that or declaring that it wasn't as big a deal as it appeared. So rather than happy students filtering out of Beacon ready to participate in the culture of Vale, many were hanging around the dorms out of a sense of safety in numbers.

For the core group of Teams RWBY, JNPR and JOJO, or at least two members of that trio, it was more a concern about everything they knew about and what they were supposed to do next. They'd helped to save the day, or at least keep things from getting worse, they'd thwarted plans and Team RWBY had even assisted in capturing Roman Torchwick… but now what? The summer lull was positively killing them. No information was coming out of Torchwick's damn near comatose state

In other words-

"Yeah, not gonna lie, being hung up on a rope and having to be told 'Please wait patiently while we figure out who exactly is trying to kill us' isn't exactly a fun thing to be stuck doing." Yang frowned as she leaned back in her own seat, her golden mane flowing back over the seat as everyone nodded with the scarred and blonde teens.

"Should we go visit Josuke, then?" Koichi asked, the young man blinking curiously as he leaned forward from his own position against a wall. "If we're just sitting here and all I feel like we could have better uses of our time…"

"Josuke looked rather exhausted after the last time we were there." Ren commented calmly, surprising everyone whom had assumed that the young man had been asleep on the bed, his eyes closed and his breathing so still. "A little break so that he can actually take time to recover wouldn't be ill-advised…"

"He's still getting visited by the old man though, right? So is it that much of a problem?" Nora asked, frowning slightly as Jaune looked over with a wince.

"Nora, I think talking to his… er, distant… huh I was gonna say father…" Jaune's visage immediately twisted up into a slight panic, as if realizing the social faux pas he had immediately stepped into.

"Joseph." Pyrrha, however, had been quick on the save. "I think what Jaune's trying to say is that talking to Joseph is a little more important than talking to the rest of us." The blond knight heaved a sigh of relief at that as the rest of the group nodded, though some absolutely more hesitantly than others.

"Well then what are we gonna do? It's not like-"

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

"-wow I didn't even have time to jinx it…" Ruby commented idly, the silver eyed girl clearly surprised as the rest of the room glanced around. Blake, after a while, was the one to stand up and walk over to the door. She opened it and revealed, much to everyone's surprise, one Jotaro Kujo standing on the other side, his usual resting face presented to all as everyone straightened up.

"Oh, Jotaro, hello!" Blake said immediately, the young woman offering a slight bow as she did so. "Is something up? Did Torchwick wake up, is there-"

"No news yet I'm afraid. Torchwick Isn't up yet… but they seem to think he might wake up soon." Everyone heaved a sigh, all of them visibly relieved, as Jotaro's eyes scanned over the room like a hawk… before falling on Ruby. "I just came to borrow something."

"Oh, what did you come to borrow exactly?" Ruby asked with a slight chirp, the young woman tilting her head to the side as Jotaro stepped into the room, moving over people just laying on the floor, to stand over the silver eyed young woman.

"You."

"Eh?"

Everyone just blinked in shock as Jotaro immediately picked Ruby up by the hood of her cape, the young woman's legs easily dangling as Jotaro, a mountain of a man, seemed to have no trouble lifting up the diminutive.

"... Mr. Kujo, as much as you are… well, our senior, I feel like it's inappropriate for you to just walk in here and grab one of our team leaders like- and you're walking away." Weiss frowned as Jotaro immediately started walking back towards the dorm room door, casting his eyes back at the group.

"There's a particular task I need her for today. It's something her particular set of skills would be able to help with and, concerning the current sensitivity of the situation, it's best that I grab someone in the know about everything that's gone on. She'll be back before dark."

"Okay, but you still-"

With that Jotaro closed the door behind him, Ruby's meek cry of 'Guys?' just getting cut off by the door itself.

…

"You know I feel like I should be panicking more over your boss effectively kidnapping my sister." Yang said with a frown, brow furrowed as she just crossed her arms. "... But I'm more confused than worried. What the Hell just happened?"

"... Don't mind Jotaro. If he really feels like he needs you for something or… well, if you need to hear something from him, he… kind of tends to do that." Koichi offered awkwardly as Weiss looked over, utterly perplexed.

"What? Just… kidnap people and drag them off without their permission?"

"Eh she'll be fine. You guys have gone on a mission with him so you know what he's like. Ruby'll be fine!" Okuyasu offered as he leaned back in his seat, Koichi just nodding softly as the rest of the group looked at each other.

"... You know it only rarely occurs to me that you guys basically are from an entirely different culture than us. But when it does it hits hard." Blake commented dryly, the black cat Faunus picking her book back up as the others nodded.

"Still… I can't say that Okuyasu's wrong. Jotaro was very dependable during the mission and was an effective member of the group. I trust his judgement… I just kind of wish that he wasn't such a stand-offish jerk about it." The Schnee Heiress shook her head as she said this, as Nora just gave a nice, wide smile.

"But Weiss! Being standoffish and rough around the edges is like 90% of Jotaro's charm!"

"She's not wrong." Ren remarked idly as Nora beamed a smile back at him.

"... The fact that you guys can say that so nonchalantly kind of scares me." Jaune chuckled nervously as Yang offered only a small laugh.

"I dunno. I'm more scared by the fact that they're kind of right." Yang said with a bark of laughter as she stood up, stretching herself out as she winked at the rest of the group. "Well not for nothing but if my sis is gonna get kidnapped then I have a few niceties to take care of myself. When in Mantle, right?" Yang walked off, leaving everyone just a bit flabbergasted… though Blake only arched an eyebrow, having come to know her partner all too well.

"You're up to something…"

"Obviously! I'll catch you guys later!" With that Yang herself made her exit, leaving the group to just sit around in the room on their own, utterly flabbergasted by the two displays one after the other.

"... Well at least she was honest about that." Pyrrha remarked oddly, tilting her head a bit as Okuyasu just groaned.

"Ah man, you know what, screw this. At this point I don't care what we do, I'm just gettin' anxious. If Ruby's gonna go do whatever with Jotaro and Yang's got plans, then we should just get up and get movin' too. Can't stand just stayin' in this dorm anymore." Everyone looked at each other as the scarred teen bitched and groaned about the current situation… but in the end none of them really found it in them to disagree. Well, almost none of them. Because as Okuyasu moved to stand up one gentle, pale hand raised up, holding itself out to motion for him to stop.

"Weiss? What's up?" Koichi was the one to break the new silence, the grey haired young man curious as Weiss just stared dead on at the two Frontier Huntsmen, an intense look on her face.

"... Just something I got reminded of, having Jotaro walk in here. Yang helped remind me too… she had some niceties to take care of and… well, it might not be niceties on my part but it is definitely something I've wanted to take care of for a while now." At that everyone seemed intrigued, leaning in as they watched the Heiress. "You guys told us to wait before when you gave us a brief summary, that it wasn't important to get into the specifics of it… but well, now we have plenty of time to hear it. That birthmark Jotaro showed us; what the Heck is going on with it? With this… Family Curse?"

…

Immediately Koichi and Okuyasu clammed up, the two Frontier Huntsmen going slightly pale as this topic was being brought up now of all times.

"A-Ah, right… the Star…" Koichi offered, glancing off nervously as he twiddled his thumb.

"Right yeah… Joestar Family Birthmark and the… er, curse associated with it. That… that was brought up alright." Okuyasu pulled at the collar of his uniform, the bling he'd embedded into it jingling slightly at the motion.

"Are you guys not allowed to talk about it or something?" Nora asked, leaning forward slightly as she put her head in her hands. "I mean if you absolutely can't it's cool, it's just… well, you know." Nora fidgeted about a bit, showing off her obvious curiosity and excitement.

"... Well… uh… I don't think… I mean, kind of but… well, it's not like it's forbidden to talk about generally, it was just… you know, advised. Not to share it with… uh." Koichi fumbled as Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Strangers?"

"... Yeah…" Koichi replied meekly as Jaune frowned a little.

"You guys really still can't consider us strangers at this point, right? I mean… after everything we've been through together?" Okuyasu grit his teeth slightly at that, the young man tearing at his short hair as he though this over.

"Course not! You guys are our friends and… yeah, you've been through all this shit with us and helped us out… it's just… fuck, you know? This stuff's kind of a big deal where we come from. It's… basically the entire conflict that made the Frontier what it is. What made Morioh the last settled place there. It's… kind of hard to talk about, you know?"

"Look, we understand that it's an important part of your culture and pretty vital to the Joestar Family. Surely though something that happened so long ago, even if it translated to a… a 'curse'-" Pyrrha gestured with her hands, "-wouldn't be a vital threat to talk about."

…

Okuyasu's and Koichi's silence in response to that was damn near deafening.

"... Unless this whole secret does have something to do with what's going on today." Ren quietly said, the young man turning to face Koichi and Okuyasu fully as even Ren's interest seemed peeked.

"It… might. We don't know for certain but… well, at the very least the ramifications of what happened are behind the current situation." With that Weiss nodded as she slapped her hand on a nearby desk, causing everyone to flinch a bit.

"All the more reason for you two to tell us then. We're as much a part of this as you are, you can't deny that anymore. We have a right to know about something so vital, especially if it endangers people we consider our friends." Weiss shook her head as she leaned back in her seat. "I might not be onboard with this idea of a Family Curse… but if it's so terrible for Jotaro and Josuke then we should know about it. At least so we can know what we're getting into."

…

"... Okuyasu? Can you think of any reason not to tell them?" Koichi asked, causing the scarred teen to bark out a slightly tense laugh as he scratched his cheek.

"Come on Koichi, you have to ask? You're the smart one out of the two of us; if either of us would have a good reason to keep our lips shut it'd be you." The young man just nodded calmly at that.

"I figured… just thought it'd be good to check, considering I had nothing too." With that the two young men heaved a dramatic sigh, exhausted and beaten, as they turned back to the rest of their friends. "Alright… listen, we'll tell you guys what happened. The whole thing about those birthmarks and the curse behind them."

"But ya'll are gonna have to take our word on a lot of this stuff. You gotta believe us no matter what we say."

"... Well come on, that seems a little unreasonable Okuyasu, why-"

"No, Okuyasu's right." Koichi commented, drawing everyone's attention as he leaned forward. "Look… you're free to ask as many questions as you feel are necessary at any point in time. That's completely and truly fair and we have time for it." The polite, earnest Koichi shined best here as he offered a very sympathetic, tired smile. "However… what we're going to be telling you is kind of batshit crazy." The more forward Koichi, however, finished it off. "I'm serious, the stuff you're gonna hear about… well, about Him especially? It's going to be surreal."

"... Even by the standards of the Golden Arrows and Stands?" Blake asked, seemingly dumbfounded by the very notion.

"Yes. Even by those standards, this story is going to get weird."

…

"... Should we be drunk for this?" Nora asked, causing Okuyasu to bark out a laughter as everyone just seemed to be slightly on edge with how serious Okuyasu and Koichi were being about this.

"Probably but too late for that now." With that Okuyasu and Koichi looked at each other, tense expressions on each of their faces.

"... How do we even start with this?"

"Oh Brothers… I honestly can't believe she managed to sneak out of there without being spotted by someone in your family…"

"Well what can I say, as much as I pride myself on my own resourcefulness your mother… well, you didn't get all of your brains from me." The older Joestar commented to his estranged son, the elderly man taking a moment to pause before he took a sip of his water. "Just most of them."

Josuke smiled and, honestly, if he felt like he had more energy he would've torn into the old geezer for having said something like that. Trying to act really cool like that, someone needed to take him down a peg. However, at that moment, it wouldn't be Higashikata Josuke. Instead the young man, hair still flat and skin somewhat pale, just leaned back in his hospital bed. These past few days the doctors had switched up his regimen, now focusing more on getting him out of bed than making sure that nothing was internally wrong with him. While Josuke was grateful, have no doubt of that, the young man couldn't help but be weary too.

It was rough getting as messed up as he was. Honestly, the fact that Crazy Diamond couldn't fix him just stood out like a sore thumb in moments like these where he could fix up everyone else just fine but he was forced to stay put in a hospital bed.

Stand weakness could be a load of bull sometimes.

"I take it you have something else on your mind, Josuke?" Joseph finally asked, setting his glass of water to the side.

"... Agh.. it's just a little bit of everything you know. This whole situation is just… well, not great." Joseph cackled slightly at that, rapping his left hand against the wooden counter to produce a metal ring.

"Can't say I don't know the feeling. I was stuck in bed for what felt like ages after everything with Kars went down. Trust me, 'recovery' is even worse when you're getting over the loss of an arm and having a new one attached. Might've been the peak of Atlesian Tech at the time but, hoo boy, did that come with some surgery."

"Hell, according to Jotaro you even died once, yeah?" Joseph nodded at that… though that just made Josuke blink. "Actually, bringing that up, that did always raise an interesting question to me." The young man did his best to lean forward as he looked over at Joseph. "I've always been told that a Stand's power can't be used to bring someone back from the dead. Gods know I've learned that the hard way with Crazy Diamond." The older Joestar nodded at that as Josuke tapped his chin. "So… how did Jotaro bring you back to life with Star Platinum anyway?"

"Ah, that is an interesting story with a great deal of finesse and detail underlying how I was able to escape the cold, cold clutches of death, Josuke." Josuke nodded at that, eagerly leaning forward. "... We have no idea."

…

"Okay, I'd ask you to pull the other one but I feel like it'd hurt." Josuke said, feeling more tired than annoyed, as Joseph shrugged his shoulders.

"Brothers above, that's the truth. Jotaro more or less acted on instinct with his plan to try to revive me. It's true; Star Platinum had no means of using its various powers to revive me. I was well and truly dead, my Soul left my body and my Stand was destroyed. Jotaro witnessed it all himself. Yet still he was able to bring me back from the next life with… well, I guess some rather extreme CPR is the best way to put it, considering he had Star Platinum pumping my heart."

"So… you're not exaggerating, you really have no idea."

"Not a clue, though there is a theory that I've always been partial to." Josuke leaned forward again, his curiosity peaked, as Joseph stroked his chin. "DIO's blood… it's always had strange properties ever since he put The Mask." The word was so vague but, to anyone born and raised in Morioh, they knew right away which Mask was being spoken of. "People who took part of it became like him, closer to Grimm than man, and were strengthened by it. I never directly saw it myself with The Pillar Men or Straizo, but when it was described to me…"

"... You figure that it had some small effect on you."

"Heh, you really did get my sharp wits." Joseph said with a cocky grin, Josuke again just shaking his head as his estranged father looked back down. "Still, yes. While there was a great deal of my own blood in DIO's body at the time, there was no separating it out from his own. Even with all the injuries Jotaro would've inflicted on him, all the blood he'd have lost, some small bit of it would have been inside of him… and thus would've been given back to me in turn."

"Well you don't have red and black eyes or pale skin so…"

"Indeed. If it had any effect it would've been small… but even for a man as fit as I've been my entire life, I'm living a lot longer than I should be Josuke. Especially given what I've put this old, haggard body of mine through. I don't feel different and I don't seem different but… well. There's too much that fits about the situation for me to write these suspicions off."

Josuke just swallowed a bit nervously, listening to the elder Joestar speak on this matter. Now that Josuke was looking… well, he wasn't sure if he was just spooking himself or if he was honestly seeing them. Looking deep into the old, world weary eyes of Joseph Joestar, Josuke could swear that amidst the deep sea of Joestar green, specs of red and black could be found in the old man's eyes.

Though that mood, that fear, was quickly extinguished as the older man just looked over at him.

"Enough about that though. Too serious to speak over while visiting." Joseph clutched his hands around his cane as he watched Josuke nod. "Hope you haven't been too lonely. I know the treatments must be a pain and I probably would've gone stir crazy just sitting around like this when I was your age. Your friends been visiting you?"

"Yeah, they have been actually. They try to keep it on the regular but… well, after everything and with how long this ordeal with Roman Torchwick's taking, almost everyone seems a bit more on edge than usual. They haven't been by in a few days." Josuke admitted, the young leader heaving a sigh. It had been a rough few days; sure, he understood why they hadn't come by, the doctors were renewing some of his Dust treatments to help close up his stitches and, Hell, in a few days he was set to get them removed in a rather grueling process. He knew they might be by in the next few days but being so far apart from his friends was kind of torture for the young man.

"Ah, they set to meet you today? If so I can mozy on along, wouldn't want to cramp you kids and your style." Josuke cringed at Joseph's description but shook his head.

"Appreciated but no. They haven't called ahead to confirm anything so I really don't think they're-"

"Yo, JoJo! Sis got kidnapped by Jotaro and everyone else seemed intent on sitting around so… thought I'd bring by some… provisions."

The two Joestar family members blinked as the door opened up and, who should come through it but one Yang Xiao Long. The blonde paused awkwardly in the midst of her entrance, lilac eyes blinking at the two Stand Users as a small standoff ensued.

…

"I didn't come by at a bad time, did I?" Yang asked, awkwardly, pointing out the door. "Cause I can totally leave and-"

"No no, it's quite around Miss Xiao Long. I was just leaving; gotta get back to my station in case Roman Torchwick finally wakes up after all." Joseph said, calmly, as he stood up from his seat, dusting himself off as he looked over at Josuke. "Not expecting company, eh?"

"I wasn't lying, old man." Josuke muttered as he glanced off to the side, already not liking the look Joseph was giving him.

"... You know your grandfather and I liked blondes-" Before Joseph could even finish his thought a hospital pillow was batted upside his head, the old man cackling as he rushed out the door before another pillow was thrown at his back.

"Useless old… urgh…" Josuke, a slight blush on his cheeks, collapsed back a bit on the bed, the effort having drained him somewhat as Yang just watched Joseph run for the hills.

…

"Wow, already fulfilling the 'embarrass kid' requirement. Guy moves fast to fill in, huh?" Yang shrugged her shoulders as she closed the door behind her, the black haired young man shaking his head as he sighed.

"Yeah, kind of a pain in the ass." Josuke let his hands roam up to his hair, sighing ever so slightly as he looked over at Yang. "Listen, I hope he didn't skeeve you out or anything. He's kind of-"

"It's cool JoJo. Like I said, embarrassing the kid is just kind of a dad thing. Gods know my dad's done it plenty of times for me to just kind of get used to it… well, get used to it from other dads that is." Yang admitted, coughing awkwardly to herself as she lifted a plastic bag.

"Anyway, brought some stuff over. Figured you've got to be going a bit stir crazy with just hospital food and junk so, you know."

"Pretty sure that's kind of against the rules." Josuke commented, crossing his arms as he looked over at the plastic bag. In fact he was pretty much 100% certain it was against the rules; the hospital made their food the way it was and provided what drinks they did for a reason. Bringing in outside stuff probably wasn't cool at all…

"So you're saying you don't want it?" Yang asked, coyly, as she threatened to hold the bag back as Josuke just barked out a surprised laugh.

"Now hold on, i didn't say that!" The teen admitted as the blonde brawler shook her head, dumping most of the contents on the bed in front of him. Most of the contents were to be expected; the little snack cakes he and his mother loved to eat, the cola that he found so delicious and a lot of other little snacks. The one thing he was pretty surprised by was the comb that was dumped out in the mix of it, causing the young man to tilt his head to the side.

"Figured you of all people would be going crazy without a comb to style your hair with so, ta-da! You're welcome!" Josuke chuckled ever so slightly; though he did appreciate the gesture… well, he kind of had to rain a bit on Yang's parade.

"Sorry Yang but unless you've got some hair gel in that bag I don't think that comb's gonna do me much good. A pompadour Isn't exactly something you come into easily." He'd learned that lesson the hard way back in the day. However, as he said this, Josuke couldn't help but notice the sly grin on Yang's face, the young woman picking up the come and twirling it around in her fingers.

"Poor, poor JoJo. You have thought yourself the master of your hair but clearly you have much to learn, young student." Yang flipped a hand through her hair as she spoke, the grin still on her face. "Today I'm going to teach you the magic of styling your hair with just water! An ancient art passed down through my family."

…

"For how long?"

"Well, starting with me, but a tradition has gotta start somewhere right?" Josuke just blinked in disbelief at that as Yang waved him over. "Now scoot."

"Uh… hmmm…" Josuke mumbled to himself, obviously nervous and pretty tepid. The idea of someone else touching his hair was kind of… uncomfortable. No one touched his hair, not even really his mom. He styled it himself and he took care of it. Putting it in someone else's hands… well… it felt like he was endangering his precious, precious hair. Seeing this hesitation Yang just scoffed as she put her hands on her hips.

"Come on JoJo. Look at my beautiful head of hair. Are you really saying you can't trust me, of all people, to handle your hair?"

"I'm not saying that…" He was thinking it, for one. However, as he looked over Yang's hair… well, he couldn't deny. It was clear how much work and effort Yang put into maintaining her hair. The diligence and hard work was clear in how voluminous and shiny it was. The ends of her hair flowed all the way down her back right to her butt and, despite all this, it looked like there was nary a tangle or a split end to be found in the entire waterfall of gold. It really did look amazing. Maintaining all that hair probably put his own work on his pompadour to shame, if he thought about it rationally…

'Jeez… trust my friend who's obviously done a lot of hard work on her own hair and knows what she's doing… or continue to not let anyone mess with my hair. Choices…' In the end, as irrational as Josuke knew he could feel about his hair sometimes… he did miss his pompadour. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"If something starts happening that I don't like-"

"Then you have absolutely free reign to call up Crazy Diamond and 'Dorarara' me into a wall."

"I wasn't gonna say that…" Josuke muttered, glancing off to the side as Yang just grinned like a wolf at him.

"You were thinking it though. It's cool; I think the same thing when people mess with my hair." Well that was comforting at any rate. So Yang quickly went off to fill a cup with water while Josuke moved over to the edge of his hospital bed, the snacks and drinks set out for the both of them as the formerly pompadoured teen, reluctantly, made room for Yang to get to work. It'd be a long process of course, and Yang knew that to some degree; just styling hair with water took a long, long time to get things right and, to make Josuke's hair up into something even vaguely resembling his classic pompadour would be even more of a challenge.

Still, Yang Xiao Long wasn't bluffing when she said she knew hair, she certainly did. She'd be up for the challenge, it'd just take time and… well, she could really stand to fill that time with something to chat about. What though; they were all kind of talked out from the last time she and the others visited and it wasn't like anything too exciting happened since then? Things had just been so slow, all the waiting for the next move to be made. Okuyasu wasn't wrong that it was boring and a drain on her nerves, even if 'peace' was technically what they were all aiming for.

While Yang did her best to try to think of a topic, she quickly combed a bit of Josuke's hair up and away from his shoulder as she prepared to set it, giving herself a good base to build his pompadour back up. As she did so though she noticed something just out of the corner of her eye. Something barely obscured by the shoulder of Josuke's hospital gown…

A purple star.

The Joestar Birthmark… or the Joe-Star as she'd taken to privately calling it. Privately because, in truth, nobody understood her comedic genius but Okuyasu and she was waiting for the right time to crack this bad boy out.

Still, seeing it there, it did remind her.

"... Say so… sorry for bringing this up out of nowhere but… well, couldn't help but notice… this little guy right here." She used her elbow to roughly tap the position on his shoulder, figuring that Josuke would know what was what. The teen froze up a bit at that, awkwardly scratching his cheek.

"Oh? Yeah… it's a, it's a birthmark." Yang nodded at that, though it was clear Josuke wasn't trying to talk too much about it.

"I know, Jotaro showed it off… and uh, explained some stuff about it."

…

The silence in the room soon became deafening, all but for the sounds of Yang dipping the come in the cup of water.

"Ah, he did huh?"

"Yeah; it was just after you left the meeting involving the old man coming. He explained the connection and… well… a curse. Didn't go much more in depth other than to say there was a curse but, you know."

"Right." Josuke frowned, keeping himself from leaning forward so as to not interrupt Yang's work on his hair. "I'm guessing you're wanting to know what's up?"

"Eh, Jotaro said he'd explain it later so you don't have to…"

"I don't have to… but I feel like there's a 'bit' coming." Josuke said with a slight chuckle as Yang sheepishly nodded.

"But… being told that your friend's entire family has this bloodline curse with a birthmark associated… well, I'm not gonna lie, been kind of dying for an explanation. That sounds like… you know, magic. More so than any of the Stand stuff or whatever. At least that makes sense on a Soul-based level. This…" Yang struggled to find the right words, but the black haired young man quickly stepped in.

"I understand. It's bizarre even by the standards of what you guys know." Yang nodded, the blonde leaning over Josuke's shoulder to be able to get a good look at him.

"Yeah… but still, if you don't want to say, that's fine. Jotaro already promised it and-"

"No… no. It's fine. You're doing me a favor right now and… well, it's kind of about time." Josuke muttered as he brought his hand up to his chin. "You all have been a part of this and… on some level, it affects you all too. You don't have to be a Joestar to be afflicted by our curse. That's something a lot of people have had to learn the hard way." The room remained heavily silent as Yang sat back, breath baited as she paused her work on Josuke's hair. The young man, however, just heaved a sigh.

"How do I even start though…"

"Huh? You brought me along to hunt… Grimm?"

Ruby was very much befuddled as she and Jotaro walked through the various, abandoned streets of Vale. Following the attack on the city numerous parts of the city had been left largely empty due to the damage done. The Grimm rampage alone had taken a toll on numerous buildings, the monster's hatred of humanity pouring out onto even the structures built by humans as blocks of the city were wrecked and destroyed by the monsters. However, they alone didn't account for all of it; with the destruction of the wall blocks of concrete, stone and steel rained down upon large sections of the city.

Crushing, destroying, pillaring and otherwise causing great havoc wherever its pieces would land. Thus many residents of these areas were left without suitable homes to return to while construction, or reconstruction rather, took place. In the meantime, the city streets remained empty, hollow and lonely…

"Yes. There've been reports that Grimm remain within Vale, especially in these empty sections of the city, following 'The Breach'." Jotaro spoke of the unofficial name of the catastrophe in practical air quotes as he and Ruby scaled a huge pile of rubble that used to be a residence. "Before the city sends in construction crews to deal with these areas, they want them cleared out and declared safe. No sense sending workings to potentially dangerous areas before they know they're safe. Given the range on your scope if we spot any Grimm I knew you'd be able to take them out from a distance, even if they started running. That range will help to make up for Star Platinum's own relatively limited range."

…

Okay, that made some amount of sense but… well…

"I mean… why did you agree to it? There's other Hunters in Vale, especially now after The Breach. There's also Atlesian soldiers and… even if it had to be you, there's plenty of other Hunters who're just as good at taking shots as me, if not better." Heck, she was only a first year after all. "So I'm just… kind of confused I guess. I'm not sure why you brought me here."

…

Jotaro looked down at Ruby, the young woman flinching under his gaze.

"T-That isn't to say I don't believe those reasons at all, I'm just saying that it doesn't feel like that's… you know… the whole... truth?" She was just gonna shut up before she-

"Well… you're perceptive at least. You're not wrong."

…

"I'm not?" Ruby watched as Jotaro nodded, scaling one end of the rubble and nodding for her to come over and join him.

"We are gonna be hunting Grimm, but it was more just an excuse to get away from Beacon. I signed myself up for it and asked that I be allowed to bring someone with me. They accepted and so I came by to grab you."

"... Okay. So… why exactly?" Jotaro nodded at that, looking back at Ruby as they both scaled down the side of the pile of rubble. As they walked along the giant of a man heaved a sigh as he looked back at her again.

"During our time over in Mountain Glenn I had an opportunity to talk to your team… or rather, most of your team. I never got the chance to get around to you… mostly because I figured you didn't need it. Your sister talked up your dreams and drive and no one seemed to argue. Heck, Ozpin seems to think highly of you and your abilities as well." Ruby couldn't help but smile at that, nodding fervently.

"Well yeah! There's not a thing in this world I wanna be more than a Huntress! I want to be a Hero that saves people and does my best to protect everyone!" Jotaro's gaze narrowed ever so slightly at that, the large man pointing back at her.

"So I've heard. So that being the case… why let Oyecomova live?"

…

"E… Excuse me?" Ruby couldn't quite believe the question being posed to her. Oyecomova, the terrorist they fought who tried to help with The Breach. Jotaro was asking her… why she…

"You had a chance to finish him off and take your shot. Killing him would've taken a piece off the table and potentially saved who knows how many more lives in the future. So why did you stop yourself?" Ruby awkwardly rubbed her arm at that, glancing off to the side.

"I mean… isn't that obvious? He's a human being, a person. I couldn't kill a person. That's just not what we do. We're supposed to protect people-"

"Even people trying to kill or harm other people?" Jotaro asked, causing Ruby to frown as Jotaro just stared at her for a hard second. "That's why we're here. I don't care about whether being a Huntress if your dream or not. Don't care about your drive. Those are fine things to have on your own. I am here to tell you that this attitude, this idea that you aren't going to harm any people in this fight, in this war to protect humanity… it's a load of shit that's only going to get you or your friends hurt… or worse." Ruby visibly flinched at that, turning her silver eyes on Jotaro as she frowned at him.

"I really can't believe you'd say something like that! After what everyone's said about your family, after what everyone's said about how great of heroes you all are, that you are, you're going to try and tell me that heroism and not hurting people's… 'a load'?" She wouldn't use the rest both out of propriety and not wanting to repeat that lost part.

Or worse. Only one thing he could've meant.

Jotaro just looked back at her, turning his shoulders to face her fully. "Is that really what you think you see when you look at me? What you think I am after all those stories? A Hero?" Ruby nodded, almost defiantly, as Jotaro heaved a sign. "Yare yare daze… you couldn't be further off from the truth."

Ruby didn't budge, didn't leave her ground, as she kept facing Jotaro, the man and father staring down at her before turning."You think you understand my family, our place as Heroes, after hearing some stories…

"I have a story to tell you, then. An important one…"

"He was a legend, a man seemingly sent by Destiny in order to save everyone in their hour of need! From a long line of proud, honest, noble men and women he was descended and those qualities shined the brightest in him! He's the greatest of the Three Founders, the man who slew his brother, born of the Brother of Destruction himself… the man who made Morioh the community it is today.

"Jonathan Joestar, our founder… and the man with whom the Joestar Curse, sadly, began."

"They didn't talk about it much… but, well, it was bound to come up eventually. Everyone in Morioh looks up to them. Everyone in Morioh believes in them. My grandfather was no different in that regard and he passed that appreciation down to my mom. When she met Joseph, she fell in love with the man of course, I have no doubt about that… but, well, there was probably still a lot of that awe. Of a lineage that stretched back to a great man. However… we all learned that the family is more complicated than it looks. That the Joestars aren't as perfect as everyone thinks, even beyond the quirks of someone like Joseph or Jotaro.

"Still… they're not who I'm talking about. However imperfect the family is, and however quirky the guy at the start of this curse might be… well. He's still a hero to me and my family. He's still… well, my family too, I guess.

"Jonathan Joestar, my great-grandfather, the man who really started the current Joestar lineage… and where the Joestar Curse was inflicted upon us."

"Robert Speedwagon loved him… and when the time came when he was no longer alive, he wanted people to appreciate him. The struggles he went through, the obstacles in his way. His life wasn't easy; his mother died when he was young and his father placed high expectations on him for leading the family into a new generation. It's a lot of weight to put on a young man… especially when you're constantly comparing him to some creep. He struggled to make friends with kids his age and grew up in a rough spot; born too high for the lower class kids to really respect him, but not a high society guy himself. According to my grandfather, my great, great grandmother said his table manners were atrocious.

"Yet it'd be him that everything would fall on. The man who would shoulder the weight of all those struggles… every last decision that had to be made, every last sacrifice asked for. In the end he died too. Robert Speedwagon wiped the slate clean… but we remembered him. Not as just a legend, but as a man.

"He was the son of a high strung father, descended from nobility, whom destiny put a great weight onto. He began the Joestar Curse by deciding to take up destiny's call. He was named many things by Robert and the people who followed him… but he was a man with a normal name. A nickname even; one taken up to try and fit in amongst the kids he'd try to play and box with.

"Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar."

A/N: Woof, been a long time, been a long time.

Okay so for those of you who don't keep up with the SpaceBattles thread, short version; I've been going through a few rewrites of the Beacon is Unbreakable outline for the past few months as I've been trying to change some things. Chapter lengths so that they won't feel so bloated as I try to cram in words to hit a 10k limit I had dumbly imposed, restructuring the story so as to keep it from dragging on, etc.

I've also started a couple other projects that took off unexpectedly. One of them you've been bound to notice, My Huntsman Academia which I post fanfic versions of the Quest updates here with the help of my editors Shovern and Wind-Waker, and a Spider-Man Quest that I have yet to ask for editors of (as it's still too early into the Quest). They kind of unexpectedly blew up in popularity so they ended up taking up more time because I was finding it difficult to work on Beacon is Unbreakable.

Which is the last point; with Beacon is Unbreakable winding down, with less than 25 chapters to go I reckon, i've been finding the difficulty of working on it growing. I'm having to wrap things up and make sure everything's tying together in a neat bow, which is much harder to manage than setting things up and letting them play out. I get nervous and uncertain working on this because I want the ending to be of good quality so that it'll feel satisfaction when the last chapter's posted. So I've just struggled hard with Beacon is Unbreakable.

But finally, we have a new chapter out. I'll try to at least make future installments more regular than this past drought, hopefully once a month, but I'm going to take what time I need considering the above.

Sorry for this having taken so long and I hope you all enjoy! Later!