Chapter 11: The Safest Way to Obtain a Stand
"Yo, Angelo."
Yamcha, Josuke, and Koichi Hirose, who had been walking past a peculiar, ugly stone sculpture, naturally greeted the strange, ugly stone.
Today, Torasadi was out shopping for ingredients, so Yamcha didn't need to report to the restaurant, which is why he was hanging out with Josuke.
Koichi Hirose is the short guy around 1.4 meters tall who had once stood next to Jotaro.
It is said that Josuke Higashikata is merely the surface protagonist of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable, while Koichi Hirose is the true hidden protagonist. This guy is like Krillin from Dragon Ball—the one who ended up with the beautiful woman at the end, although that woman turned out to be a yandere.
"Huh? Was there such a weird sculpture here before?" Koichi looked at the extremely ugly sculpture with confusion.
"Yeah, but it didn't look like this before."
"Before?" Koichi was puzzled, but in the end, he did the same thing as Yamcha and Josuke: "Yo, Angelo."
Though he didn't know what it meant, he just followed along.
"How's Mr. Jotaro doing lately?"
"Oh, he's still investigating other matters, I'm not too sure."
Under Yamcha's subtle guidance, the three of them wandered for a while, eventually coming to a small, two-story house with lots of patches, looking quite old and worn.
"What's the deal with this house?"
Looking at the "No Entry" sign on the door and the faint mist gradually spreading, it resembled the setting of a haunted house in a movie.
"Oh, this house? It's said that no one has lived here for three or four years. A house this rundown is probably unsellable, right?"
For a moment, Koichi thought he saw a shadow flash past a second-story window.
He rubbed his eyes, but nothing was there.
Weird, was it just my imagination?
"No one here? It feels like something's wrong," Josuke seemed to sense something, staring at the small house, lost in thought.
Could it be a homeless person nearby?
Koichi immediately asked, "Hmm? Josuke, did you sense something?"
"Huh, how come the lock on the front door is open? That's strange."
Yamcha stood off to the side, staring at the door, seemingly lost in thought. After a few seconds, he quickly walked past Koichi, who was about to enter the house.
"If we can't be sure, then let's go and check it out."
As he spoke, for some reason, Yamcha walked directly in front of Koichi, blocking him at the perfect angle.
"Hey, you kids. Don't just wander into other people's houses." A rough, hoarse voice sounded.
A high school student with a mature, background character face walked from the side of the garden.
Though he looked displeased and somewhat arrogant, as if he were a villain, there was something about him that made him seem not very bright.
Keicho Nijimura, one of the Stand users in Morioh.
"This is my dad's house. From now on, you brats aren't allowed to think about it, got it?" Keicho Nijimura said with a malicious look at the three of them.
Just as Josuke was about to step forward to negotiate, a sudden whoosh sound, accompanied by the noise of wind breaking, a sharp arrow quickly shot out.
It was aimed directly at the weakest of the three—Koichi Hirose.
The sudden attack left everyone stunned, except for one person.
Here it comes! This was what he had been waiting for!
In the blink of an eye, Yamcha leaped forward, pushing Koichi aside, but as he did, he stumbled slightly and was too late. The arrow struck him hard in the abdomen.
His clothes were instantly soaked in blood.
"Big bro, what are you doing?" Keicho Nijimura shouted at the old house, confused. He had only wanted to teach these kids a lesson for pointing at his house, not shoot them with an arrow, after all, he was just a delinquent, not a big villain.
A cold snort responded to him.
"Shut up, Keicho. How could I have such a dumb younger brother!"
"This guy is also a Stand user."
"Yamcha, are you okay?" Koichi Hirose, stunned by the sudden attack, stood frozen, not knowing what to do, staring at the blood pouring from Yamcha's abdomen.
"Dammit! Yamcha!" Josuke's reaction was much faster than Koichi's. A strange energy rose around him, and soon, a humanoid figure appeared behind him.
White armor, red skin.
It was Josuke's Stand—Crazy Diamond.
The Stand quickly pulled the arrow out of Yamcha's abdomen, then proceeded to punch his stomach repeatedly.
"Dururururururururururu!"
A miraculous scene occurred—the repeated punches didn't worsen Yamcha's injuries; instead, his wound began to heal in an unbelievable way.
Not just the wound, but even the blood and clothes that had been pierced by the arrow were miraculously restored.
This was the power of Josuke's Stand, Crazy Diamond.
As long as a person hasn't completely died, Crazy Diamond can even heal their body at the moment of death. This is why Yamcha always drags Josuke along whenever something happens. Having Crazy Diamond around is like having an incredibly strong healer.
However, Crazy Diamond does have limitations—it cannot cure diseases, revive the dead, or heal its own injuries.
Yamcha had been saved.
Fully healed, Yamcha stood up, and a faint energy began to rise from his body.
The corner of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.
His objective had been achieved.
In the world of JoJo, there are several ways to become a Stand user: one is to be born with a Stand, like Josuke Higashikata, Jotaro Kujo, or Torasadi, either by inheritance or a natural awakening of Stand abilities.
The second way is to acquire a Stand later in life, which is the most common situation.
There are many ways to acquire a Stand, such as traveling to the "Devil's Palm" in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, or to the "Eye of the Wall" in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: JoJolion, or by obtaining the Saint's Corpse. Or, as in Yamcha's case, by getting struck by an arrow.
Yes, that arrow.
The arrow from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, from Enya the Hag.
This arrow carries a mysterious power—if the person who is struck by it survives the trial, they become a qualified Stand user.
If they don't survive, they die.
Simply put, as long as the person doesn't die from the arrow, they gain the Stand ability.
With Josuke around, relying on his Crazy Diamond would ensure survival. Of course, if they had a Dragon Ball senzu bean, they could achieve the same result.
Yamcha had been waiting for this moment. This is the safest, most reliable, and easiest way to acquire a Stand in the entire JoJo series.
The "true protagonist" Koichi Hirose obtained his Stand ability through this method.
(End of Chapter)