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Edmond was a bit shocked as Cameron started yelling at him. Apparently, his "girlfriend" had decided to quiet him down, but he still had questions to answer. He'd answer them after Joel was finished with his, and after the girl quit being so angry. "So... You have a real imaginary friend." He wondered out loud. "That sounds... Incredibly ridiculous!" He exclaimed. "What kind of trash is that? Am I to believe-" He could see that both of the kids were looking at Joel, so he looked back at him. No, their gazes were slightly offset! "I am to believe this, aren't I? And you two!" He pointed at the kids. "You share the same type of ability he does, correct? This, 'imaginary friend'. You seem to be able to see his while I cannot. Is this some kind of exclusive spiritual connection that allows you to comprehend others' 'imaginary friends' as well?" His questions were numerous and difficult. "I guess you two won't just freely tell me, huh." He shrugged. Well, he guessed it was time to redo his explanation of his current situation.

"Take notes if you need, because I don't want to repeat this spiel for a third time." He said, before clearing his throat. "I am a vampire. I was a tourist- A kid like you." He said, pointing at Cameron now. "Me and my parents had entered an alleyway like this one, and were cut down by a random thug. He wanted not money, valuables, or anything other than to test something in his possession. He stabbed me and my parents to death, but put a stone mask onto my face." He fished it out of his pocket again, and held it out to them. "After absorbing my blood, it pierced my brain and gifted me with power unimaginable at the cost of my humanity. Now, I hide away from the sun and drain the living of their blood. My assailant was a gangster, belonging to the same gang as the other man I was originally tailing. One of you probably saw him, and what I did to him." He said, pointing to the severed arm on the ground. "The man deserved death, and I was willing to give him his reward if goody-two shoes over here didn't stop me." He emphasized the insulting nicknamed he had given to Joel, and glared at him. "Now then, do you two have imaginary friends of your own?" He asked, until Joel said he was leaving.

"I shall go with you after I hear from them. I would kill to have a bath and wash my clothes." He said. Whether he was speaking figuratively or literally was hard to determine. "I smell of nothing but blood. As a vampire, well, I can only say it only feels like always smelling steak while you're hungry. God, my clothes are all stained permanently, aren't they?" He asked himself.
 
Imaginary Friends? What could that mean? Hachi had a surprisingly rash reaction to Cameron asking for answers, and in her right it was. That was an outburst, and anyone could have come in and called the police. The last he needed was his parents worried he had become a street thug, or to ruin his reputation at school. And that man just now, the one that had given his card back to him only to ignore him for a short while, named Edmond he thought, was he truly a vampire? He had stuck his hand into an arm and froze a man so he wouldn't bleed out, and he looked almost the same age as Cameron. Could that really be the truth.

Shaking off Hachi's arm from his shoulder, Cameron gathered himself again, and looked at Edmond.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

It was best to play dumb. If the 'vampire' truly was interested, then he would be justified in his curiosity, but he could also be looking for that arrow that Cameron was keeping safe, and he couldn't risk that. The arrow had given him his ability, and he didn't know how valuable it truly was. It most certainly couldn't fall into the wrong hands, if that was true. From there on out, he vowed to keep his eyes away from the steel figure standing behind Hachi, or the strange liquid-substance protruding from the unnamed man that was trying to Abscond.


 
Vampire? That was the best he could come up with? As Edmond began to relate his story for the second time, Hachi adopted an incredulous expression. It sounded like something a child would come up with, some "scary" story middle schoolers would whisper to each other. And yet, as Edmond continued, Hachi found that he spoke with complete commitment to the insane dialogue. That, and given the fact that Hachi was no longer the only one with a spirit tailing her, began to open a world of possibilities to the woman. If what Edmond was saying was true... What did mean for her?

In addition, the other man alongside Edmond had related his own story, one about his own spirit. However, unlike Hachi's abrupt introduction to Tread Lightly, this man had possessed the spirit since a young age. So, it seemed like this ability was perhaps not as isolated as she might have thought. All this new information kept Hachi quiet as she listened to everyone around her.

Despite her previous desire to simply understand the situation and subsequently leave, Hachi found herself growing increasingly curious. She couldn't just let the other man leave, not now that she knew there were others like her. What else did he know? Since this spirit had been following him for so long, perhaps he had more answers? However, the man seemed keen on leaving as soon as possible. Edmond also had his own priorities -- he wanted to know more about these spirits as well. Cameron, on the other hand, had excused himself from the strangeness altogether, vowing that he had no idea what anyone was talking about. Hachi knew that was bullshit.

"I don't think I have to tell you anything," objected Hachi, her eyes narrowed at Edmond's gory figure. "You don't know anything about these spirits, do you? I don't think you can even see them."

Hachi opened her mouth to speak again, but guilt suddenly flooded her conscience and washed out the words she was going to say. It was late now, really late, and it was going to take a long time to get home. The breeze that had blown Cameron's paper had gotten a little stiffer, meaning that the walk would probably be a miserable one.

Her eyes snapped over to Joel and Filter. She didn't want to just leave without learning more --perhaps this was her only chance -- but she couldn't stay either. Indecision tugged at her ankles, and she took a step backward.

"Cameron, go home." Hachi still stared at Joel, her jaw shifting in frustration, but she spoke to the student in a hushed tone. "Your parents will probably be home soon."

With that, Hachi spun on her heel and began to walk away, wrapping her jacket a little tighter around herself. Tread Lightly had dissipated, but every inch of her spirit seemed to be telling her to turn back.

Hachi had never been one to cave in. Today was no different. She continued to walk.

 
And so the night ended, with two parties diverging at the crossroads of fate.

Joel walked the half an hour across Tokyo city back to his apartment complex, sleepily punching in the code for his building and walking inside. He held the door open for Ed, who had been presumably following him up until this point. Joel wasn't sure, he hadn't spoken a word if that was the case. Making his way up the three stories to his apartment really put into perspective how tired he was. Tonight was so bizarre, he could only think of his comfortable bed and a good night's sleep as he walked across the dead silent corridors. Not a soul was anywhere to be seen, thankfully, since Joel would have another panic attack if anyone saw the blood soaked man following him.

"Room 89, it's right here." He spoke with a hushed tone, finally bothering to look behind him and check if Edmond was still with him. Regardless, he held his door open long enough for the both of them to get in and then shut it behind himself. The interior of the dingy complex was certainly nothing to behold as the lights barely turned on when Joel flipped the corresponding switch. In the main room, there was a couch sitting in the middle of the floor, facing a rather old looking television. A reclining chair sat not too far from it, looking like it hadn't been touched in millennia.

Pitching his keys and his work bag onto the kitchen counter, Joel spared only a couple words so that Edmond would be aware of the circumstances.
"I'm going to bed, like I said before, long night. You can have the couch, don't sit in the chair. The bathroom is the last door down that hall," he pointed to the left of the front door, a hallway with a few different doorways along it.
"You're free to whatever you can find, I figure vampires don't eat much. Just uh... don't wake me up in the middle of the night looking for a drink, okay?" He said dryly, inconclusive to whether or not he was joking or dead serious. Without another sound, he closed the door to his bedroom and assuredly fell asleep quickly after.
 
As he told his story, the kids didn't seem to believe him. One quite obviously played dumb about the topic of imaginary friends, and the other arrogantly said she wouldn't tell him. This angered him very much. He could kill these kids. Lasers straight through both of their heads. But, he decided against it. He was, despite being seemingly immortal, still their age. As much as they angered him, he decided against splattering their grey matter and the futures they had ahead of them all over the alleyway. As he walked away with Joel, he glared back at them. The type of glare that would transfer any hate he felt for them straight to their amygdala. On the walk, he noticed how slow Joel walked. Free from the shackles of fatigue and such other human faults, he could spend forever without the dredges of sleep if he really wanted to. He would prefer to, however, enter a form of hibernation-like stasis during the day. It halted his conscious bodily functions while still leaving him aware. It was a true upgrade to sleeping. He'd stay up until the sun rose. There was no way that he could move freely in the sunshine, so he'd make sure to make the night as productive as possible. He nodded to Joel's request to not kill him in his sleep. "Of course I won't. If I truly wished to do so, then you wouldn't have lived this long." He confidently stated.

When Joel went into his room, he went to the bathroom and began to run himself a bath. He washed up, soaked the blood out of his clothes, and then took them and himself out. He could walk around with soaked clothes, but he didn't feel like it. He also didn't want to wait for them to dry. He thought on this for a little bit... Hmm... Aha! If he could vaporize the moisture in his body to create ice, what if he solidified it? He proceeded to do just that. The sudden stop of the movement of molecules forced energy, and more importantly heat, from his arm to his clothes. while it did dry them, it also somewhat shook the bathroom. He made sure to catch anything before it fell, thankfully. Now clean and with a fresh set of clothing, he was ready to hit the city. He took Joel's keys, left the apartment after locking the entrance door, and left. The night was still young, and he'd have plenty of time to go around. He whipped out the phone he stole from the first gangster, and pulled up a map of the city. After quickly memorizing it and some choice locations, he was off.

First, was a clothes shop. He couldn't walk around with holes in his shirt. His sense of manners would not allow him. With what had roughly amounted to $200 in his pockets, he still felt the need to save it. His parents would frown upon waste, after all. He got a simple white button up shirt after making sure it was exactly to his liking. He then wore it over his previous shirt. Before he went to his next destination, he realized something. He had a reference for the gangs insignia, sure, but it was attached to a torn patch of human skin. He took a picture of the symbol on his stolen phone, and then proceeded to shady spots. He showed the symbol to many quite obviously shady people, and gathered a wealth of information.

Apparently, the gang was called the Black Snake, which fit not only with the symbol being that of a black snake, but it fit with the behavior of every member he had met so far. Not just this, but it was quite large and feared. Not the largest or most feared, but still a threat to Tokyo's peace. At a café he had visited, he had quite an interesting encounter.

"Apparently from what I heard, a Black Snake member was incredibly viciously assaulted a little past dusk." A rather portly stranger told him while they were on the topic.

"Oh? Really? How viciously?" Edmond asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Incredibly! His arm got chopped off and his legs had holes in them!" The man said. "Weirdest part was that his wounds were frozen over!"

"That sounds unbelievable, sir. Are you sure that you weren't lied to?"

"My source has never deceived me once."

"Sorry for doubting you and him, but that just sounds impossible."

"From what my source heard, it may have been a stand attack."

As soon as Edmond heard this, he snapped to attention. His facade of a relaxed teenager shattered.

"A what attack?" He asked. The man now realized what he had said.

"I've, uh... Said too much." The man said, before standing up to leave. Before, he could call a waiter, Edmond grabbed his arm lightly.

"Oh, please, tell me more sir." He said, digging into his shirt pocket. "I'm quite interested in what eviscerated this man."

"I really must-" The man was about to return to signalling a waiter before Edmond flashed a large stack of cash. 10000 whole yen was displayed in his hands. "... I really must... Tell you more, my good man." He said, reluctantly sitting back down, his voice lower in volume. "This may be more unbelievable than what happened to that Black Snake member, but I promise you, it's the truth." Edmond intensively listened in one what he had to say. "A stand is, as I've heard, a projection of one's spirit. They come in all shapes, sizes and forms, and are an incredible tool for life. Their abilities vary drastically, but they are all tied to their user." He explained. "Strangest part is that nobody can see them! Only other stand users can see a stand!"

"So... Would you describe them as a real imaginary friend?" Edmond asked, the man nodding to confirm. "Interesting." Edmond said, locking his hands together. "Thank you very much for this information sir." He slid the man 10000 yen. While he was going to save it, he thought that this information was way more valuable than it. "Would you happen to know how these appear?" He asked, with the man simply shaking his head in denial. "Hmm... I must be going now. Thank you very much for your time, my good man. May god favor you in his plan." He said as he left the establishment. He checked the time. Good lord, it was getting late! The sun would be rising any minute now! He quickly dashed back to Joel's apartment, but not before remembering something.

In his time in his "lair", as Joel described it, he had gotten spare blood from rats that would pass by. He decided to test something one of the times he caught one. He drained most of its blood without actually killing it. The rat's mostly drained corpse had begun convulsing, and then reanimated. The rat had seemingly become a vampire too! He later found out that it hadn't, actually. By draining its blood, he had transformed it into what he'd refer to as a ghoul. It had lesser versions of his subconscious powers, but it did have something he did not. It had the ability to contort its body to squeeze through any hole it wished. When it was first reanimated, it got straight to work attacking other rats and draining them of their blood. One weird thing he noticed, however, was that he had some sort of psychic connection to it. He could borrow its senses if he really focused. He decided to do something with it. As a detour, he swiftly went back to his old lair, picked up the rat, and set it free in a shady block with a good bit of cafés and other hangout spots. When he eventually got back to Joel's apartment building, he resumed walking. He copied the code he watched from Joel, and walked back to his room. He got in and sat on the recliner. He was sure this information was incredibly worthwhile, and sharing it with Joel would probably be even better. Anything he could know about these would be good. Perhaps a Black Snake had one of these "stands". He'd need to know what he was up against, if that was the case, and Joel had firsthand experience. Until then, however, he would put himself into his sleep-like state. He realized that, although the window in this living room was small and had blinds on it, it would still be a horrible way to die if the sun moved to shine on him while on the couch, so he decided to instead sleep under the couch with his head on one of the throw pillows.
 
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Looking at Hachi, and turning to face the other two only to find them leaving. Taking the woman's words into account, Cameron looked at his watch, noticing how late it truly was. With out saying a word, he nodded to Hachi, looking back one last time at the two people that had unknowingly changed his life forever, and began walking back to the shop. Opening the door, Cameron turned off the background lights, took off his blazer, and headed upstairs.

Passing by his parents room, the small kitchen area, and the storage closet, Cameron brushed his teeth, change his clothes, and headed up to his room.

The room wasn't exactly what one would call sparse, but it wasn't as full as some others. His bed position against the wall where his door was, facing the one window that looked out over the sea of buildings within the city, which was also just above where his desk was situated. He had one small poster, that being the simplistic logo for one of his favorite movie teams, Studio Ghibli. Where the wall began to slant slightly towards the ceiling, he dresser with his clothes inside, as well as the arrow hidden within the slats of the inner workings. The only other pieces of furniture within the room were a wastebin and a calendar on the wall depicting famous photographers and their famous works.

With the night high, and the bags under Cameron's eyes intense as ever, he flopped onto his bed, saving that action to help him get up the next morning. He was glad he didn't have school the next morning, otherwise he didn't think he would've been able to make it, and falling asleep during classes was one of his biggest fears ever since he started helping his parents at work. Taking off his glasses, he fell asleep quickly, imagining only the strange vision of a creature made of light and machine standing above him. Disregarding it, his dreams continued without depth, and the night went on.


 
Under normal circumstances, the long walk home would have been just that -- long. However, Hachi was unable to stop running the events of the hour previous through her head, meaning that by the time she had turned down the last street, it had felt like only a few minutes had passed. With a sort of dazed atmosphere, opened the front door of the apartment complex, stepping over a bag of trash that was leaning against the doorframe. She wasn't sure what time it was, but it must have been late, because even the rooms that were always active far into the night had gone quiet.

Now that she had entered a building, out of the cold night's chill, Hachi found herself slowing down. The long flights of stairs felt like mountains as she scaled them. The passage of time was certainly a strange concept tonight; it felt like hours passed before she had reached her floor. Digging her key ring from her pocket, Hachi paused next to her apartment's door and listened for a second, satisfied that she could hear no movement coming from within. The last thing she wanted was an interrogation from her parents, although they would really have no reason to suspect foul play from their daughter. Hachi would be turning 21 soon -- she was already a legal adult, meaning she could have left her elderly parents at any time. But it just didn't settle right with her to abandon the people that had done so much to get her this far; Hachi felt indebted to them.

Opening the door with a soft click, Hachi crept inside after removing her shoes, placing them on the floor just beside the doorframe. As she straightened, she could make out a dark shape slumped against the squat table inside the kitchen. Peering closer, she could see it moving up and down in slow, regular breaths. Still a bit shaken from everything that had happened that night, Hachi found that her pulse had quickened for a moment before she recognized her father, fast asleep. He must have tried waiting for her to get home, but had fallen asleep in the effort. Pursing her lips, Hachi knelt beside him and brushed a few strands of silver hair off of his forehead. He didn't move, meaning he was sleeping hard. There was no need to wake him up; Hachi decided to let him stay there.

After a few minutes, Hachi had removed her work outfit and slipped into a long nightshirt. Drowsiness played across her eyelids, but her mind still raced with thoughts of spirits and vampires. Wasn't it strange that two others like her -- she was certain Cameron was hiding his own spirit -- had come together in the same place, all by coincidence? Was it really coincidence? And Edmond -- Hachi had no idea what to make of the boy. Whatever it all meant, perhaps a little more caution wasn't a bad thing. Making her way to the door, Hachi raised one of her feet and watched as Tread Lightly's hoof-like foot covered her own. She stepped down, pressing hard onto the wooden board floor so that a circle of sparks protected the area just inside the door. Hachi was certain that she would be awake before her parents, so there was no need to worry about them being harmed. She really had no idea why she was doing this -- did she think there was some kind of target on her head now?

It was late, and Hachi knew she would be up early. She returned to the bedroom portion of their small apartment. Her parents slept on the far side, while her futon was on the other side, near the rest of the room. As she lay down, she wondered if she would ever see any of those strange people again -- Cameron, perhaps, but would he even want to get involved with her now?

 
Joel awoke slowly to the sight of the burning sun glowing in the sky, bathing the city in a great yellow light. His window was placed just perfectly in his room to catch it rising, a beautiful sight that he never got tired of. Groggily, he slowly picked himself up from the comfortable mattress and pillows to get to his feet, slipping on a pair of blue jeans and socks and moving to his room door. He barely recalled the previous night, his memory was terrible. However, seeing Edmond asleep under his couch was a quick reminder. It all came rushing back to him, the stalking, the confrontation, the Gangster...

Damn, guess it wasn't a dream after all. But if this guy is still here... now that I think about it, I don't have two holes in my neck either. He either got spooked by the sun or stayed true to his word. Some vampire, he thought to himself. Donning a white shirt and hoodie, he hastily wrote a note down and placed it next to his friend's hideout.

Edmond,
I'm headed out, today's my day off
I'm guessing by the time you read this it'll be around night time,
so head over to the cafe a few blocks over when you're up.
- Joel


As he walked out the front door, he grabbed his key ring and slipping it into his pocket. Casually walking out of his apartment complex, he lit up one of his cigarettes and began walking around the block. He had a long list of errands to run including groceries and other necessities. One by one, he hit each corresponding store and began amassing a handful of plastic bags. By the time he dropped off the dozen or so assorted bags at his front door, the sun had begun setting. Not wanting to disturb Edmond with the sun still out, he left once again to grab a coffee or something at the aforementioned cafe.

Joel had no plans when walking into the small, locally owned cafe, aside from waiting until around 10-11 PM for Edmond to get his note. As he thanked the cashier and took his drink and sandwich to an empty table, he finally glanced across the room and noticed something utterly ridiculous. Sitting there, not five or six meters from Joel, was the lady from last night and her... boyfriend? She had been protecting him, after all, but he didn't know if there was any relationship happening between them or if she was simply following her own rhythm in the matter. It didn't matter, for them to show up in the exact same coffee shop was beyond a coincidence. There were outside forces at play, or so Joel believed.

However he stayed still, pretending not to have noticed them at all and prayed they would do the same, at the least. The last thing he wanted was a public confrontation, especially on his day off of all days. Taking a tentative bite out of his sandwich, he relaxed a little bit.
 
Hachi dreamt she was caught in a whirlpool, swirling around and around in some sticky, black substance. The more she struggled, the further she was dragged to the center, until she was rotating at impossibly fast speeds. As she tried to cry out for help, the black substance climbed into her mouth and gagged her -- she could feel and icy sensation flooding her guts. Looking up, she could see Tread Lightly standing on a precipice and gazing down at her, but doing nothing.

"Hachi!"

With a gasp, Hachi shot up, almost headbutting her mother in the process. Cold sweat had plastered her thin sheets to her skin, entangling her in the futon. It took her a few moments to collect her thoughts and realize that she had overslept. Her mother looked down with concern and pointed to the digital clock in the kitchen.

"You must have been in late. Your father said he fell asleep waiting."

"Right -- yes,"
muttered Hachi, untangling herself from the sheets. "Where is he? He didn't leave, did he?" She had suddenly recalled the sharpened patch of ground right in front of the door.

"He is about to."

"Wait!"
Hachi bounded up and overtook her father, who was standing in the kitchen, just a meter away from the sharpened ground. She wrapped her arms around him, turning him away from the door and capturing him in a strong hug. Her father let out a cry of mild surprise.

"What has gotten into you?"

"Uh..."
Hachi stared at the floor, watching as Tread Lightly's arm stretched out from her shoulder and waved away the patch of sharpened ground. "Nothing. Good luck with work today."

"Right..."
Her father gave her a puzzled look before grabbing his shabby work bag and shoes. "I'll see you both later then..."

A heavy breath escaped Hachi's lips as her father exited the apartment. That was too close. She cursed herself for having slept late, but at least she hadn't missed work. Not yet, anyway. She would have to hurry.

This day passed much like the one before, only this time she worked the evening at the gas station. The electrical work had been finished, although Hachi wasn't quite sure what they had really done. Time passed slowly, but she busied herself with cleaning out the small storage room in the back. As she scrubbed the floor, she continued the inner dialogue she had been turning over in her head all day. The events of the night previous were still fresh and begged further explanation. She couldn't just forget all of that! That's why she had been considering talking to Cameron again, even though he might not want to have anything to do with this. She was sure he was just as curious as she, although perhaps better at hiding it. Hiding... She just knew he had one of these spirits, so why had he lied about it to Edmond?

As the sun began to set, Hachi finished her shift and started on her usual route, still unsure of whether Cameron would turn her down. A pang of guilt had been stuck in her side ever since last night, when she had more or less forced herself into the role of guardian. She had yelled at the boy, as if it was her job to tell him what to do. It really wasn't... He was younger than she, but not a child.

So why exactly did she want to talk to him? Was the cafe invite an apology? Or was she just trying to get more information from him? Hachi tried to convince herself it was the former.

The familiar sight of the Black Rainbow finally came into view. Hachi couldn't help but peer down the empty alley, half-expecting to find a similar scene from the night previous. Hesitating only for a moment, she pushed open the building's door, which rang the small bell at the top, announcing her arrival. Hachi immediately found who she was looking for -- Cameron was behind the desk, near the cupboard where the landline was. But his parents were also there. She had not accounted for this.

"Hachi! Is the machine out there giving you trouble?" Cameron's father waved at Hachi, who gave a small smile.

"Good evening, Mr. Codak. But no, I needed to talk to Cameron." Hachi looked over to the boy, realizing that perhaps this situation wasn't a bad thing. He couldn't just tell her to go away now -- surely his parents wouldn't allow that.

"Look--" Hachi leaned against the counter and pursed her lips as she studied Cameron. "I wanted to say sorry. For last night. So... There's a cafe a few blocks down. Do you think your parents would mind..." She glanced over in his father's direction for a moment. To say she was sorry was a genuine sentiment, so she hoped Cameron could pick up on that.

 
The day had been quite alright until this particular moment. Not that Cameron disliked Hachi in any manner, but simply because it was one of his few days off from school, and he certainly didn't want a long night. While no new customers had come in during his two shifts, excluding a family friend who his dad helped with a malfunctioning refrigerator, the day had been fairly easy-going. He unconsciously slapped himself when he groggily woke up to get him out of bed, and got dressed for the day. And while he didn't need to, he enjoyed wearing his school blazer while working as a sign of pride towards the establishment, which in his opinion was one of the best places he'd ever learned anything.

Hachi was waltzed right in, waved at his father, and was now whispering with the poor quality of a kettle of boiling water. Still, she seemed curious, and he would be lying if he himself wasn't as well. Both of his parents were free, so he decided to go with the woman.

"You leave first, and wait in the alleyway. I'll be out there in a few minutes."

After she left, he waited for a short amount of time to make sure his parents wouldn't require any assistance, and proceeded to announce that he was going to eat with some friends, one of the activities his parents let him do since there were other people there they trusted. He hated to betray their trust like this, but if he wanted answers (or to hide himself and protect his family), it may be necessary.

Leaving the Black Rainbow, and stopping to catch up with Hachi, the two walked to the small café. it didn't seem like it had the booming business other company-owned businesses did in the nearby area, so Cameron surmised it must be locally owned. Walking inside and ordering some mineral water and two small pork buns, he sat down across from Hachi, only now realizing how they might make this appear. This was also not good, since he was still technically underage, and he had no idea how old she was, so he took his blazer, folded it carefully, and put it on the chair behind him. If he was going to go down, no point in bringing his school's reputation down with him.

After a few beats of silence, Cameron realized that they'd been sitting there for at least ten minutes without saying a thing, and he hadn't touched his food. Tentatively taking a bit of one of the buns, he asked,

"So...should I ask why we're here?"

Whilst waiting for her response, he happened to look to their left to see...! It was one of the men from the previous night! He was sitting a few tables away, but close by still. He didn't seem to notice them, at least not yet, and Cameron was thankful for that. A confrontation was the least of his issue right now, especially in a public place like this.


 
Edmond laid under the couch for the entire day. While he did notice Joel wake up and leave, he didn't feel like there was anything urgent he had to say. In other words, he was so busy "sleeping" that he forgot all about telling him what he heard. When he noticed the sunlight change in hue, he decided to get up. Stretching a bit and raising his cushioned blanket with two fingers, he yawned. Despite being free of human things such as fatigue, he guessed yawning was just too powerful of a human instinct to lose. He got up, realized that sleeping under a couch was not the best thing to do with white clothes, and attempted to dust himself off. He noticed the piece of paper left for him, and that his name was actually on it. The fool had given his name up without expecting anything in return! Was that a part of his childish worldview? He guessed so. He wondered what he'd think of his internalized philosophy? "Why make others put their possessions into a process if you can contribute something of your own?" He thought Joel would say. Blasted imbecile! Why was Edmond caring about what some lowly mortal thought of him? Was he weak to kindness? Perish the thought! The sun burned him with its infernal UV rays, not kindness and courtesy! He looked outside, looked at the note, and then looked at "his" phone. Yeah, he'd have time to clean off his clothes. He quickly did that in Joel's bathroom, wetting them and then flash-drying them with his newly figured out ability. He soon headed out to the restroom, the sun having set enough for the buildings all around to protect him.

He made his way to the café, eventually. Having to stick to the shadows slowed him down a bit. He got in, thanked the lord that it was entirely shady, and walked up to the counter. What the hell was any of the food? He could read the writing, but couldn't understand it. "Ton-kat-su?" He sounded out. "It's the pork stuff with the breading, right?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." The cashier said.

"Two of those, please." He requested, taking the appropriate amount of money out of his pocket. He should really get a wallet. After he got his food, and looked around the cafe. He realized he forgot to check if Joel was even here. While looking for him, he saw Cameron and Hachi, and then saw Joel incredibly close to them. 'There is no actual way that they haven't noticed each other.' He thought as he walked between them.

"You three can stop pretending not to have noticed each other now." He said to all three of them. "More importantly, gather around me." He sat down at a table with four chairs. "I'm sure all of you would like to know a bit more about your 'imaginary friends', or should I say... Stands?" He said, the most smug smile he could possibly make plastered onto his face like a dumb grin. He tried using the chop sticks he was giving to eat his food, but made an X shape with them. After that proved to be too inefficient, he stabbed it into one of the pieces. "I should've asked for a fork." He said after completely chewing and swallowing his food. He may live off of the blood of humans, but he was not a monster.

After all three of them came sit next to him, he began speaking. "I paid 100 dollars... No, 10000 yen, for this information, so listen well!" He commanded, and with it he tried something. He knew he had mental influence over his vampiric rat, but could he do so with humans? Within his voice, he tried to transfer a form of subconscious suggestion. He knew he couldn't make them listen to them, but could he make them want to listen to him? Worth a shot, he guessed. "So, as I've been told, your abilities are called 'Stands' by the general populace of people who use them. They're projections of your spirit, and vary in appearance, size, and abilities. And, here's the most important thing. The one that makes me sure that you all have stands." He paused for a bit, for dramatic effect. "Only stand users can see stands!" He said. "Joel, and.. You." He said, pointing to Hachi. "It seemed obvious last night that both of you had abilities, and were shocked to see each other with one. And you." He pointed to Cameron instead now. "You could also see Joel's Filter last night, correct? So, with this, I can assume that all three of you are 'Stand Users'!" He said.

"I myself am not one of you, however. If there was a stand behind me, I wouldn't know." He suddenly realized the meaning of what he said. He could be attacked at any moment by these three people, and wouldn't even know it. Filter's ability was to create strings or something like that, perhaps it created something else and made strings out of that? He had no information with the other two, so he couldn't really make any plans. "However, if there is..." His face assumed a grim glare. "I would like to assure it's user that, should they lash out at me, their death will not be a painless one." As he finished speaking, his face relaxed and he resumed his meal, still just stabbing the Tonkatsu with a single chopstick and biting it off. He was pretty loud, confident, and carefree for someone who didn't know how to use chopsticks.
 
"Hey, I know you saw me, okay? What the hell are you two doing here? Did you-" Joel finally decided to say, before the front door swung wide and in stepped a familiar face to the three of them. Joel blinked a couple of times as Edmond metaphorically came crashing into the cafe, around when he had anticipated him. Thankfully, most other people were long gone at this time of night so nobody except maybe the employees of the aforementioned coffee shop heard his long, accusatory spiel. He told them of costly bribes, and classified information. Joel didn't even know it was called a Stand until now, but hearing it out loud just made sense to him, it was a weird sensation. Everything he said aligned with his previous notions of his "stand", being that he wasn't the only one of the people in this city with an ability like a Stand. As a matter of fact, they'd been manifesting at rather alarming rate. Edmond even mentioned his own weakness in not having a stand ability, but more than making up for it with vampiric prowess.

Speaking of vampiric prowess, Joel couldn't help but notice his inefficient use of the chopsticks. Even with heightened abilities, a foreigner is a foreigner... Joel didn't say anything about it, not in fear of having his blood drained but more as a decency that he would expect in return. After all, he was a foreigner, yes. But not only was it low hanging fruit, Edmond had been having a rough stay in Tokyo thus far. Joel didn't like adding to the... experience, so to speak. After Edmond was done talking, Joel only found himself left with more questions than answers.

"So, three stand users and a vampire walk into a cafe. Sounds like a really bad joke." Joel said, bluntly. He had a lot of questions, but he could barely form the words to ask them. If he started asking they would pour out of his mouth like a waterfall, and he didn't want to start ranting or rambling about anything. That being said...

"Where do we go from here? Did you two know I was coming or something?" He shot a finger over towards Hachi and Cameron. "And how the hell... this isn't a normal, everyday occurrence you know? Two groups of two do not just magically come to the EXACT same cafe, at this EXACT time of year, in this EXACT part of the country, localized ENTIRELY within this local cafe! It's beyond a coincidence! What I'm saying..." he paused, searching for the right words for a second.
"I know it sounds like I'm just crazy, but this must be fate. Or at least one of his many servants." Sighing, he ended his rant there. Joel didn't want to seem like some deranged lunatic, but the circumstances once again forced his hand. He slumped back in his seat and angrily sipped on his herbal tea, minding the scorching hot liquid.

"Say what you will, but give me a better explanation as to how all four of us turned up here, and I will change my mind."
 
As Hachi had expected, Cameron agreed to join her at the cafe. The two walked there in near-complete silence, and by the time they had both sat down with something to eat, Hachi found herself itching to break the uncomfortable silence. She had invited him here, right? Didn't that mean it was her responsibility to carry the conversation? But she was unsure of where to begin. Would Cameron be unwilling to discuss the events of the night previous? She prayed that her further prying into the situation wouldn't scrape off a freshly-formed scab.

Before she could say anything, however, Cameron spoke up: "So...should I ask why we're here?"

"Heh... Right."
Hachi gave a half-hearted attempt at a grin, but it flopped about halfway through. She stared at the blazer Cameron had removed -- why? It wasn't exactly warm in here. The pork bun in front of her seemed to be judging her indecision.

"I guess the first order of business is that apology. I might have blown things out of proportion last night, and I'm sorry if I made you feel... belittled."
Cameron seemed to be staring at something behind Hachi, but she barely noticed. Eye contact wasn't her strong suit either.

"It was weird for everyone. I mean, it's not something we could have prepared for, anyway. But what are the odds, right? Three people with the same kind of ability..." At that, Hachi peered sharply at Cameron to judge his reaction. But it was very clear that his attention was elsewhere, and it almost looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"Come on, I'm trying to be sinc--"

"You three can stop pretending not to have noticed each other now."


Hachi felt the blood draining from her face as Edmond's figure walked between their table and the one beside it. What the -- why was he here? How? Again? Now all they needed was that other guy --

Aw, shit.

Edmond's words suddenly made a lot more sense. The other man from last night was sitting at the table near them, and his face betrayed the same sentiments as Hachi's. The woman felt a sudden urge just to leave and get out of this situation as soon as possible, but Edmond's beckoning pulled a string of curiosity in her mind. It was clear he knew something they didn't, and the desire to find out what was just too strong for Hachi to resist.

She looked over at Cameron, her eyebrows knitted together, before getting up from their table and sitting down at Edmond's. Before she could say anything, the vampire began to relate what he had recently learned. The information astounded Hachi -- Stands? Stand users? This seemed like something straight out of Shonen Jump! But somehow, it all made sense, at least to her. Hachi felt much of the uncertainty balled up inside herself dissolve, but questions still remained. Like... What caused these powers to manifest? And why had they all gathered in the same spot again? The other man beside Edmond voiced these latter concerns.

But to the former question, which asked how these Stands came to be, Hachi realized she already had a partial answer. Just a few weeks ago, some hooded stranger had pierced her skin with some sharp blade, although Hachi couldn't remember exactly what it looked like. Had he injected her with something? She found that conclusion unlikely, as the thing had barely drawn blood.

"I know it sounds like I'm just crazy, but this must be fate. Or at least one of his many servants."

"I suppose that's one way to put it,"
observed Hachi. "I never wanted to see you again. And Cameron couldn't have known -- shit."

Hachi almost slapped herself. She had given away Cameron's name to these creeps -- and they knew where he lived, too. Might as well give them the four numbers on the back of his credit card, too.

"Dammit. Whatever. Maybe this will just be a regular occurrence." Hachi leaned back in her chair so that the front legs were raised above the ground. She crossed her arms and glared at Edmond, although she was more angry at herself. Damn foreigners.

"But I guess the real question is why you told us all this stuff. What do you have to gain, if you're not a Stand user?"

 
With the exchanges going on around him, hearing the concept of a Stand and the whole 'red string of fate' concept being brought up. Cameron's mind drifted. He remembered about a week ago, he was having lunch with his friend Pandora on the roof as they watched a firetruck speed by. They had finished eating a while ago, but still had about ten minutes left to joke about. It was then that she had asked him about his beliefs in that idea, the Red String, whether it truly led to people who you need in your life, or if it was a hoax. He remembered that he hadn't answered clearly, with the sirens drowning out his thoughts as he ran over the idea in his head. Fate? He couldn't disprove it, but neither could anyone else. Proof was in the pudding, or whatever that saying meant.

The bit about a Stand seemed familiar, though. He might've heard it from somewhere else, but maybe it was just his intuition. Maybe his ability could be that? After all, he'd never tried to make a person-shape from it before, but that was because he simply assumed it was a power, not a different entity under his control. He wanted to figure it out, pull the new strings he had no idea he cold pull, but doing it in front of everyone here would be dangerous. Especially after Hachi gave out his name to the two men, now giving them a location, first name, and last name based on the business card he had dropped the night prior. Slightly frustrated, but not angry, his thoughts wandered across the different topics.

Then Hachi asked why Edmond had given the info in the first place. Why were all there? Did they mean it? Was it truly a red string nobody, including Stand users, could not see? Dismissing the thought for now, Cameron was interested in the supposed vampires answer. Why would he trust them? The name giving and all made Cameron anxious, and he was at least somewhat sane. Why would somebody around his age trust these other people?

But the other important question. Why are they still there? They have nothing in common, other than this ability, and it didn't seem to be very unique compared to the entirety of Tokyo at this point. Sighing, Cameron took a sip of his mineral water and waited, listening intently to the conversational as it evolved.


 
"Yeah, it does sound like a bad joke. I can't think of any way that could be funny." Edmond mused on Joel's comment. "Three stand users and a vampire walk into a bar... 'Hey, can you see our stands?' one of the stand users ask. 'No, but I can see the sun.' the vampire says before burning and disintegrating." He said, joking about his own fatal weakness. "Yes." Edmond said in response to Joel's talk about the absurdity of the two parties meeting up again. He thought about how weird it was that Joel apparently had not called them here, and that they just showed up. Hmm... Perhaps it had something to do with their spiritual exclusivity of stand ownership? Perhaps not only could they see other's stands, but perhaps they were "attracted" to each other as well? Maybe they could sense something within each other? It seemed crazy, but if this would happen again, then he'd go along with it. Maybe a fourth stand user could show up? He hoped not. These three were calm and normal-ish because they only now learned what they had. Anyone purposefully tracking down stand users would not just be doing so for a friendly chat.

The kids name is Cameron? Cameron Codak? "Your name is Cameron Codak?" Edmond said stifling a laugh. "What, do you work at a camera shop?" He joked, not even knowing how true his words are? "Sounds like a tongue twister! Cameron Codak completes commissions centered in his camera shop!" He said in English, unsure if it would work in Japanese. He laughed at his own joke.

"I would like to know more about stands. If you remember my spiel last night about my past week or so, then good. If not, stay confused." He began saying. "Since I'm only now finding out about stands, I want to know what I can do to fight around them if I can't see them. I'm chasing down a gang in the underground of a city as large as Tokyo, so it makes sense that they'd value a power such as these 'Stands'. In that case, I shall be fighting against a large amount of stand users. If I can learn about them from neutral people with first hand experience, then that'll help me. In my fight with Joel, I was able to figure out that I do have a counter. Thanks to the supreme control I have over my body, I can overclock my senses and know if one is attacking me in physical combat." He put his right elbow on the table, and held his hand open. Five 100 yen coins were in his palm. "Come on, any of you, and try to snatch this before I close my hand." He challenged them. "One at a time, though. I'm sure you could accidentally damage each other if you're too eager." He said. In the state he was in, he could feel everything going on around him. He could feel the gust of the café's kitchen air conditioner and even the dust in the air. "Even if you accidentally chop my hand off, I can just attach it back onto my arm. Hold nothing back." He said. He was waiting patiently for any sudden disturbance in the air, and would close his hand once he felt any.
 
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Joel raised an eyebrow at his proposition on the coins, interested but naturally cautious. As he looked over the table, eyeing the other two stand users down as to ascertain their intentions, he decided not to immediately go for the coins. It would be some nice pocket change, yes, but did he really want Edmond to know more about his stand? Their standoff in the alleyway had already given him all that he needed to become familiar with Stand Power, who knew what he could do with more info? Joel was unsure.

"Five hundred yen isn't exactly a real prize, you know that?" He said, amused that he was pulling such a simple stunt for a very big payoff in his regards. Anyone who went for the yen would be giving him a perfect gauge on their stand's speed, and overall attributes. It wasn't that he didn't trust him with the knowledge, but something about giving him something to base in factual reality gave Joel an odd feeling.

If the others went for it, Edmond would have a gauge on their powers. Not that he was worried that he would use that information maliciously but Joel realized that he already had a pretty good grasp on Filter's abilities. After all, he had been Edmond's introduction to stand abilities. He was the prime candidate to take the bait.

Joel sighed. He knew himself better than anyone else, and already knew exactly how this situation would end. As Filter's arm came flashing out of his own, still clutching the hot cup, he went for a clean swipe of the change. Six bucks was six bucks, and even if it gave Edmond a better understanding of a stand's potential, what threat did that pose to Joel? Barely any. Filter's arm wasn't exactly a speeding bullet, but anyone who wasn't already going for the change would likely suffer defeat at the hand of his Stand.


 
Fine, so Edmond just wanted to be prepared when he faced more of these Stands. Fair enough. Hachi wasn't even going to broach the subject of why he wanted to chase down this gang, but it seemed to her a very foolish idea. It didn't matter if he was a vampire, no matter what abilities he had. If there were Stand users in this gang, which made sense, he would be helpless. But of course, that was his choice.

If there were Stand users in Edmond's gang, would this mean anything for Hachi? It seemed that since the three of them here were Stand users, and they had been attracted to the same place, would these gang members do the same?

In short, would Hachi be encountering this gang? The last thing she wanted to do was get lost in Tokyo's dangerous shadow.

"This is all fine and good, Eddie, but I want nothing to do with this gang of yours. In fact, I think it's probably a better idea that none of us get involved with you at all."

Hachi watched as Edmond held out a few hundred yen in his palm. He stated that anyone could try to take them, by whatever means, but he seemed confident that he avoid such an outcome. Interested, but unwilling try, Hachi looked around at the other two, wondering if they would give it a go. The other man seemed to scoff at the idea, but Hachi caught a glimmer of something in his eyes. An idea crept into her mind, harmonizing with Joel's unspoken plan, and Tread Lightly's form materialized beside her. In one smooth movement, Tread Lightly's arm stretched out with its bladed fingers and sliced upward in an action that was poised to slice off a small lock of Edmond's white hair. Just as she had expected, the oily black hand of the other man's Stand simultaneously flashed out to grab the coins. With any luck, Hachi's distraction would disrupt Edmond's concentration and wipe that smug look off his face.
 
As the 'solid' plan occurred between the two other Stand users at the table, Cameron closed his eyes and drank his mineral water. As far as hypocrites go, Hachi seemed to be delving deep into their territory. Why would she possibly give away her ability, or the other man his, if Edmond was going to get involved with a gang? It wasn't as if they couldn't torture him, hell, their might be a Stand out their that makes you tell the truth. He could give away their names and faces, and while that was a bit too late for Cameron, he ate a bite of his pork bun while lamenting over the fact the other two thought it'd be fun to endanger their abilities to the memory of the vampire.

As he finished eating, he put his blazer back on, deciding that barely anyone could identify it or be out this late anyways. His school's pride was safe for now, and his curiosity mostly cured, but as he watched the poor attempt at a dual-attack, he decided to throw a wrench in the gears of both of their plans, picking up his and Edmond's forks, and throwing them at Edmond's hand. Maybe that way none of them would get, and they'd see the idiocy in their showcasing to basically a stranger with more abnormal powers. Still, though he didn't want to get involved, Cameron still wanted to know where Edmond would go.

"So, 'Vampire', where are you going to start looking for this gang? You can't exactly fight everyone with that same tattoo if none of them give you any information, or have Stand abilities you can't see."


 
Edmond was too concentrated to respond to Joel and Hachi's question. While he had braced himself, he did not think the three would work together. Sadly, however, they lacked knowledge of how each other's stands worked. First was Hachi attempting to disrupt his concentration by cutting some of his hair. This was shocking, but he regained his composure in the time between her attack and Joel's. Unfortunately for her, his expression remained unchanged for the entirety of her action. Next was Joel, who actually attempted to take the coins. With Filter's poor speed compared to Hachi's stand, they probably should have switched roles. He was able to sense the movements in the air rather quickly, and closed his hand in time. What he didn't expect, however, was Cameron throwing two forks at him. His first injury was his fingers getting crushed by Filter, and his second was getting stabbed with two forks. Nevertheless, he won. "It seems like I cannot play games with you stand users, huh?" He said, angrily. "The objective was to take the coins, not injure me." He said, opening his hand. His fingers had already healed from Joel's wound, but they couldn't quite heal much with the two forks still in them. "I'm not going to kill you, Cameron, but know that I am incredibly disappointed." He took the forks out of his fingers and the holes closed up incredibly soon after. He put the coins back into his pocket. "At least I now know that I can react to stand attacks." He took the cut lock of hair and put it back from where it was cut. Would it mend? Thankfully, it did. The game was almost entirely positive for him. He kept his money, found out that Hachi and Joel's stands varied in speed, and found out that he could react in time to stand attacks. Unless stands could get faster than Hachi's, he was OK.

"You threw forks at me while not convinced about my immortality?" Edmond asked. "If I were a human, you'd be getting charged with assault. Those forks went through my hand." He glared at the boy. "And for your information, I can and will fight everyone with that tattoo. I'm sure I would have the information I need if Joel had not stopped me last night." He said. "They're scum. Their lives are the most valuable things to them. If I meet any that don't follow this rule?" His glare intensified. "I'll kill them. Simple." He was confident in his plan. What were the chances that the next one he met was a stand user? He had never even heard of the things up until now, so they were probably uncommon. If his theory from before was correct, he wouldn't draw them to him or vice versa. He'd be at an insurmountable advantage if he was against a normal human being. "Even if they don't want to give me info, I think I have an option." He remembered his ghoul mouse. If he could do the same to a human, would they retain their prior knowledge? He hoped so. A question just popped into his mind. How'd Hachi cut his hair?

"Does your stand have a knife?" He asked her. "Is your stand a knife? Does it sharpen things?" It seemed that participating in his game was a mistake.
 
Evidently, Joel didn't quite have the amount of control over his stand that he thought he did. Edmond may have been able to heal from most or even any wounds, but he didn't mean to injure him quite so badly. Filter's hand slammed into his closed fist, but it stayed resolute and shut, a signal of defeat. What he expected less than Filter's powerful fist nearly breaking Edmond's hand was the sudden appearance of another ghostly hand at his head. It was another stand, presumably the woman's which he still did not know by name. Cutting the hair off was an odd strategy, and ultimately it flopped. Nobody wins in this game.

"Well, that went terribly." Joel said after a second or two of awkward silence. He sighed and had begun picking up his cup of tea when two forks were suddenly weaponized and flung, by the guy he actually did know by name. Again, an odd strategy as Edmond's vampirism quickly blocked the attack at the expense of his regenerating flesh. A few blinks affirmed that yes, that indeed had just happened. Joel closed his eyes as the inevitable happened, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

"Just what the hell was that, kid? You trying to take his eyes out or something!?" shouted a large man with a very angry face, the manager and son of the owner, standing up from a stool behind the counter as the employee working at the counter exited through the break room door.

"All of you, out of the store! If you're gonna kill each other do it in an alleyway or something!"

"Yes, sir." Joel managed to sputter out of spite, already halfway out the door and out of earshot. The more he heard from the three, concerning gang headhunting and talk of regret, the more he wished he had just used Filter to climb onto a building on that fateful night, instead of meeting these people. Finishing off his cup of tea and tossing it onto the street, he kept walking towards an unknown destination. Joel simply wanted to get as far away as possible.
 
As Hachi watched the chaos unfold, a huge grin blossomed across her face. Nothing worked out the way she had planned, but the absurdity of all three acting at the same time, each with different goals, had created a ridiculously hilarious situation. Edmond had managed to dodge everything thrown his way -- with the exception of the forks that were actually thrown his way. Hachi was impressed that the vampire didn't even flinch when removing them from his hand, and even more so that not a drop of blood escaped.

"At least I now know that I can react to stand attacks."

"Fascinating,"
murmured Hachi, and she leaned forward onto the table. "Were you always a prick, or is it just a vampire thing?" Edmond continued to rant about how he would single-handedly take down this gang, which from Hachi's point of view was a load of bullshit. None of this was her business, but then again, the past twenty-four hours had been the most interesting hours in Hachi's life. She couldn't just expect herself to go back to the humdrum rhythm of everyday life after this, right? Was it so bad if she took advantage of the bizarre situation and had a little fun with it? Despite her previous appeal to avoid getting mixed up with Edmond and those dangerous people, Hachi felt that these new powers and strange acquaintances weren't necessarily bad.

"Is your stand a knife? Does it sharpen things?"

"You don't mess around, do you?"
Damn, he caught on fast. Hachi had never told anyone about her Stand; Edmond was not about to be the first. She was just about to shoot back some smart-mouthed reply when their conversation was interrupted by the large man at the counter.

"All of you, out of the store! If you're gonna kill each other do it in an alleyway or something!"

Hachi's mouth snapped shut. She realized that she and Edmond had started talking rather loudly, and it wasn't as if the commotion caused by the Coin-Grabbing Incident was invisible to everyone else in the building. The man was right; if she remained within a 2 meter radius of Edmond any longer, she was probably going to do something violent. The other man had already slipped out of his chair and was headed out the door, but Hachi wasn't satisfied to just let him go. If the three Stand users were going to continue meeting up by fate, she could at least learn a bit about him. Plus, Cameron still wasn't talking about his Stand, and Hachi desperately needed someone to talk to.

Shoving her chair back, Hachi weaved between the cafe's tables and out the door, where she caught up with the man. "Hey, come on, no need to get all uptight! None of us know what we're doing." She stepped in front of him to force him to a stop. "Hachi Mihara. Things got off to a rocky start, but I have a feeling we shouldn't just walk away again."

Hachi hadn't even thought about it, but she realized that Tread Lightly was standing behind her again. Was it really such a good idea to trust this man and reveal her Stand, now that she knew he could see it? She hadn't been a Stand user for long, but in those short weeks, she had almost convinced herself that she was alone, and that she would never be able to share her secret with anyone. But now, she had found not one but two others with the same experience, and she couldn't help but feel a link of kinship between them.

"Couldn't we just talk?"


 
With the disruption that (he hated to admit to himself) he himself had causes, Cameron sighed, paid for the pork buns and water, and stood up, but stopped as Hachi ran after the other man (who he still hadn't gotten the name of yet, though it wouldn't exactly be smart to throw information like that around anyways). Before Edmond could leave, Cameron stopped him.

"You really want to go after a gang, and most likely die in the process? "

But the question didn't have to be answered by words, as the glint in the boy's eyes told Cameron likewise. He'd only seen that kind of glint one other time before, and that was during the archery tournament his friend Akito was performing in for his parents and their school pride. The competition went off without a hitch, and Akito became a school hero for a while, until he was forced to move to a different higher-end school in Okinawa. They still were in contact, but that light was nothing compared to the cold eyes of a killer who has only one objective. There was no losing, no matter what, and it felt as if Cameron was being pulled into the void of Edmonds path the longer they looked at eachother.

And what could he say? He always liked helping customers and friends alike. They'd met twice now, so that'd be enough for Cameron's state of mind.

"I can help you find them."

With those words, Cameron signed a contract between the two of them, and leaving his ordinary life for the time being, entering a world he did not know to help a person he'd only just met.

"I'm a photographer, so I frequent many busy places and landscapes in this city. Some passerby know me by heart, and now just pass by when they see me, as if I'm just part of the scenery. I shoot many abstract things, so getting photo's of peoples necks shouldn't be a problem. But past that, I don't think I could be of much more use. Do we have a deal?"

Cameron extended his hand to Edmond as he brushed a droplet of water off his blazer.


 
"Apparently it's a stand user thing as well." Edmond retaliated to Hachi's accusation of vampirism making his behavior undesirable. "Did you use your stand to sharpen your tongue or something? Maybe you should use it on your mind instead. Cutting my hair? What on Earth were you hoping to accomplish?" He insulted. Before he could comment on this further, the store's manager had started kicking them out. "Sir, could I get a to-go box?"

"Just leave!" The manager shouted.

"I'm not finished my Tokatsu, and I was the one attacked." Edmond said, getting the name wrong.

"Carry it out!"

"I hope you don't particularly like this plate, because it's mine now!" Edmond shouted, before saying some sort of insult in English. He picked up the plate and exited the store. Now he had a plate and one Tonkatsu and a half that he didn't know what to do with. He guessed he'd just start eating it and then pocket the plate. It was glass, so maybe it would come in handy. Before he could begin finishing his meal off, Cameron had begun talking to him. "Hmm? Help me?" Edmond asked, confused as to what had gotten into the kid. "Don't you have to go to school or something?" He listened to what he had to offer, and then realized something. 'Ah, I was still in school.' He thought. The excitement and confusion that had come from his ascension beyond humanity had made him forget about the fact that, he too, was still a high-school student. He had actually forgotten his own age somehow. Why was he referring to Cameron and the woman as "kids" in his mind? Cameron looked about his own age, and the woman seemed older than them! Wait, if Cameron was with an older woman, what were they doing? They probably weren't dating, now that he thought about it. Did they not know each other prior to last night? Eh. Back on topic. "Sure. I'll accept your help, no matter your own motive. Despite how I may act, I believe we're the same age." He said, accepting his handshake. "You're a highschooler, so your motives are probably righteous. Protecting your loved ones? Securing your future? Something along those lines? Whatever it is, it's probably better than mine, to be quite honest with you. That being said, I will pursue my goal to the very end of my life, if need be." He started thinking about something. "Actually, we'd first need to set up a way to work together. You quite obviously have school while I have to operate in the dark. I guess you could send me pictures and approximate locations via... E-mail? Text messaging? I'm crashing at Joel's place, so I don't think he'll appreciate me inviting you there to give me physical pictures. I suppose I could pass as a transfer student and go to your house, but the human me is dead, so being discovered by police would be incredibly inconvenient."

Wait a minute... Cameron Codak is a Photographer? "What's with your camera themed name and job? Are your parents cameras or something?" He joked. Cameron had only now allied himself with Edmond, but he was already being treated like a close friend. Maybe it was because he was the first person his age he had met since becoming a vampire?
 
Keeping a brisk pace didn't seem to slow any of them down as the man shooed them out of his store, as he found himself cut off from continuing down the street by that same woman. She introduced herself as Hachi, that was all Joel caught, and offered him a handshake. He found himself hesitating for a second before shaking it and shoving out his doubts about the encounter, she was a stand user. Plain and simple, it would be better to have her as a friend as other stand users tended to be really, REALLY good. Over the course of his life, Joel had only met maybe two or three stand users besides Cameron and Hachi. All of them were much more adept, and knew their stands like the back of their hand. He had barely escaped with his dignity in some cases, his life in others. All in all, he hated going up against them.

"Joel Ono, most boring man in Tokyo,
pleased to meet you. What is there to talk about? Your friend tried throwing forks at my immortal friend, not that it did much, but he could have not done that. That was an option." He said in a fit, finding himself in a petty rage at being thrown out of his preferred cafe. "What is your game? I know you've got a stand, lady. I saw it the other night when the four of us bumped into each other, another coincidence I'm going to ignore, and I saw it chop off Edmond's hair. If you haven't made a play yet that means you're serious, but what do you gain from knowing me?" Joel said, deciding to move off the main street to continue their conversation.


"What a great night to have a curse..."


Without another word, or even a sound, Joel vanished. One second he was walking casually, the next he had completely disappeared from sight. The loud sounds of car engines in the distance accompanied by the general hum of human activity deafened any prying ears listening for even the slightest movement. And then it was heard.

Down an alleyway not too far from Hachi, about ten or twelve feet to the right, the resonating sounds of sprinting footsteps echoed off of the brick and stone walls of the buildings. Someone was running away, at a fast pace too. Their footsteps were getting quieter and quieter, not aided by the sounds of the city.
 
"Joel Ono, most boring man in Tokyo, pleased to meet you."

He called being a Stand user boring? What did he consider exciting? Hachi found herself further intrigued by the man, who seemed to consider himself a completely normal bystander. It seemed that his Stand wasn't something entirely new to him, or perhaps he was just good at hiding it. Either way, Hachi was confused as to why he wasn't as shocked by the current circumstances as she was.

"What do you gain from knowing me?"

Hachi opened her mouth to respond, although she wasn't exactly sure what she would say. Maybe she was just searching for some other goal in life besides surviving. Maybe it was a desire for adventure, or thrill. Was she just bored?

But it turned out that Hachi didn't need to say anything to Joel, because he straight-up disappeared. One moment, the two of them were walking side-by-side, the next Joel was simply gone. Hachi found herself unable to process what had just happened.

"Joel?"

No response. Hachi had stopped walking, and she turned around herself, almost losing balance as she whipped her head in all directions to search for the man. Silence. Nothing. He was gone.

Was this his Stand? Was it her fault? Maybe he just decided to ditch the conversation? But no one could move that fast -- could a Stand? Hachi was unwilling to believe that Joel would just leave, but what else could it be?

That's when she heard it -- the footfalls of someone sprinting away. This was all Hachi needed to confirm that something else was going on, something possibly sinister. A feeling of dread had taken up residence in her stomach. The sound was disappearing quickly, so Hachi jerked herself into motion, flinging herself down the sidewalk but unsure of where to go. Where was he?

"Joel! What the fuck!" Hachi screamed out and turned around. She could see Cameron and Edmond exiting the cafe, so she waved wildly at them.

"He's gone! Fucking disappeared! Someone's running--" Hachi cut herself off as she heard the footsteps echoing from the alley across the street. Realizing that there was no time to waste, she broke off and sprinted across the street, finding that it was difficult to hear the fugitive above her own footfalls. It occurred to her that Edmond would probably be able to pinpoint this person's location -- she was going to assume that it was some sort of enemy, or someone who wished Joel harm.

"Come on! I don't know where he is!" Hachi called over her shoulder, alarm ringing in her voice. The alley turned onto another street, but there was still no sign of anyone.

 

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